Singapore’s migrant workers no longer require special permits to leave the dormitory from Friday after two years of coronavirus suppression, but campaign participants maintain some “discriminatory” restrictions. Criticized the decision.
Approximately 300,000 migrant workers, including many from South Asia, live in dormitories in prosperous urban nations, usually packed in shared rooms and sleeping in bunk beds. I am.
The vast complex was attacked by Covid-19 and closed at the beginning of the pandemic, shining a rare spotlight on rights activists saying it was a poor living condition for low-wage workers.
For most people in Singapore, strict mobility restrictions were only in place for a short period of time, but migrant workers remained largely trapped in dormitories, except to go to work or do errands. ..
Authorities gradually relaxed and developed a scheme that would allow visitors to visit specially constructed “recreation centers” and apply for special “exit passes” to visit specific areas.
Starting Friday, workers employed in industries such as construction and maintenance will no longer need a pass to leave the dormitory.
However, tightly controlled Singapore authorities have requested that you apply for a permit to visit four popular locations on Sundays and public holidays, with up to 80,000 passes available per day.
The measure is to manage “potentially high scaffolding” in these areas, a spokesman for the Ministry of Labor told AFP.
“Even if we release our visits to the community, the pandemic isn’t over and we need to be vigilant.”
Desiree Leong, a local group supporting migrant workers, welcomed the end of the exit pass requirement, but accused the remaining restrictions of being “discriminatory.”
“For the rest of us, there are no more movement restrictions,” she said. “It’s hard to understand why these restrictions still apply to migrant workers.”
