Here's a close look at a bank loan a worker took out and the burden of repayments. Someone other than the worker is the main beneficiary of his labours.
To pay the agent fee for his job, Shahadat had to take a loan. We calculate the interest rate involved. We can barely believe our math.
Hasan paid over $15,000 for his first job in Singapore, which didn't materialise. After 4 months in limbo, he approached us. A case study of the social work we do.
Right before our noses, illegal job agents operate with impunity in Singapore itself, raking in loads of money. Employers offering jobs through these recruiters don't smell too clean either.
Over three jobs in Singapore, Monzurul got richer in his English vocabulary, not so much in the bank.
To fund the required recruitment fee for his job, Habibur took a loan from Brac Bank. Even from the beginning, the repayment demands looked tight. Then the unexpected happened.
Kamrul and Majumder share something important: both their illegal recruiters were based here in Singapore. In Majumder's case, an additional payment was demanded by someone in the company.
Shafiqul borrowed 200,000 taka from a bank to finance his recruitment cost. He now owes 250,000.
We ask Chokder to tally how much he paid job agents through the three jobs he's had. If not for these hefty fees, he would have savings to support his family after his injury.
Our intern explores the thorny question of upskilling. Do employers see benefit in that? Are benefits shared equitably between employers and employees?
