A Glimpse into Migrant Community's struggles, needs and aspirations.

After three filming sessions, the team worked on transcribing the interviews conducted, followed by a systematic coding process, to identify key themes brought up by the community. Here's what we found.

A Sense of Helplessness

Most of the interviewees have had experiences or knew of someone who had experienced a situation of helplessness, through various forms of exploitation and abuse. They talked about moments they felt stuck and fearful due to the consequences they would face if they were to make a complaint, often due to power asymmetry.

She have to be ready with the consequence. If you need to transfer, the employer sign release paper, the agency will ask you more money, more deductions, sometimes extra one or two months, depend on the agency. So this is the consequence. So mostly they will be stuck there, thinking that if they want to transfer the agency will charge more then how can I get money. So mostly they will be stuck in this until they cannot stand it anymore. Because even if I assisting them, I have to tell them the consequence so it’s very hard to.. not easy to assist them. If I just ask her to leave the house, she might lose the job. Because if the employer don’t want to give release paper then they will send her back. She lose the job and she also don’t have any money.

- An Indonesian FDW help-desk volunteer sharing the challenge in helping fellow domestic workers.

Structural & Enforcement Issues

Many also identified structural and enforcement issues to be a key reason to why the community is vulnerable to abuse and exploitation. FDWs are particularly vulnerable over other migrant workers, as they are excluded from the employment act and therefore, are not protected. However, even migrant workers covered under the act, face several issues.

The onus of approving their claims and obtaining evidence is still placed on workers, the forms that they have to fill are all in English... and they can’t really understand it...Workers don’t have the means and resources to obtain these evidences and they don’t have access to these documents.

- A male migrant worker case worker shares the common difficulties faced during enforcement.

I (have to) show the proof and MOM can help me but if you don’t have any proof, MOM cannot help me.

- A male migrant worker shares his experience on filing a complaint for 2 months of unpaid salary.

Empowerment

Despite these challenges, many of these workers use social media as a means to to reach out for help and provide help.

I use Whatsapp, so they (domestic workers) can just ask, “Sis, I’m like this, I’m like that, what should I do?” So I share what I know to them, so they also got a bit know this so it’s like we helping each other.

- A help-desk volunteer who uses social media to reach out to other domestic workers as a means to guide other domestic workers on how to negotiate with their employers and develop a good working relationship with them.

HOME and other non-governmental organisations are also seen as an avenue of empowerment, as they are allowed to gather as one and volunteer to help fellow members of the community who have been wronged by their employers.

Actually it makes me stronger and make my own self feel better. I feel I have a meaningful life here...if I don’t join HOME I’m not sure I have this (fighting) spirit. And this spirit for sure I’ll bring home because I have not only connected with NGO (in Indonesia) but with the people in my city also....I have to fight for this. I have to let the people know in my city. You have right to work abroad but you have to know your right before you work.

- A help desk volunteer shares her aspirations on educating Indonesians on their rights before going to other countries to work.

So in my neighbourhood last time, I can see domestic workers that were treated badly. So I wished to help them, but I felt that I am not in the position to do that - because they know that I am also a domestic worker. But I want to know more and I want to learn more about how to help them that’s why I came here and volunteer at HOME so I can do more for them.

- A volunteer sharing how HOME became an avenue of empowerment.

Dehumanisation

Yet one of the key problems that all the interviewees shared was the problem of dehumanisation and being treated like second-class citizens. When asked what they would like to tell Singaporeans and/or their employers, almost everyone had the same response - to be treated as humans.

Treat us as worker, the way other worker in different sector have their right. The more you respect us as a worker, the more we will respect you. This is the way we proposing. If employer respect us, we will more respect them.

- A help desk volunteer draws a comparison between workers from other sectors and the migrant community.

Because we are humans too and they should treat us also like a human. Even we know that there is a barrier that we are helpers and they are the boss, they should think that we are helping them.

- A volunteer shares that workers know they are not equal to their employers but workers can be seen as fellow humans if their employers saw how they were helping to make their lives easier.

Singapore very good, all men very good but Bangladesh men, Singapore men no same.

- A migrant worker recognises that he isn't treated the same way as other Singaporean men.

Don’t treat us like a slave. Because most of us here experience that.

- A help desk volunteer shares that many domestic workers are treated as slaves by depriving basic rights.

Afterthoughts & Retrospection

While our research showed the various ways in which workers have been exploited and abused, often due to failures in enforcement and loopholes in policies, our interviewees showed us that many of these problems exist due to the process of "Othering". The root cause of these problems, as they have identified through interviews, was the failure to be seen as humans with rights. As such, for change to be enacted structurally, FDWs and migrant workers have to be first recognised and understood as fellow human beings.