Himalee Subashini Arunatilaka, Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva, has been ordered by the Australian Federal Court to pay over $543,000 in unpaid wages and interest and been fined over $117,000, for “egregious and exploitative” treatment of a domestic worker.
From 2015 to 2018, Arunatilaka employed mother of two, Priyanka Danaratna, as a domestic worker, having sponsored her entry into Australia, promising wages in accordance with Australian laws. However, Danaratna described her experience as a “slavery-type arrangement,” working 14 hours a day, seven days a week, for less than 65 cents an hour.
Danaratna was forced to endure gruelling conditions, including cooking, cleaning, and household maintenance. She was allowed to leave the residence only with permission, had her passport confiscated, and lived in near-total isolation. “She did not provide me with satisfactory clothing and food," she told the court. "I did not feel like I was being treated properly.”
The court found that Arunatilaka had intentionally exploited Danaratna, violating Australia’s Fair Work Act. Despite promises to adhere to Australian wage laws, Arunatilaka breached these obligations, paying her employee just $11,212 over three years.
Justice Elizabeth Raper, in her judgment, described Arunatilaka’s actions as calculated and intentional. “Ms Danaratna was deliberately isolated from the community and effectively entrapped within the household,” she said. “Her conditions bore no resemblance to what one would expect under Australian law and were egregious and exploitative.”
Justice Raper emphasised that the protections of Australian law were designed to prevent such exploitation, stating, “The protections of Australian laws are intended to shield vulnerable workers from the domestic servitude of the Victorian era.”
Arunatilaka did not engage with the court proceedings, failing to file evidence or appear at hearings. She has also refused to pay the $543,000 in unpaid wages and interest ordered by the court in August 2023.
Danaratna ultimately escaped her situation in August 2018 with the help of the Salvation Army. “On August 14, 2018, I told Arunatilaka and her husband that I was going for a walk,” she told the court. “I left Ms Arunatilaka’s residence, and the two people from the Salvation Army were waiting for me nearby in a car.”
She was taken to a safe house in Sydney, where Danaratna was able to begin legal proceedings.
Despite the court’s ruling, Arunatilaka’s diplomatic career remains unaffected. She currently represents Sri Lanka at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva and is also accredited to the International Labour Organisation. Her position in Geneva has been marked by staunch loyalty to the Sri Lankan regime, where she has deflected accusations of war crimes and genocide against Tamils. Earlier this year, Sri Lanka rejected yet another resolution at the global body, looking to seek justice for war crimes committed by the state.
The Sri Lankan government has dismissed the Australian court’s rulings, accusing Danaratna of “absconding” and asserting that the agreed-upon salary was paid. However, Justice Raper refuted these claims, finding that Arunatilaka knowingly and intentionally exploited her employee.
David Hillard, Danaratna’s lawyer, criticised the lack of accountability, stating, “She’s in a very senior diplomatic role now in Geneva. I think it’s absolutely appalling that this can be allowed to happen. But I think it also reflects on perhaps the nature of the diplomatic world… that perhaps Arunatilaka and the Sri Lankan government have not viewed what she’s done as something particularly extraordinary.”
Read more from The Guardian here.