"As of Oct 2017," said Lim Swee Say, Minister for Manpower, in a written answer to a parliamentary question, "400 [Work Permit holders have] changed employers after completing their work permit terms." He gave this reply on 6 November 2017. To assess the significance of this number, it is necessary to provide some background. Over
Asean heads of government put signatures to an 'Asean Consensus on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers' on 14 November 2017, at their recently concluded summit meeting in Manila. This document was ten years in the making, after Asean members first signalled their intention to arrive at an agreement of this
In his National Day Rally speech on 20 August 2017, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong spoke about the need for greater efforts in migrating to cashless transactions. Subsequently, other ministers developed the point further. Transient Workers Count Too felt that it was important to ensure that whatever plans are drawn up, they should not inadvertently
Transient Workers Count Too joined with 12 other NGOs in Singapore to submit a joint shadow report to the United Nations Committee on Cedaw (Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women) for the upcoming periodic review of Singapore. The joint report highlights a number of issues pertaining to foreign domestic workers
The Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics (HOME) and Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2) have submitted a shadow report to the United Nations CEDAW (Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women) Committee. Singapore acceded to CEDAW in 1995. Countries who are party to CEDAW commit themselves to developing policies and regulatory frameworks
Transient Workers Count Too and the Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics (HOME) submitted a joint shadow report on Indonesia to the United Nations' Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights (OHCHR) in early August 2017. As a signatory to the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members
Transient Workers' Count Too's Work Fatigue survey (see here for more about the study) was featured in Today newspaper on 6 May 2017. As often is the case in Singapore, the story leads with a headline ("Firms which don’t give workers enough rest taken to task: MOM") and a response from the government claiming that
Transient Workers Count Too was represented at a meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, where the Bangladesh government's handling of migrant worker issues came under scrutiny. Specifically, Bangladesh's governance was reviewed against its commitments to the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and their Families. Bangladesh ratified this convention in August
L-R: Minarul, Bayazid and Soroardi By Sean Yee In Parliament on 6 February 2017, Manpower minister Lim Swee Say said, "MOM received about 9,000 salary-related claims involving some 4,500 employers in 2016. So, 9,000 claims; 4,500 employers. Through mediation by MOM and adjudication by the Labour Court, we have been able to resolve
Transient Workers Count Too and the Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics (HOME) submitted a joint shadow report to the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families (CMW) on Bangladesh. It was submitted via the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva. This
