Category: News and Views
THE owner of a Indian restaurant chain in the Blue Mountains has become the first person to be charged under Australia's new anti-slavery labour laws.
Yogalingam Rasalingam, 43, was charged yesterday with keeping a man as a slave, forcing him to work seven days a week without pay and making him live in
a tin shed.
He was also charged with a people-trafficking offence — organising the man's entry to Australia and telling him that his entry and stay would involve confiscating
his travel and identity documents.
Rasalingam was charged by Australian Federal Police at Sydney Airport on Thursday night, after arriving on a flight from India.
He was granted bail in Sydney's Central Local Court yesterday, with the matter set for a further hearing on October 4.
Federal police border and international network manager Michael Phelan said the charge relating to deceptively enticing a person into Australia was laid
under new laws that came into effect last August.
According to documents tendered to the court, the alleged slave, a 23-year-old man, arrived in Australia from India on June 1 with a visa and ticket paid
for by the restaurateur.
Rasalingam allegedly forced him to work without pay in three of his restaurants for 15 hours a day or longer, seven days a week.
He took the man's passport, escorted him to and from work and made him live in a tin shed at the back of his Faulconbridge home, the court was told.
The alleged slave was found at Rasalingam's Taste of India restaurant at Faulconbridge during a police raid on July 13, the documents allege.
Rasalingam has denied keeping a slave or trafficking anyone into Australia.
Magistrate Allan Moore granted him bail, on $100,000 surety and other conditions.
On a personal note, I've been to this restaurant many, many times.
Their food has always been good and so has their service.
However it sickens me to think that in some small way I have supported this act.
It's funny that these things can go on right under your nose and you not even know about it.
Myself and my landlady have now vowed that we shall no longer order from the place and i feel quite guilty for recommending it to all my friends.
However, the good thing is that i think that now this has come to light he will be put out of business.
So the question is, who shall save us from the blandness of Dominos Pizza when we feel like takeaway?
No, no no. See, people do this all the time. You can't buy your favorite band's album because they take drugs, you can't watch this movie brecause the actor cheated on his wife etc. And, besides, the man is innocent until found guilty. He will get whatever he deserves. Your patronage of the restaurant is not to blame for what he did and you not going there is not going to help the "slave" now either. He will get his rights. If you know for sure your money is used directly to hurt others I suppse you can stop going to a place but at this point it's over, the man is been charged, you not going to the restaurant is not going to make or break this case. And, besides, your momney eventually ends up somewhere not-so-nice. I think it was Norway that did a study on how to spend their money so that it did not come near any organization accused of money laundry or human trafficing or such crimes. They found out it's basically impossible, two or three links down the chain the mone will be used to purchase goods from such a company or pay for services from questionable providers. Money goes around, and holding it back really is not all that helpful. I'm not saying that you should not have any morales, just that I think if you want to fight for justice this is not the right way to go about it. Rather donate half the money you wuld've spent on going to a restaurant towards fighting crime or improving the living conditions of others. If there is an obvious and direct connetion with you spending money and that money directly beijng used for something you don't like, then withhold it and go else where. I think that's just a better philosophy over all. And, again, remember, we should give the man a chance until he's actually proven guilty.
cheers
-B
Hmmm, you're right.
I don't actually think their business was doing to well in the first place, however, I think it interesting that these laws were just brought in last august.
Yeah it's true. Non-too-soon it seems. Here in the U.S. Asian Americans (lot of them) refuse to shop at Wal-Mart because the labor conditions they offer the Chinese factory workers are the worst in the industry by far and the pay is basically non-existent. It's pretty sad but as much as people complain and pretend to care, the minute their jeans go up by $10 they get all mad.
Monster! that's barbaric and all you have to say is a complaint about a pizza hmm I was right about you.
Son-of-a-fucking-bitch this is fucking 2006 and there are still problems with slavery? my god what the hell was he thinking.
m Biko
Hm, gotta say, for once I disagree with you, Wildebrew. You're right, there's practically no way to conduct one's life so that one doesn't at least indirectly contribute to all kinds of stuff one might not want to contribute. Nevertheless, I think it's completely reasonable and the right thing to do to not want to give one's money or support or whatever to those who are directly involved in this kind thing. Personally, if I were to find out someone was involved in human trading, I sure as h*ll would never want to be involved in anything they touched--and might profit or have profitted from--ever again. Yes, most often I can't control the ultimate outcome of my actions, but in this case, we're not talking "ultimate", we're talking "immediate". I do think there is a big difference there. You have a point in saying that the guy is innocent until proven guilty--but really, where there is smoke, there is fire, at least if the fire is such a serious charge. In a case like this one, I'd simply have to take the regrettable risk of hurting an innocent person as a collateral of ensuring I don't do any further business with a slaver.
well, firstly, goblin, i and the people i live with have ot gone back there and refuse to do so, we also emailed all our friends informing them of the subject, as we believed that there wasn't enough about it in the ocal or national news.
I was also sickened that his bale was lowered to 50000 australian dollars from the 100000 it had been originally.
For someone to knowingly trick someone into coming to this country and then take away their identification, not allow them contact with their family and then on top of that force them to work for 16 to 18 hours a day and sleep in a tin shed, i find that disgraceful.
The joke about the pizza was meerly what my neighbour said to me and i found it mildly amusing.
What i really wonder is if the people at the restaurant actually knew it was going on, the place had a lot of workers who were not of indian background, and i find it hard to believe that they wouldn't have known it was going on, that in fact sickens me more,...especially if they didn't do anything for that length of time.