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ABUSED FOREIGN WORKERS
A Letter to the Editor
By Michel Camdessus and James D. Wolfensohn
International Monetary Fund Managing Director and World Bank President, respectively

The Washington Post
January 16, 1999

We and the staffs of the institutions we head are appalled by the alleged abuses of domestic employees of non-U.S. staff of international organizations, foreign embassies and consulates reported by William Branigin ["A Life of Exhaustion, Beatings and Isolation," front page, Jan. 5]. We are determined to prevent abuse and thus take all reported cases very seriously. We share the view that even one victimized individual is one too many.

Thus, we support many of the suggestions in The Post's Jan. 7 editorial "Not in This Country, They Can't." More should be done to advise holders of G5 and similar visas of their rights and avenues of redress, as well as to monitor compliance with U.S. laws. We welcome discussion with all concerned of alternative approaches to addressing problems of G5 visa holders in the United States.

What is being done by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank? For several years our two institutions have made certain that every staff member seeking to obtain a G5 visa for a domestic employee is fully informed of, and agrees in writing to observe, all the legal rights of G5 employees and responsibilities of employers. Both institutions will investigate any complaints brought to our attention, and our staffs are subject to disciplinary action --including possible dismissal -- if infractions occur.

We are aware that violations can occur despite these safeguards, and we are considering how to reduce still further the chance that any employee of our two institutions might violate U.S. law or our own internal rules and ethics codes in regard to a G5 visa holder.