Pinay nanny's employer gets 18 months for human trafficking in Canada
Tags: OFWs in Canada
Franco Orr Yiu-kwan, one-half of the couple who allegedly made their Filipina domestic helper work in slave-like conditions in Canada, has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for human trafficking, a report on the South China Morning Post said.
The B.C. Supreme Court jury in Vancouver has earlier found Orr, a former businessman from Hong Kong, guilty of employing Filipina Leticia Sarmiento illegally. His partner, Oi Ling Nicole Huen, was acquitted. Orr's sentencing was held last Tuesday.
The South China Morning Post report said the couple took Sarmiento to Canada when they moved there from Hong Kong in September 2008.
Orr and Huen allegedly led Sarmiento to believe that she was going to have the same working conditions in Canada, and promised her that she could become a permanent resident after two years, the report said.
However, upon their arrival at Vancouver, Sarmiento was made to work 16 hours a day, seven days a week, for 21 months, the report added. She was reportedly paid C$500 a month, in line with Hong Kong's minimum allowable wage for foreign domestic helpers at the time of her employment, but way below British Columbia's general minimum hourly wage of C$10.25.
In June 2010, Sarmiento finally called 911 for help.
Vancouver 24Hrs, a Canadian news site, reported that Huen's verbal reprimands turned physical when Sarmiento mistakenly poured soy instead of homogenized milk for one of the couple's children.
“All of a sudden Mrs. Huen yelled at me. She took the soy milk, when I was at the sink, (and) she suddenly threw the soy milk in front of me... I was wiping the counter... she took the towel and she threw it in my face,” Sarmiento testified, as mentioned in the Vancouver 24Hrs report.
While the court has ruled in favor of Sarmiento, Justice Richard Goepel told Canada's The Globe And Mail that the jury did not believe everything presented in Sarmiento's defense.
Goepel was reported as saying that her passport could not have been stowed away, as she had testified, for a Vancouver bank employee noted her usage of it to attempt to open a bank account.
Sarmiento's allegation that she was only allowed one phone call amount was also falsified by phone records that showed 100 calls to a cellphone number in the Philippines during her employment.
Nevertheless, Goepel said that when the temporary resident visa issued for Sarmiento was expired, she was made to stay by Orr. This and the accepted evidence submitted in court still painted the domestic worker as the victim in the case.
According to the South China Morning Post, the case is Canada's first successful trafficking prosecution under immigration law, as opposed to charges brought under the criminal code.
BC NDP MLA Mable Elmore, who worked with Sarmiento on the case, told Vancouver 24Hrs. that the sentence would hopefully prevent further instances of nanny abuse, and inspire other to come forward with their cases. — KBK, GMA News
The B.C. Supreme Court jury in Vancouver has earlier found Orr, a former businessman from Hong Kong, guilty of employing Filipina Leticia Sarmiento illegally. His partner, Oi Ling Nicole Huen, was acquitted. Orr's sentencing was held last Tuesday.
The South China Morning Post report said the couple took Sarmiento to Canada when they moved there from Hong Kong in September 2008.
Orr and Huen allegedly led Sarmiento to believe that she was going to have the same working conditions in Canada, and promised her that she could become a permanent resident after two years, the report said.
However, upon their arrival at Vancouver, Sarmiento was made to work 16 hours a day, seven days a week, for 21 months, the report added. She was reportedly paid C$500 a month, in line with Hong Kong's minimum allowable wage for foreign domestic helpers at the time of her employment, but way below British Columbia's general minimum hourly wage of C$10.25.
In June 2010, Sarmiento finally called 911 for help.
Vancouver 24Hrs, a Canadian news site, reported that Huen's verbal reprimands turned physical when Sarmiento mistakenly poured soy instead of homogenized milk for one of the couple's children.
“All of a sudden Mrs. Huen yelled at me. She took the soy milk, when I was at the sink, (and) she suddenly threw the soy milk in front of me... I was wiping the counter... she took the towel and she threw it in my face,” Sarmiento testified, as mentioned in the Vancouver 24Hrs report.
While the court has ruled in favor of Sarmiento, Justice Richard Goepel told Canada's The Globe And Mail that the jury did not believe everything presented in Sarmiento's defense.
Goepel was reported as saying that her passport could not have been stowed away, as she had testified, for a Vancouver bank employee noted her usage of it to attempt to open a bank account.
Sarmiento's allegation that she was only allowed one phone call amount was also falsified by phone records that showed 100 calls to a cellphone number in the Philippines during her employment.
Nevertheless, Goepel said that when the temporary resident visa issued for Sarmiento was expired, she was made to stay by Orr. This and the accepted evidence submitted in court still painted the domestic worker as the victim in the case.
According to the South China Morning Post, the case is Canada's first successful trafficking prosecution under immigration law, as opposed to charges brought under the criminal code.
BC NDP MLA Mable Elmore, who worked with Sarmiento on the case, told Vancouver 24Hrs. that the sentence would hopefully prevent further instances of nanny abuse, and inspire other to come forward with their cases. — KBK, GMA News
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