The precarious position of embassy and consular employees in the United Kingdom

Abstract

Governments, in their diplomatic and consular establishments abroad, typically employ a wide range of people apart from career diplomats and civil servants. Translators, secretaries, drivers, clerks, technical support staff, librarians and chefs are among the jobs that are commonly performed in embassies and consulates. Significantly, many of these subordinate positions are filled by nationals and residents of the forum State, that is, the country in which the embassy or consulate is located. (By contrast, diplomatic or senior policy positions in the organization will almost always be held by nationals of the sending State.) The sending State, particularly if it is a developing country, will often have little choice but to employ local residents to perform many routine tasks given the exorbitant cost of importing a labour force from abroad. From the perspective of the employee of a mission, the nature of the work to be performed may be little different from that carried out for its own government or even the private sector.