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False employment contract showed a lower salary, claim 11 workers
L to R: Shahin. Milon Kazi, Azizul and Awlad They had complained to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) that their employer had forged (in their words) their employment contracts, but ministry officials said they had to support their allegation with a police report. The problem was, they weren't
Left for dead, Jitu finds his feet again
By Spiegel Back home in Shariatpur, Bangladesh, he left behind a wife and four young, school-going children. Far away in Singapore, he sought a better living. If only for just eight months, he did find it. But a horrific workplace accident would cost him nearly everything. His name is Jitu.
Where fish come from, labour laws don’t go
Manuel, Roland and Isidoro had waited 13 months and 15 days for the opportunity. At last, after bobbing about the Pacific and Indian Oceans, never seeing land, the fishing trawler they were on sailed into Singapore. It was their chance to quit and collect their salaries. They had not been
‘We almost had to pull him off the plane’
For months, Hafeez suffered in silence. His employer had deducted S$500 a month from his already pathetic wage of $22 a day working as a forklift driver and general labourer at a glass supply firm. Do a simple calculation: If he worked 30 days a month at $22 a day,
Dear Diary (3)
The following is an extract from a journal written by a foreign domestic worker in Singapore. This is the third in a series. For their privacy, TWC2 has replaced names and removed references to dates and places. Only major spelling mistakes have been corrected; otherwise the text is what was
Dear Diary (2)
The following is an extract from a journal written by a foreign domestic worker in Singapore. This is the second in a series. For their privacy, TWC2 has replaced names and removed references to dates and places. Only major spelling mistakes have been corrected; otherwise the text is what was
Dear Diary (1)
The following story is an extract from a journal written by a foreign domestic worker in Singapore. This is the first of the series. For their privacy, TWC2 has replaced names and removed references to dates and places. Only major spelling mistakes have been corrected; otherwise the text is what
Helpline caller forced to choose between family and conscience
Family members often have different views on migrant workers, especially on the treatment of their own domestic workers. This short story by Anne Bergen-Aurand, first published in our members' newsletter of March-April 2010, recalls a difficulty faced by a caller to our helpline: TWC2's helpline frequently receives calls from “concerned
Cruelty through starvation
From TWC2 members' newsletter, Sept-Oct 2009: Sometimes TWC2 has calls about domestic workers who don’t get enough food to eat. There are not many – just eight last year, for example – but we know other organisations receive similar calls. This is a serious type of abuse and so even