Devyani Khobragade case: Officials see green card-maids link

NEW DELHI: The row over the arrest of diplomat Devyani Khobragade in the US underscores the unabated aspiration of Indians for a green card, according to government officials. It is this desire to somehow stay on in the US that has led to Indian diplomats getting into trouble, with domestic staff hitting upon exploitation or slavery allegations against employers as the best way of achieving this. Or so say Indian government officials, all of whom spoke off the record.

Those who’ve gone to the US under the so-called India Based Domestic Assistance programme with diplomats and filed cases under such charges have either received a green card or are in the process of getting one, government officials told ET. Human trafficking is a serious offence in the US and the alleged victims seek asylum, getting a green card within three years of claiming such status, the officials said. This doesn’t take away from the fact that trafficking is rampant across the world with gangs running desperate people across international boundaries for extortionate fees. Given that the victims of such gangs often suffer the most brutal of treatment, the laws to deal with such crimes are proportionately harsh.

Prabhu Dayal, former consul generalin NewYork, underwhom Khobragade worked for a few months as deputy, also faced similar difficulties and faced accusations of harassment by domestic staff. Dayal has since retired.

The domestic help of Neena Malhotra, now posted as a joint secretary at headquarters, went missing days before she was leaving NY and filed charges of exploitation against Malhotra a year after the diplomat returned to Delhi, officials said. Similarly, the help of Indian ambassador Meera Shankar also disappeared a day before she left the US after finishing her tenure in July 2011. The person has been missing ever since but the case never made it to the headlines.