The courageous actions taken by a group of migrant workers have prompted critical discussions regarding migrants’ rights in Singapore. Last week, when a road collapsed into a 10ft deep sinkhole, taking a car with it, nearby construction workers immediately rushed to rescue the driver. Grabbing a rope from their work site, they pulled the woman to safety within minutes.

This is not an isolated case of migrant workers risking their lives to help others. An article by the BBC shows Singapore has built its economy on the backs of migrant workers, who face conditions that make them systematically vulnerable to labor abuse and exploitation.

Yet, despite an increased awareness around migrant workers issues over the years, the government does very little to instil protections that would make them resilient to exploitation. As stated in the article, there is “disproportionate power in the hands of employers, over the lives and livelihoods of migrant workers,” which more often than not, fosters environments ripe for exploitation and abuse that can easily slide into the extreme condition of modern slavery.

Built into the economy, left out of society

The workers involved in the rescue, like over a million others in Singapore, are laborers from low-income countries such as Bangladesh, India, and Myanmar. Employed in labor-intensive sectors like construction and manufacturing, the majority take on the low-wage jobs that locals avoid. Many earn as little as US$233 (£175) a month with no minimum wage protections, trapping them in cycles of poverty and dependence, exacerbating their vulnerability to labor abuse.

They often live in harsh conditions in crowded dormitories far from residential neighborhoods, isolated physically and socially from the rest of the city. During the COVID-19 pandemic, these dormitories became virus hotspots—which improved only after advocates triggered public concern.

Today, although well documented, many migrant workers still face forced overwork, withheld or unpaid wages, and other abusive labor practices by employers and recruitment agencies.

AKM Mohsin, who runs an activity center for Bangladeshi workers in central Singapore says:

They make the news and are held up as excellent examples of humanitarian work, but their own humanity and human rights are constantly being violated at their workplaces, in how they are transported, and how they live,

Moreover, these migrant workers cannot qualify for permanent residency regardless of how long they’ve worked in the country. And they need government approval to marry Singaporeans. The work permits they hold are different from foreign professionals and executives, reinforcing a system that controls and restricts their freedoms and rights. This makes migrant workers systematically vulnerable due to their legal status being constantly precarious.

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