Helen Samuel came to Britain from Nigeria in 1985, with her employers, Dr. Truman Abassah and his wife Philomeana. In 1990 her employers were convicted on six counts of assault against Helen and were sentenced to five years in prison and to be deported to Nigeria on the completion of their sentence. Judge Van Der Werff, said 'it was a case that would provoke revulsion in the mind of all decent people', 'between the two of you, you have enslaved and tortured this young women.

Helen's life with Truman and Philomena was sheer hell. She was forced to work from dusk to dawn seven days a week. No time off, No wages, dressed in rags and only allowed to eat what the Abassah's had left on their plates. Often she was so hungry she had to beg for food from neighbours.

Constant physically and mental abuse were her daily lot, they stuck needles into her body and whipped her with electric flex. On one occasion Philomena (a social worker) gorged Helen's face with nails and tore her hair out. Often she was made to sleep outside the house, on nights it rained she slept?, under the Abassah's car.

Her torment only ended, when neighbours, horrified at the appalling sight of Helen, bleeding and reduced to six stone in weight. Waited till the Abassah's were away from home and took Helen into hiding and informed the police.

One would have hoped that this was the end of Helen's life of horror, but it was not to be. Her visa to remain in Britain had run out the Home Office classed her as an illegal immigrant. The Home Office gave her temporary admission. Helen began to make a slow recovery from the horror of the previous five years, finding work as a care worker for the elderly and part time dress maker.

Last year Helen received a letter from the Home Office saying she must leave Britain. By this time the Abassah's had served their sentence and had been departed to Nigeria, where they were still very powerful people. Helen was appalled at the thought of returning to Nigeria.

Convinced that the Abassah's would take revenge on her for the time they had spent in prison, Helen resolved that she would die rather than return. At the time Helen said 'if I do go back to Nigeria, it's better I die quietly first, if I go in a coffin there will be no fear'.

On the advice of friends she launched a campaign to try and reverse the Home Office decision. The campaign won support from all sections of society. Thousands of letters and fax's were sent to the Home Office, by people horrified at the treatment she had received from her employers, but angry and outraged at the decision of the Home Office to deport Helen.

Now the Home Office have told Helen that though they would not grant her asylum, they would give her exceptional leave to remain, for one year and that she could renew it if she so wished. This means that Helen will be able to stay and at some stage should be able to apply to the Home Office to regularise her stay.

What happened to Helen, was not an isolated case.

It is common for Overseas Domestic Workers to experience conditions of routine ill-treatment and extreme abuse.

With the 1979 Immigration Act, the tories totally destroyed the rights of Overseas Domestic Workers.

The following is a extract from a briefing paper by KALAYAAN, ( Justice for OverSeas Workers).

Denial of Basic Human Rights

In 1979, Britain's Immigration Law stopped granting work permits directly to persons entering the UK as domestic workers. However a 1980 Concession, which the Home Office admits is outside the Immigration Rules, continues to allow employers to bring their domestic workers into the country as persons accompanying a named employer. This means that they must work only for that employer - under no circumstances can they, or a prospective new employer, apply for them to do domestic work for someone else.

Thus on the point of entry, the domestic workers (the majority of whom are women) are given no independent immigration status as workers, although they are admitted into this country to work. Instead they are tied to the original employer and thereby effectively deprived of worker's rights, all of which ultimately depend on the right to change employers.

At the same time, their working conditions upon entry to Britain frequently deteriorate because the families they are accompanying usually travel with reduced staff, but rarely adjust their demands accordingly. It continues to be a sad and painful fact that Overseas Domestic Workers in the UK are now so deprived of rights that they are in a situation of virtual slavery, in which they must endure abuses and exploitation far beyond their, and our, notions of contractual labour.

Since the late eighties, Kalayaan, (Justice for Overseas Workers), have documented over 4,000 cases in England, in which the following was quite common;

Confiscation of passports; enforced change of contract, including the withholding of wages for long periods; a 16-20 hour workday, seven-day weeks and no holidays; being made to sleep in corridors or on the floor; frequent denial of food and malnourishment, with no access to medical and health services or compensation for injuries. Overseas Domestic Workers are often kept in virtual or literal imprisonment in the home of their employer; prohibited from engaging in normal social contacts, including talking to the other staff or outsiders; and denied letters from their families. Physical abuse such as beatings, hair pulling and spitting are "normal". Racist and degrading name-calling are common. Women regularly experience sexual harassment and abuse which includes actual, threatened, or attempted rape.

The Home Office policy on Overseas Workers directly contravenes 14 articles of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, to which Britain is a signatory.

Since 1979, the Tories have constantly attacked and eroded workers rights. With the 1979 Immigration Act, they totally destroyed the rights of Overseas Domestic Workers. John Major and the Tories, would like to see the whole of the British Workforce reduced to the same status.