Lankan diplomat found guilty in Australia for ill-treating domestic aid No diplomatic immunity for not paying minimum wages

• A civilized country would summon her to Colombo
• Expect the government to cough up AUD 500,000 to avert international embarrassment

Which one of these is worse? First, a Sri Lankan diplomat was ordered to pay her former domestic aide over AUD half a million in unpaid wages and interest, pending further charges for violating Fair Wage laws in the Down Under. 

Second, the Foreign Ministry in Colombo thinks she did alright, and in a flimsy press release, probably meant for local consumption, defends her and the practice. 

Sri Lankan Deputy High Commissioner in Australia, Himalee Arunatilaka

Either way, civilized countries do not conduct their business that way, and Sri Lanka should expect consequences, not just reputational damage. When that unfolds, don’t cry ‘international conspiracy’.  

Last week, an Australian federal court judge held that Sri Lankan Deputy High Commissioner in Australia, Himalee Arunatilaka, who is currently Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva, owes her former domestic worker $374,000 in unpaid wages, plus a further $169,000 in interest. 

Multiple breaches 

Arunatilaka also faces a further hearing on her multiple breaches of the Fair Work Act of Australia. 

The court heard that  Arunatilaka brought Priyanka Danaratna with her to live and work at her home in Canberra when she was appointed Sri Lanka’s Deputy High Commissioner in Australia in 2015. 

It was alleged that Priyanka Danaratna had worked from 6 am until late into the evening - cooking, cleaning and washing for Arunatilaka and her husband - seven days a week for three years. She had only two days off in all that time, after she had burned her hand cooking.   

The legal team for Priyanka Danaratna said that she was paid only $11,212 in total, or less than 65 cents an hour, sent directly to bank accounts in Sri Lanka. The minimum national wage in Australia at the time for a 38-hour week was $656.90.

It was also alleged Arunatilaka forbade her domestic from leaving the residence alone without permission, and then only for short walks and confiscated her passport.

Human smuggling 

The latter is illegal in most countries, including Australia, and in some countries, it can be charged with human smuggling. The Saudis, who have a reputation for abuse of expat workers, outlawed passport confiscation as part of labour reforms in 2020 exactly for the same reason.

However, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Colombo thinks otherwise. In a media statement, it said: “It is the standard practice that diplomats are facilitated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to take domestic assistants to assist their official representational duties.” 

“The domestic assistant in question served a full three-year term and, on the eve of the employer’s originally intended departure from Australia, absconded from the residence of the employer.” 

“The allowance approved by the Ministry as the salary of the employee has been paid to her,” it added. “The Ministry is satisfied that the said salary was paid to the domestic assistant by the employer as mutually agreed.” 

This is not how things happen. A contractual agreement entered in Sri Lanka, irrespective of whether it was ‘approved’ by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Colombo, holds no water if it fails to meet the legal requirements of the host country, in this case, the minimum legal wage in Australia, and other conditions of labour rights. 

Diplomatic immunity

Second, though it was not explicit, reading between the lines of the statement gives the impression that it tries to invoke diplomatic immunity in ‘the standard practice’ facilitated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

While diplomats have diplomatic immunity covered by the Vienna Convention of Diplomatic Relations in carrying out their official duties, they do not, for not paying the national minimum wage for their domestic aid.  

Third, if the Ministry of Foreign Affairs thinks otherwise, it should have argued its case before the judge. Instead, Arunatilaka chose not to represent herself.

If it is still cocksure, the Ministry can still challenge the verdict. It does not seem to be doing that, either.  

Fourth, the ruling on Arunatilaka follows a precedent set by a 2023 decision in Shergill v Singh [2023]  that after an official has left their diplomatic post, there is no diplomatic immunity available to protect that diplomat against Australian employment law claims by their domestic workers.

That would mean the Australian courts would seek to enforce the verdict. In the end, without much funfair, expect the government to cough up AUD 500,000 to avert an escalating international embarrassment. That is, however, the right thing to do. 

There are other consequences. Whatever the Foreign Ministry officials and their political masters think,  Arunatilaka’s representation of  Sri Lanka is now a matter of concern. A civilized country would summon her to Colombo out of conviction. If not, a country that cares for reputational damage would still call her home to control the damage. That neither seems to be happening may suggest the hollowness of the system of accountability.  

This is not even about  Arunatilaka. To be fair, a Sri Lankan diplomat cannot afford a Rs.130, 000 a week domestic help unless the Ministry provides a commensurate allowance. 

Also, to be fair, it smacks as if she herself was a victim of an asylum-seeking ploy; her maid knew her rights and had a Salvation Army car waiting at the gate when she left the house at the end of Arunatilaka’s three-year term in Australia.

One should ask where this would lead next. Assuming that the practice is widespread and a precedent against which has been set and well-publicized, one should expect Salvation Army vehicles waiting at the gates of many diplomatic residences in Europe and the US.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs should rush to avert this eventuality, which would entail huge reputational costs, court cases and hefty fines. 

This is by and large a South Asian problem,  African too, though one might have thought Sri Lanka was immune from it. Recently, the UK’s richest family, the Indian-origin Hinduja, were found guilty in Switzerland of human smuggling and paying their workers less than they spent on their pet dog.

In 2013, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs went berserk after one of its diplomats, the deputy counsel general in New York, was arrested over lying on the visa application of her domestic aide and over-reporting the amount she was paid.

Recently, when a Nigerian senator was found guilty in the UK over human smuggling of a young man from the streets of Lagos to extract a kidney to transplant it to his ailing daughter, the Nigerian Senate passed a resolution lauding his contribution to the African nation and requesting leniency. Don’t be like Nigeria; stereotypes are not made out of boredom.  

For Sri Lankans to be respected, first and foremost, its diplomats should play by the rules. When errored, they should own up and redress it. Seems like it’s too much to ask for. 

Follow Ranga Jayasuriya @RangaJayasuriya on X