After
Qatar Royals Engaged in Human
Trafficking To NYC Mansion
Guterres Virtue Signals On It
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Exclusive, Video
FEDERAL
COURTHOUSE, February 19 – The
Qatar ruling family's abuse of
employees and laws was exposed
in an off the record initial
conference at
in the U.S.
District Court
for the
Southern
District of
New York on
February 14; Inner
City Press was the only media
present. Since its exclusive
report that day, Inner
City Press has been contacted
by more employees and
whistleblowers and a range of
apparent legal violations by
the Qatar royal family has
come to light.
Beyond the
failure to pay overtime which
was the subject of the
February 14 proceeding, Inner
City Press is now informed
that others of the Qatar
royals' workers are brought in
through JFK airport on private
jets, into limousine that
drive onto the tarmac. These
employees are then made to
work long hours with no
protections in the mansion at
9 East 72nd Street in
Manhattan.
But even
three days after Inner City
Press' detailed report, on
February 19 UN Secretary
General Antonio Guterres who
lavish praise on the Qatar
royal family had said nothing
on this hypocrisy as he
speechified about human
trafficking generally: "I am
pleased to address this
important gathering on
migration, one of the most
important challenges of our
time. I welcome your adoption
of the Istanbul Commitments
and the Call for Action.
And I commend the significant
work the Budapest Process has
achieved over more than 25
years. Indeed, those
accomplishments contributed to
the successful adoption of the
Global Compact for Safe,
Orderly and Regular Migration
last December by the United
Nations General
Assembly. Now, our
attention must focus on
generating effective
cooperation that responds to
the Compact - addressing the
complex challenges of
migration while reaping its
many benefits, saving lives
and taking stronger action to
crack down on human
trafficking." We'll have more
on this - and this: on
February 18 Qatar's state
media with the slogan
"Journalism Is Not A Crime"
had not reported even the
court allegations against
Sheikh Jassim Al Thani.
Instead, Al Jazeera English's
James Bays in a nearly empty
UN noon briefing asked a
softball question about UN
negligence leading to deaths
of civilians in the Central
African Republic. UN deputy
spokesman Farhan Haq's wan
answers (Inner City Press
video here)
were later turned into
propaganda by AJE that the UN
is acting on the report has as
ignored since October. This is
how the UN censorship alliance
works, or doesn't - evasive
answers mis-presented as
expressions of commitment and
concern by a media so corrupt
it would ignore human
trafficking by its sponsors.
We'll have more on this.
Inner City Press
is informed, tellingly, that
one female worker from the
Philippines in forced to sleep
in front of Sheikh
Jassim bin Abdulaziz
Al-Thani's bedroom room so
that she can be ready to bring
him food or water or even give
massages at any hour. His wife
Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad
Al-Thani, the sister of
Qatar's ruler, buys art for
Qatar's museum and runs the
"Reaching Out To Asia" foundation.
Meanwhile her workers have
their hair pulled and a tooth
broken by her son. When
workers are fired they are
urged to fly to Doha where
they would face arrest.
The scams work
this way: the Qatari royals'
employees signed contracts in
Doha and then are told that
their visas to the US, unless
they are smuggled / trafficked
in through the JFK Airport
tarmac, are under the control
of the royals. While waiting
to be processed at JFK they
are presented with a new less
favorable contract and told if
they do not sign it, they will
not be admitted. If they work
for the family in Qatar, they
face imprisonment for any
disagreement.
In New York the
family's close protection
guards, some without visas,
brandish illegal large knives.
NYPD was called when the
royals sought to have one
fired employee, Chantelle
McGuffie, removed from her
apartment at 221 East 50th
Street near the UN. Still this
family, these systematic
crimes, have yet to be acted
on by authorities including
the U.S. Attorney for the
Southern District of New York
despite the facts dragged
through the SDNY court.
Inner City Press,
in reporting this despite
threats - at the UN, Qatar's
state media Al Jazeera has
worked with UNSG Antonio
Guterres' spokesman Stephane
Dujarric to have Inner City
Press roughed
up and banned,
see Columbia Journalism Review
here
- aims to put an end to this
impunity. Watch this site.
Background: the
sister of the ruler of Qatar
is being sued by at least
three employees who say they
were made to work six days a
week without being paid
overtime, and were retaliated
against. Inner City Press was
the only media present at the
initial pre trial conference
on the case in the U.S.
District Court for the
Southern District of New York
on February 14, and was
tempted to object when the
Qatari royal's lawyer from the
Proskauer law firm urged SDNY
Judge J. Paul Oetken for a
confidentiality order.
Royals of a
gas-rich emirate that has
locked up poets for
criticizing them, seeking to
cover up their retaliation and
refusal to pay overtime? It
remains to be seen how much
will be covered up in the
case. Inner City Press has
asked, twice, and will have an
update. The defendants are
Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad
Al-Thani and Sheikh Jassim bin
Abdulaziz Al- Thani.
From the answer
to the Complaint: "Defendants
admit that Mr. Bancroft began
his employment in Doha, Qatar
and that he accompanied
Defendants when they moved to
New York, but otherwise deny
the allegations in
Paragraph 39 of the
Complaint. 40.
Defendants deny the
allegations in Paragraph 40 of
the Complaint. 41.
Defendants admit that Mr.
Bancroft accompanied
Defendants on their European
travels in various countries
during the summer of 2016, but
upon information and
belief, otherwise deny
the allegations in Paragraph
41 of the
Complaint.
42. Defendants admit that Mr.
Bancroft accompanied
Defendants on their trip to
Qatar in the summer of 2017,
but otherwise deny the
allegations in Paragraph 42 of
the Complaint. 43.
Defendants admit that Mr.
Bancroft accompanied
Defendants on their European
travels in various countries
during the summer of 2018, but
upon information and
belief, otherwise deny
the allegations in Paragraph
43 of the
Complaint.
44. Defendants admit that Mr.
Bancroft traveled with the
family to Miami and Boston."
This is the
life of corrupt royals and
diplomats, such like those at
the UN up to and including its
Secretary General Antonio
Guterres who lives alone in a
$15 million mansion on
Manhattan's Sutton Place
(where he favors Qatar state
media Al
Jazeera, using it to
oust the independent Press
which questions him.) This is
the world of immunity and
impunity and now, it is urged,
confidentiality. Inner City
Press, now covering the SDNY
daily, will have more on this.
***
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