- Title: SINGAPORE: Migrant workers face unemployment and debt from recession
- Date: 14th March 2009
- Summary: WIDE OF CONSTRUCTION SITE CRANES MIGRANT WORKERS STANDING AT CONSTRUCTION SITE VARIOUS OF WORKERS BEING SERVED FOOD (SOUNDBITE) (English) UNEMPLOYED MIGRANT WORKER FROM BANGLADESH, IBRAHAMIN, SAYING: "I go back, better. Singapore, problem. Singapore never working, never give money. Everything no good here, working, I no Singapore. I go back Dhaka." (SOUNDBITE) (English)
- Embargoed: 29th March 2009 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Singapore
- Country: Singapore
- Topics: Economic News
- Reuters ID: LVA7HM83EEX9FG0D60VBHHCJ6FS3
- Story Text: Singapore's migrant workers are the latest casualties of the global economic crisis as developers delay or halt construction and companies downsize.
The island city of Singapore is a major success story in Asia. The rapid pace of development in the city has been built on the backs of migrant workers from the region, who for decades have worked in the shipping and construction industries.
But with Singapore facing its worst ever recession and its founder and former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew saying the economy could shrink by as much as 10 percent this year, the future for the once tiger Asian economy is not looking bright.
Migrant workers are among the worst affected by this downturn as massive construction projects are halted or companies are simply unable to makemeet.
Singapore's construction, shipyard and manufacturing industries were once red hot, hiring almost 800,000 migrants in 2007. But as the economy slid into recession, demand for labour dived and major projects were cancelled or delayed.
Jonh Gee, head of Transient Workers Count Too, a Singapore based organisation dedicated to looking after the welfare of migrant workers says in the past few months, many more workers have been coming to them for help.
"Most workers who come here, they fulfill their contracts, they go home. It's not a big problem, but definitely in the economic crisis, we are seeing more employers being squeezed for cash and among the first victims will be migrant workers. They look where they can make the cut and that's what happens. So, first of all a payment runs late and then it becomes non-payment," said Gee.
The organisation runs a "Free Meal Programme" every weekday for breakfast and dinner for migrant workers who can't find enough work to makemeet.
Ibrahamin came to Singapore last year to earn money to support his family in Bangladesh. Little did he know that an economic storm brewing continents away would kill his humble dream and leave him in debt.
After taking out almost US$6,000 in loans to pay employment agency fees to work in Singapore, he arrived on the island and was told almost immediately there was no job for him. The company could not afford him. Ibrahamin, who is now living at a metro station and surviving on one free meal a day, is eager to go home.
"I go back, better. Singapore, problem. Singapore never working, never give money. Everything no good here, working, I no Singapore. I go back Dhaka," said Ibrahamin.
Forty-two-year-old Abdul Kalam from Bangladesh has been living in Singapore unemployed under a special pass for months. He is struggling to survive.
"Singapore no job, no working. I am nine months coming Singapore.
Not even one dollars Bangladesh send. My family have problem. My family have, my brother, sister have no money but Singapore my sleeping, makan (food) many many problem, no job, no money," said Kalam.
Many of the workers who come to this restaurant for free meals are homeless, unemployed and don't have the money to buy a ticket back home. They are stuck with no means of making in a tough job market.
According to the Singapore law, their employers are bound to pay for their way home. But many of them here have been left stranded.
According to the Ministry of Manpower, as of end 2008, there were approximately 230,000 foreign construction workers in Singapore. Although there is no definite figure as to the number of migrant workers expected to lose their jobs from the economic crisis, anecdotal evidence and estimates from aid agencies show a significant number will be affected.
But as their economic health declines, the social well-being of migrant workers is also under threat.
Many, who paid for their Singapore trip by borrowing money from siblings or agents find themselves in debt.
Others, who choose to remain in the host country, find themselves having to become illegal migrants, accepting lower pay and taking on riskier jobs.
Analysts say the government has to step in to help this vulnerable lot that have been exposed to the economic crisis.
"The government has to step in. These workers have been contributing to the economy, so during bad times it's not morally right just to ignore them and make them find their way back home. Someone has to send them home and in this situation if the employers are not doing it, the government can take the employers to task but at least someone has to give them the money for them to go back," said Dr. Tilak Abeysinghe of the National University of Singapore Human rights groups say many of the world's estimated 100 million migrant workers are in dire predicaments as economic woes in the Gulf, Singapore and Taiwan lead to mass layoffs of labourers from countries such as Bangladesh, China, India, Pakistan, the Philippines and Sri Lanka.
Layoffs of these migrant workers may raise unemployment and poverty in their home countries as they return without jobs and often with hefty debts.
It could also slow economic growth in countries such as Bangladesh, the Philippines and Sri Lanka which are deeply reliant on remittances sent home by migrant workers.
As a result of the economic slowdown, the World Bank said it expects remittances, the lifeblood for millions in the developing world, to moderate significantly over the next two years and that remittances in 2009 will fall almost 1 percent. Global remittance flows stood at $283 billion U.S. dollar last year. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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