Canada Hotel Owners Charged in Indian Workers Trafficking

Photo: Reuters

A husband and wife who own a hotel in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, have been charged with human trafficking after police found that four of their workers from India were forced to work in very bad conditions.

The police said that Jai Inder Sandhu, 62, and Satbir Sandhu, 48, made these workers work up to 15 hours every day and paid them less than half of Manitoba’s minimum wage. The workers were also threatened with deportation if they complained. Jai Inder Sandhu was also charged with keeping or destroying important documents of the workers and for threatening them.

Police started the investigation in February this year when they received a call about a disturbance at the hotel. Later, two women came forward and told the police about how they were treated. Later, one more woman and a man were also identified as victims.

The workers came to Canada because they were promised good pay and legal work. They believed they would be protected by Canadian law. However, the hotel owners did not keep their promise. Even though three of the workers got their official work documents later, the owners did not follow the rules written in those documents. One worker did not get any legal papers at all.

The workers said they had to do almost every job in the hotel – cleaning, cooking, serving food, and working at the front counter. Some of them got this job through friends or family while others saw the job advertisements online. They worked at the hotel for about 10 months to a year.

Janet Campbell, who works at a group that spreads awareness about human trafficking, said that it is often very hard for victims to ask for help because they are scared and threatened. She asked people to speak up if they saw such things happening around them.

Another social worker, Dianna Bussey, said that cases of labor trafficking have increased, and many people are suffering in silence. Police said that these crimes are hidden and are not reported much because victims fear the consequences.

Police also said that migrant workers, newcomers, and poor people are most at risk. The traffickers use threats, force, and mental and emotional pressure to make people work for them. Such problems are often seen in industries like hotels, restaurants, farming, construction, factories, and food processing.