Our advocacy work is based on evidence collected in our research activities. In this section are reports, research findings, brief fact sheets and analyses.
Improvement in housing should be only one element in a broader reforms, if we are to arrive at a more ethical relationship with migrant labour. Job restrictions, low salaries, etc, must also be addressed.
Actions and demands by the government strongly impact the economics of dormitories. Improving minimum standards from 4.5 to 7.5 sq metres per head does not have to mean substantial cost increases.
The current minimum of 4.5 sq metres per person is too low a standard. It should be 7.5 sq metres. There shouldn't be barracks-style dorms anymore, but apartment-type accommodation with a max of 8 persons per apartment.
Here's a figure: There are 66,000 employers of S-Pass and Work Permit holders as at April 2020. And workers with bank accounts now number 521,000, which seems to be 77.5%. Numbers exclude FDWs.
In a media statement dated 13 April 2020 (links to short version and long version) we pointed out that an entire section of the Ministry of Manpower's Advisory on salary and leave arrangements during Circuit Breaker was not only unclear, but seemed to bless salary reductions for foreign workers. "Circuit Breaker" is the
An essay based on a talk given by Alex Au at a Labour Day webinar organised by Maruah in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic that badly affected migrant workers in Singapore.
As Covid-19 infections among migrant workers hit new highs, John Gee takes stock of the bigger picture: What is it about Singapore's migrant labour policy that makes this crisis a self-inflicted one, and where do we go from here?
The increase in cases in quarantined and non-quarantined dorms are compared in this article, It is clearly worse in non-quarantined dorms. Why is that so?
Moving foreign workers out of crowded dorms is imperative, but slow action is probably traceable to mental blocks among policy-makers. Due to obstinacy, how bad can things get? Very bad.
When a worker is infected with Covid-19, it is surprising that none of his room-mates are immediately tested, and this raises big questions about Singapore's testing capability and the overall strategy.