Singapore urged to fix rules on hiring domestic workers to stop forced labor

[tacobell fan]

Singapore must overhaul its rules and systems for the hiring of foreign domestic workers to put a stop to forced labor in the wealthy city-state, campaigners said on Tuesday.

Singapore is a top destination for impoverished women from countries like Indonesia, Myanmar and the Philippines, who take up domestic work to cook and care for local families.

But the estimated 250,000 migrant domestic workers are "highly susceptible" to forced labor due to a lack of legal protections and the isolated nature of their work, according to a report released by two charities on Tuesday.

"It's pretty worrying," said Sheena Kanwar, executive director at the Singapore-based Humanitarian Organization for Migration Economics (HOME), which campaigns for migrant workers and co-authored the report.

"Policies should make sure our workers are not vulnerable to forced labor but right now, they allow for that. The issue is so invisible because it happens in households," she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by phone.

Based on a 18-month study of more than 800 foreign helpers, the report said workers faced a wide range of issues including hefty fees charged by agents who help the women to find jobs but push them into crippling debt.

A S$5,000 ($3,700) security bond required by the government for every migrant worker also heightens employers' fears and often leads to "draconian" measures to control their movement.

This includes confiscating workers' passports and denying them rest days, the report added.

Singapore's Ministry of Manpower did not reply to a request for comment but has said previously that the government does not tolerate any abuse or mistreatment of domestic workers.

https://www.thejakartapost.com/seasia/2019/01/15/singapore-urged-to-fix-rules-on-hiring-domestic-workers-to-stop-forced-labor.html

[tacobell fan]

At the end Buy Amercian, Hire Amercian also leads to similar sufferings. It's not good to push employers to hire who they don't need and pay for them be it local to foreign worker.

[SusmaReddy]

1 minute ago, tacobell fan said:

At the end Buy Amercian, Hire Amercian also leads to similar sufferings. It's not good to push employers to hire who they don't need and pay for them be it local to foreign worker.

Good you realized that India is wrist country and posting new about Singapore 🇸🇬 👏