Diplomats Head Bush To Probe Abuse Claims

Sun Herald

Sunday January 20, 2008

By Eamonn Duff

SENIOR diplomats from the High Commission of India will visit a small NSW country town next week to hear migrant worker claims of sexual assault and exploitation.

An investigation by The Sun-Herald found Hindu couples were being channelled to Rorato Nominees tomato farm in Jerilderie through an immigration lawyer and a labour hire agency.

It found that Rorato's workplace supervisor, Sam Prassad, is the subject of a police investigation after the alleged sexual assault of a female Indian worker, Rashmika Patel.

Former Indian labourers accused Mr Prassad of demanding thousands of dollars in "job enrolment fees" and forcing them to pay and stay in sub-standard accommodation, supplied by himself, as a condition of employment.

Solicitor Dale Brooks said his firm, Taylor and Whitty, had eight pending legal cases, both criminal and industrial, relating to workers on the farm.

Yesterday both the High Commission of India and Commonwealth Ombudsman investigators were arranging independent visits.

A spokesman from the High Commission of India in Canberra said: "It is of great concern to us that Indian people may have suffered sexual abuse and been subjected to inhumane conditions whilst living and working in the town. I will be accompanying the Indian consul general from Canberra to the town very shortly."

Mr Dahl said the high commission wanted to track down other alleged victims of exploitation who are rumoured to have returned to India.

"We will probe further into this matter. I am not sure yet how we will find these people but it is another thing we will look at."

Since 2004, a stream of tourists from the Indian province of Gujarat, on the Pakistan border, have arrived in Sydney on holiday visas and gained temporary refugee status within hours of paperwork being lodged by an unknown immigration lawyer.

Armed with bridging visas while their cases were reviewed, the tourists were sent to Griffith and Jerilderie, where they began casual labour work at Rorato's through an agency called Primary Contracting Services.

The Sun-Herald has been told the workers were advised that, with various review and appeal tribunals available, they could remain in Australia for up to two years before being deported.

A spokesman for Commonwealth Workplace Ombudsman Nicholas Wilson said an "interesting aspect" of initial investigations was that "nobody", including Rorato Nominees and Primary Contracting Services, seemed "willing to accept they actually employed the workers".

"To suggest they employ themselves is simply not good enough in this day and age," he said.

Mr Dahl said he could not fathom how so many Indians from Gujarat had received temporary refugee status from the Immigration Department.

"This is a worrying trend," he said. "I am very surprised they are gaining these visas because the religious tensions in Gujarat took place many years back. Now everything there is fine. Perhaps this is something Immigration should look into."

An Immigration Department spokesman said: "The department is continuing inquiries into further allegations made."

When The Sun-Herald asked Primary Contracting Services where and how it was sourcing the Indian workers, a spokesman would only say: "Through contacts and word of mouth."

The Sun-Herald reported that, in 2003, Rorato Nominees and Mr Prassad paid three local female employees $8000 each in out-of-court settlements, without admitting liability, after the girls launched separate legal cases against Mr Prassad, all alleging ongoing sexual harassment.

"Regardless of whether it was paid or not, one of the terms of those agreements was that it remain confidential," a spokesman said.

He added that the company "does not employ the Indian workers, it engages Primary Contracting Services to supply them".

Rorato has said the workers engaged by PCS are well paid, with some earning up to $900 a week.