The Online Citizen Expose: Repatriation Companies

[jia77]

The Online Citizentheonlinecitizen.com/2009/01/toc-expose-repatriation-companies has various other articles written on foreign workers in Singapore. Oh and if you have the time, check out the comments that follow the articles: they can either amuse you or make your blood boil further.

The following is a clearly written piece by Jolovan Wham, social

Comments

[ptechnix]

That's pretty darn shit but I still don't get the lack of involvement by the authorities. I mean, if detaining a person against their will is illegal, aren't they required to investigate no matter what?

Isn't assault and battery by the UTR personal illegal, which again the police is by law required to investigate?

I can't imagine how UTR could get away with it for so law as their conduct is blatantly criminal. Boggles the mind really...

I think stories like this has to hit the mainstream media/news outlets for pressure to be placed on the relevant ministers and authorities. More human rights organisations local and international should be involved in bringing these issues to light.

That's fucked up that is. I can understand why the employer would do this, but to have no respect the rights of individual worker, he really needs to have his legs broken.

[jia77]

Sick shit, right? This article made me cry, man.

These repatriation companies are registered as "security companies", as legitimate businesses. We have also asked MOM officers directly about this issue - the official view is that there is nothing criminal about "providing security" in Singapore. If anything, it is the workers who are seen as criminal/potentially criminal for the perceived threat of runnning away, hence causing the $5000 forfeit borne by the employer - an assumption which already shrouds the worker in doubt and suspicion, hence reinforcing the perceived need of these repatriation companies and more generally, exacerbating the discrimination and vulnerabilities these workers are subjected to.

[ptechnix]

Strange that this amount of power to restrain and detain with force and minimal/no evidence be granted to a private company. Government agencies I can understand, but a private company?

No innocent until proven guilty? It's even worse than suspected terrorists being arrested and hauled away with no substantial evidence.

You'd think human rights organisations and the media would have a field day tearing these guys a new one and giving the Minister in charge a headache!

[delightt]

In Singapore you're guilty until proven innocent, I think that's been made pretty clear.

Thanks Jia for posting this. It's amazing the arrogance of Singaporeans, to treat others so inhumanely - it's unbelievable that we ourselves could adopt this colonial mentality and approach. The reluctance of law enforcement to help people who can't help themselves; their blatant elitism, racism and xenophobia is truly a shame to the nation.

[ptechnix]

Seeing as I've just moved to Singapore, I've still yet to really gain an in depth insight into how the system really functions. Would you really consider Singapore a largely xenophobic nation? Elitism definitely, but so far from what I've observed, the populous seem to see people from a large cross section of cultures as equals.

I would think that Singapore being so small, so well policed, and so well regulated, that even should a person manage to do the runner and avoid repatriation, they would have almost no chance of living a life here. There's just no where to hide and your identity is required for almost everything! The government shouldn't be concerned if an employer loses his bond, as it shouldn't be that hard for the authorities to track down illegal aliens anyway right? And human rights should always take place over some employer trying to protect his bond!

[delightt]

Yes, xenophobic. Who is it you see Singaporeans being "equal" to? Certainly the migrant Chinese and Indian labour?! I've hung out with a pretty large cross-section of Singaporeans for a lot of my life, and there are some obvious patterns that emerge. Get a group of Singaporean Chinese talking about the Indians, or the Malays, for example.

As for human rights - I've thought it pretty clear that the issue of human rights is not an important concern in Singapore. The "safety" and "security", "progress" and "prosperity" of the nation matters more. Hang around long enough and you'll hear people confessing that they don't care about human rights and liberty as long as their bread and butter concerns are being met. Human rights and freedom have long been sacrificed for economic prosperity.

[ptechnix]

When I say equals, I mean Singaporean Chinese, Singaporean Indians, Singaporean Malays. All Singaporeans. This is just my observations from my admittedly limited exposure thus far

[jia77]

Thanks for this lively debate, you guys