Saturday, May 26, 2007

A Non-resident Indian child

Running down the stairs, late for work, you glance out of the window and promptly see the last thing you want to see. The unexpected lurks even in leafy squares, I suppose.

A wisp of a girl, no more than perhaps twelve, teetering precariously on her toes. She is trying to push a garbage- bag into one of the massive disposal bins positioned behind the bushes at the near end of the square. She also looks distinctly South Asian. You pause, warning bells ringing, for you’ve seen her somewhere, and her attire, even from a distance, marks her as a not-so-privileged outsider. As you watch, she loses her grip on the binliner which is almost as big as she is; it then falls back on her, struggling as she is to keep her balance. But she’s quick, and jumps out of the way. Warily, she looks around at the faceless windows, seeking out hidden eyes like mine, for the garbage rules explicitly state that the liners have to be left inside the bin. She is, of course, too short to be able to manage that. Tentatively, she pushes the bag closer to the bin. Again, she looks around anxiously, as if sizing up her options; then abruptly turns, and runs into the nearest common doorway. The bag has been left behind to face the ire of the next civic minded middle class resident that comes along.

En route to work, I mull over what I have seen, decide that I am jumping to too many conclusions too soon, and conveniently decide to leave well be. The next week, an Australian couple, newly arrived, mention seeing an obviously underage child pushing a toddler’s pram, then feeding the baby from a bottle, at a communal gathering. The children were accompanying a young Indian couple who appeared to be the toddler’s parents. The young Australian woman, initially curious, then increasingly angry, had been quietly asking questions. The young girl, it turned out, had been brought over from India to work as a maid (or, to use the appropriate Indian English term, a servant). She did not go to school. The couple were from Delhi, and the short, plump, pleasant man is G. G was doing an MBA at London Business School (which costs £ 45,000, btw). His taller, slim, smart and bespectacled wife, A, was a stay at home mother (a Danish friend has since labelled her ‘an international lady of leisure’). We talk, I promise to enquire further, and keep her informed about what I propose to do.

I am in an uncomfortable quandary. If this is child labour, I have a statutory responsibility to notify the appropriate agencies. And indeed, if this had happened at work, the evidence, as it stood, was sufficient for me to pick up the phone and make a referral to Children and Families Social Services. CFSS would then, of course, follow due procedure and investigate.

But this is not work. This is home, and I am part of the same closely knit, uniquely co-operative community to which the employer/?exploiter couple belong. There are a range of delicate issues to be considered, from checking whether the administrators are alert to the situation, and whether they have a policy regarding such issues, to whether a formal investigation would bring tabloidesque attention onto all of us and whether I can manoeuvre this human relations minefield with sufficient tact.

Further discreet investigations reveal that the couple in question and we have mutual friends. These friends, when queried, respond curiously. The man is blunt, and says, “It’s obvious yaar, the girl is underage and is being kept as some sort of maid, she’s not going to school or anything, she is being exploited, but what can you do about it?” The woman, an economist, stiffens defensively, and says, “But the girl is probably having a much better life here than she would in India”.

A careful debate follows, the Lady watchful, me tactful, the woman’s partner supportive of my concerns, and she progressively defensive. This is familiar ground. I know the Chicago Boys-Milton Friedman argument on child labour. I have a number of counter-arguments, beginning from the fact that from a behavioural perspective, short term fixes are guaranteed to perpetuate long-term inequities, to the fact that a lack of education renders a child labourer fit for only menial adult jobs (and a lifetime of teetering on the poverty line) as well. What she calls economics, I call behaviour. Her husband points out the lack of empirical evidence for the Chicago theory. I mention my legal responsibilities. At this, the woman goes quiet, suddenly looking at me as if I am some sort of dangerous animal.

Later, I speak to the Social Services Manager I share my office with. She is Bangladeshi, and informs me that wealthy South Asians and Middle-easterners are ‘notorious for this sort of thing’. She suggests that I call Childline. I do, and they are very helpful. They explain ‘the legal black hole of imported child labour’ to me [This refers to the fact that once a High Commission has issued a visa (on whatever grounds) to a child au pair (who could well be fraudulently presented to the HC as a relative), then that automatically renders the child labourer ‘legit’. Children and Families Social Services, in general catastrophically overstretched, often clutch this straw to sidestep a culturally complicated investigation]. They suggest that I call the NSPCC, who have a statutory responsibility to investigate.

Which I do. The NSPCC guarantees the reporter confidentiality. It has diplomatic ways of investigating, which is reassuring. They do an ‘impact assessment’ (which has it’s origins in enlightened Bangladeshi child labour policy) that focusses on the child’s best interests (and in culturally complex cases, that of the family of origin).

Which brings us to the final (non) denouement. The administrators (who I’ve quietly included in the loop) inform me that the couple has suddenly left. I do know that G’s MBA runs until July, which means they may have been discreetly warned, and are possibly still in the city. Alternatively, he could be doing his end-of-course project elsewhere.

So, if you see a short, plump, chocolate-faced, smiling Indian MBA from LBS (whose name begins with G) and/or his taller, slim, smart, bespectacled wife (A) with a toddler and an underage maid/au pair in tow, please call NSPCC or your local National Child Welfare agency, once you’ve figured out their address (of the couple, that is). And if I spot them anywhere in town, that is precisely how I intend to proceed.


Further reading here , here , here and here. For the feudal Indian perspective on child labour, note the artistic modification (courtesy your friendly neighbourhood Indian wiki vandal) of the first reference at the bottom of this Wikipedia page on Child Labour.

17 Comments:

Blogger twip said...

I am so happy and proud that you took the necessary action without skirting around this issue! Woot!

Do you mind if I hat-tip this to Desipundit? I want this post to be read by as many people as possible. It needs to be read.

Sunday, May 27, 2007  
Blogger nevermind said...

Okay, now that I've bitten the bullet, I better swallow it, I suppose:) And maybe others will pick up that phone in similar situations.

Monday, May 28, 2007  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I am all against child labour, but I do wonder whether the child is genuinely better off here than wherever she calls home. Not trying to rationalise the couple's actions, but just trying to look at things from the kids perspective - maybe she can go to school here, while helping them in the household as well or something..

Monday, May 28, 2007  
Blogger nevermind said...

Hi Surya.

To address the obvious first, the child is/was not going to school, and she'd been here for almost 10 months.

Now regarding whether the child is better off, since no one has spoken to her in a culturally sensitive way (and with an appropriate adult), let alone conducted a formal child-in- potential-need assessment, we have no way of knowing that. It may well be (to play my own Devil's advocate) that the child has been 'rescued' from abuse, neglect, potential starvation etc. But even that in no way justifies her lugging around garbage bags almost as big as herself, bottle-feeding a child a few years younger while the mother is busy socializing, and taking on the role of maid (which, I forgot to mention, the economist's husband, who had visited their flat, had confirmed to be the case). Unless you believe that there is a hierarchy of abuse w. r. to kids, some acceptable and some not so.

To provide another angle to the same point, we have no way of knowing whether the assumption that this child is indeed 'having a better life here' is concordant with reality. The child may well be experiencing the opposite i.e. abuse, neglect etc. The only way to find out is through a formal assessment which, in the case of multicultural Britain, has sufficient checks and balances to ensure that the child comes first in both letter and spirit i.e. it is pragmatic and rooted in the culturally complex world we live in.

And finally, there is a peculiarly South Asian/ Middle Eastern angle to this. We live in an incredibly multinational community, with a vibrant subculture of young parents. Most of the mothers (and fathers) are studying/working professionals far away from their homelands (read social supports). Many struggle to get by on student loans and/or scholarships. Unlike our Indian 'international lady of leisure' and her husband, all of them manage by babysitting for each other (I have done some baby sitting as well, btw), helping out each other (there is a well functioning parents' club and creche) and calling on perfectly legit temporary childminders (usually other students from the London colleges), in other eventualities.

Which begs the question, why does this perfectly healthy Indian stay at home mother and her husband need an imported underage maid/childminder, when parents from every other nationality seem to be managing just fine without?

Monday, May 28, 2007  
Blogger the being said...

Hi there,

Came here from the DP link.

Firstly, hats off to you for not letting the issue go by and taking action.

And about your question - why does this perfectly healthy Indian stay at home mother and her husband need an imported underage maid/childminder, when parents from ...
because they can! domestic labor is cheapest in India, and I am surprised how dependent we actually become. I have heard many an 'international lady of leisure' complain about having to do dishes and vacuum clean.

Child labor in India, now thats a bigger question. and a bigger problem.

Surya - about the girl having a better life back here(India), the answer is a definite "yes". Remember that even if she finds herself in the same position in her homeland (which she most likely will), she will have companionship, and may be a family. Being a maid in a foriegn country, where she cannot talk to or make friends with anyone outside the house she is working in is worse fate.

Tuesday, May 29, 2007  
Blogger twip said...

Go check desipundit. If you havent already. The punk has tipped you off.

*beam*

Oh and apollo-g's for not waiting for a reply from you before I tipped you off to DP. Patience was never my forte.

:)

Tuesday, May 29, 2007  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I've been thinking about this for about three days now, and I'm still lost for words..

~N.

Tuesday, May 29, 2007  
Blogger nevermind said...

Hi Sudha, welcome and thanks for putting it across so bluntly. I suspected as much, but couldn't quite bring myself to believe that it was as simple as that.


Punkster, I'd already guessed, courtesy Sudha. All 4 a good cause, tho' I admit I was unnerved for a bit, give my usual dislike of attention. One lives and learns:)

Don't be lost N, I've seen much worse, believe me. And you don't want to know.

Wednesday, May 30, 2007  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

No, I don't shirk away from reality, no matter how ugly a face it might be sporting at a given time. So I am ready to listen.

~N.

Saturday, June 02, 2007  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

So out of context, but then this is the only place I can use to share something with you.

http://www.freakinblues.blogspot.com/

Thought you might like to see this too. I liked the way the words make the pictures even more eloquent.

~N.

Saturday, June 02, 2007  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thought you should see this:
http://isurvivedintact.blogspot.com/2007/06/i-remember.html

~N.

Tuesday, June 19, 2007  
Blogger Vijayeta said...

Guess what?
Time to update already!
It's been ages now...
:)

Thursday, June 28, 2007  
Blogger nevermind said...

Hi there N and Vij. Thought it best not to write until things clear up and I am myself again- which hopefully, will be soon. It's been one of the roughest years, this last one, and I haven't been handling it too well this past 2 months. Also worried that writing might make it worse (illogical, I know, but I am not thinking logically these days).

But you guys dropping in felt good, I must say. I am a sucker for warmth and goodwill and all that at the moment:-)Thanks.

Tuesday, July 10, 2007  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hey, you hang in there! Things will be better soon.
Take care. I'll be around.
~N.

Tuesday, July 17, 2007  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Something to help you smile.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=CR5Ley3ZttY

~N.

Tuesday, July 17, 2007  
Blogger A and A said...

Yes, I'm alive! And I've updated as well bugger! Your turn now! :)

Wednesday, July 25, 2007  
Blogger twip said...

Oi! New post!

Sunday, July 29, 2007  

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