Singapore NGO expanding to help more foreign workers

SINGAPORE: The Migrant Workers' Centre, an NGO in Singapore, is expanding its operations by opening a new head office here to help more foreign labourers, especially those from India and Bangladesh.


By year end, the Migrant Workers' Centre (MWC) will have a new and larger head office along Serangoon Road, catering to Indian and Bangladeshi workers, Channel NewsAsia reported.

The MWC is an NGO whose mission is to champion fair employment practises and the well-being of migrant workers in Singapore.

Singapore has close to 1.1 million rank-and-file foreign workers, working in the construction sector and the services sector under work permit scheme.

Cases like the illegal strike by bus drivers from China last year have highlighted disputes between foreign workers and their employers. On top of the services it is already providing, Channel NewsAsia understands the new centre will also have a temporary shelter that can house up to 12 workers.

The centre's chairman Yeo Guat Kwang said the key objective was to make sure those who need help get it early.

"With some of the recent incidents, I think there is greater awareness of some of these dispute resolutions and what we can do to help the (foreign) workers," Yeo said.

The centre was also working with authorities on a job placement scheme for foreign workers who were stranded and jobless in Singapore, either due to pay disputes or pending injury claims.

"It was important for us not only to just ask Ministry of Manpower to expedite the process, but at the same time to provide them with shelter and at the same time, see how we can help them have a temporary job for them to tide over the difficult time," Yeo said.

Currently, only those who are prosecution witnesses in the Manpower Ministry's investigations are allowed to find work in the country.

Set up in 2009, the centre is a bipartite initiative of the National Trades Union Congress and the Singapore National Employers' Federation.