All items filed under News
Al Jazeera: Italy’s Sikh slaves
A 25-minute film about migrant workers on Italian farms: their wages, immigration status, payments to "gang-masters", despair and suicide.
Confinement in dorms: If regulations overreach, change the regulations
MOM now says it is not their intent to give employers unfettered power over workers' movements. But why say this over social media? Why not simply correct badly drafted law?
Five questions from reporters
Recently, journalists doing follow-up stories about Covid-19 have been reaching us with similar questions. For convenience, we will put our responses here.
Government extends waiver of foreign worker levy, to taper off in 4th quarter 2020
Wkith Covid-19 restrictions continuing, foreign worker levy waivers are further extended, as are rebates. But only for certain sectors and types of employees.
Migrant bodies sacrificed on the altar of self-praise
The general community is "saved" from Covid-19 only because migrant workers are made to pay the price for us: severe confinement, never mind mental wellbeing and medical complications.
Recruitment reform — what needs to be done
A short explainer about how corrupted the recruitment system has become for migrant workers and the two key measures needed to reform the eco-system.
Covid-19 update: India and Bangladesh
Covid-19 stats from India and Bangladesh don't look good. Expect ti to remain difficult to bring workers from there. That means those who are already here should be allowed to stay.
No migrant worker expects an iron rice bowl, but much more can be done for their financial security
It's too simplistic to speak in terms of iron-clad job security, but a lot more can be done to help migrant workers with career longevity and financial security. Start with recruitment costs.
Post-Covid law makes migrant workers prisoners of employers
The new law says "The employer must not allow, or cause to be allowed, the foreign employee ... to leave the dormitory ... and may grant or refuse consent..."
Why we say ‘foreign domestic worker’ and not ‘helper’
The term "helper" seems to be growing in popularity, but TWC2 disagrees with its use.