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Media Release
Photos source: NTUC This Week
On 18 November afternoon, an MWC officer received a call from a distressed migrant worker claiming that his employer, Harri Engineering Private Limited, had housed and cramped 120 migrant workers into two private residential apartments on the sixth and the eighth floor of Selegie Centre. The migrant worker further shared that these workers were made to leave the apartments before daybreak and return home only at 11 pm every day.
With this information, MWC responded quickly and planned a silent visit to these apartments at 11 pm on the same night to verify the migrant worker’s claims. Upon arrival at Selegie Centre, MWC’s team of officers noticed a group of migrant workers moving their belongings into a lorry that was waiting nearby. MWC quickly visited both apartments and found more workers with their belongings waiting at their lift lobby. On engaging with these workers, MWC officers discovered that these migrant workers had just been instructed to move to an alternate accommodation.
When the team entered both the two-bedroom apartments, estimated to be less than 1,000 square feet each, they saw about 50 more migrant workers resting in a cramped manner in both units. Both apartments did not have proper bedding, broken ceiling, poor ventilation, damp clothes hanging off several surfaces and the workers were found sleeping on floors in the rooms, hall area and along walkways within the apartments.
The migrant worker also told MWC about another makeshift shelter in Geylang where their employer has used to house 16 other migrant workers. Proceeding to Geylang just past midnight, MWC found 16 migrant workers living in a basic unit with one bathroom. Showing MWC officers a sewage drain with cover in the middle of their room, workers living in the tight quarters shared that every time the toilet flushed, an overwhelming sewage stench would fill the room. Similar to the previous accommodation, the two-room shelter was very small, cramped, had poor air ventilation and damp clothes formed a border around the room on a thin clothesline.
Following the visit, Chairman of MWC Yeo Guat Kwang shared that MWC has reported their observations from the visit to the Ministry of Manpower. "This kind of behaviour among employers especially with regards to poor living and housing provisions cannot be condoned. Swift and strict action must be taken and we strongly urge the government to investigate this matter thoroughly and take action where deemed necessary. There are probably many more employers that are still partaking in such behaviour. We should send out a strong message that our society does not have a place for such practices."
MWC will continue to monitor this case closely and has committed to the migrant workers whom they visited that MWC will remain in contact with them as well as continue to be accessible for any of their needs. Workers at both sites were given the Work Permit card holders bearing the MWC 24-hr Helpline and were strongly urged to contact MWC if they encountered any other employment-related issues. They were also assured in their native language that MWC would do everything necessary to ensure that they come to no further harm or abuse which may include forced repatriation.
Mr Yeo also stated MWC’s commitment to ensuring the affected workers are cared for. He said "MWC stands ready to supplement any enforcement efforts by MOM. If the employer does not re-home the workers and action is taken against him, MWC is ready to take over the housing of affected workers."
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