The Arabist

The Arabist

By Issandr El Amrani and friends.

Justice done

Nothing makes me happier than this kind of news:

TACOMA, Washington: A couple in the U.S. state of Washington has been sentenced to home confinement for forcing their immigrant niece to work long hours in their home and at the family espresso stand, and they also must pay her US$65,000 (about €50,000) for her labor.

Abdenasser "Sammy" Ennassime, 47, and his wife Tonya, 41, of Lakewood, pleaded guilty in September to federal charges of forced labor and harboring an illegal alien, respectively. Under the plea agreement, government lawyers recommended home confinement, three years of probation and back wages.
The treatment of household servants and distant relatives taken in for that purpose in countries in the Arab world is utterly shameful. If that court had jurisdiction over Morocco, you'd have hundreds if not thousands of similar cases.