Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery Poverty drives the unsuspecting poor into the
hands of traffickers Published
reports & articles from 2000 to 2025 gvnet.com/humantrafficking/Singapore.htm
Singapore is a
destination country for women and girls trafficked for the purpose of
commercial sexual exploitation. Some women from Thailand and the Philippines
who travel to Singapore voluntarily for prostitution or work are subsequently
deceived or coerced into sexual servitude. Some foreign domestic workers are
subject to conditions that may be indicative of labor trafficking, including
physical or sexual abuse, confiscation of travel documents, confinement,
inadequate food, rest, or accommodation, deceptions about wages or conditions
of work, and improper withholding of pay. - U.S. State Dept Trafficking in
Persons Report, June, 2009 Check out a later country report here and possibly a full TIP Report here |
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CAUTION: The following links
have been culled from the web to illuminate the situation in HOW TO USE THIS WEB-PAGE Students If you are looking
for material to use in a term-paper, you are advised to scan the postings on
this page and others to see which aspects of Human Trafficking are of
particular interest to you. Would you
like to write about Forced-Labor? Debt
Bondage? Prostitution? Forced Begging? Child Soldiers? Sale of Organs? etc. On the other
hand, you might choose to include precursors of trafficking such as poverty and hunger. There is a lot to
the subject of Trafficking. Scan other
countries as well. Draw comparisons
between activity in adjacent countries and/or regions. Meanwhile, check out some of the Term-Paper resources
that are available on-line. Teachers Check out some of
the Resources
for Teachers attached to this website. HELP for Victims Police Force HQ: 6-353-0000 Emergency: 999 ***
FEATURED ARTICLE *** Commercial sexual
exploitation and trafficking of children and young people in Singapore Veronica Uy, Inquirer, www.unwomen-nc.org.sg/uploads/FINAL%20Singapore%20Research%20Report%2021%20June%202011.pdf [accessed 16 June
2017] [accessed 6 May
2020] [PAGE 19] TRAFFICKERS AND
TRAFFICKING MECHANISMS
- The modus operandi essentially has illegal recruiters promise young women non-existent
jobs as waitresses or guest relations officers in restaurants and hotels in
Singapore. They are each charged a
minimal S$100 to S$1,000 as recruitment fee in the Philippines, and given
roundtrip tickets (sometimes the return ticket is fake), a fake invitation
letter, and “show money” for showing to Philippine immigration officials who
scrutinize their financial capacity as tourists. Expecting to work in legitimate jobs,
Filipinas end up working as prostitutes. They are forced to provide sexual
services to customers and earn commissions from alcoholic drinks to enable
them to pay the $1,000 to S$4,000 they allegedly owe their handlers. The report said victims who fled to the
embassy were provided shelter and assisted in their repatriation back to the
Philippines. They are interviewed, their affidavit taken, and are advised to
file a complaint either in Singapore or in the Philippines. ***
ARCHIVES *** 2020 Country
Reports on Human Rights Practices: Singapore U.S. Dept of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and
Labor, 30 March 2021 www.state.gov/reports/2020-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/singapore/
[accessed 23 June
2021] PROHIBITION OF
FORCED OR COMPULSORY LABOR Practices
indicative of forced labor, including withholding of wages and passports,
occurred. Migrant workers in low-wage and unskilled sectors such as domestic
work, hospitality, and construction were vulnerable to labor exploitation.
Several NGOs reported that migrant workers did not receive their salary
during the country’s COVID-19 lockdown in spite of government efforts to
require construction sector employers to make monthly declarations on the
payment of salaries to their foreign workers. The Ministry of Manpower
acknowledged that some employers were unable to pay salaries owed due to
financial difficulties but also indicated the ministry would work with them
to provide for salary payment. Some observers also
noted that the country’s employer sponsorship system made legal migrant
workers vulnerable to forced labor because there are limited circumstances in
which they may change employers without the consent of their employer. PROHIBITION OF CHILD
LABOR AND MINIMUM AGE FOR EMPLOYMENT The incidence of
children in formal employment was low, although some children worked in
family enterprises. Freedom House
Country Report 2020 Edition freedomhouse.org/country/singapore/freedom-world/2020 [accessed 8 July
2020] G4. DO INDIVIDUALS
ENJOY EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY AND FREEDOM FROM ECONOMIC EXPLOITATION? Singapore’s
inhabitants generally benefit from considerable economic opportunity, but some
types of workers face disadvantages. The country’s roughly 200,000 household
workers are excluded from the Employment Act and are regularly exploited.
Several high-profile trials of employers in recent years have drawn public
attention to the physical abuse of such workers. Laws and regulations
governing their working conditions have modestly improved formal protections
over the past decade, but the guarantees remain inadequate. In 2018, the
Ministry of Manpower issued a new work-permit condition that banned employers
from holding the paid wages and other money of foreign household workers for
safekeeping. Existing laws such as the Foreign Worker Dormitories Act of 2015
are intended to ensure the food and shelter needs of foreign workers.
However, illegal practices such as passport confiscation by employers remain
common methods of coercion, and foreign workers are vulnerable to
exploitation and debt bondage in the sex trade or industries including
construction and manufacturing. India asks
Singapore to curb trafficking Press Trust of articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2008-10-10/news/28411718_1_trafficking-racket-singapore-government-girls [accessed 7
September 2014] [accessed 23
February 2019] After five girls
from Manipur were rescued in Kuala Lumpur, India is now asking the Singapore
government to take action against the maid placement agency that allegedly
ran a human trafficking racket across many northeastern states. The maid placement agency Abel and Joe is
registered with the Singapore government and has sent girls abroad from the
northeast. The Indian embassy in Singapore
has been asked to take up the matter with the government there. Earlier,
after the girls fled from a Kuala Lumpur nightclub, the Malaysian government
helped the girls with arrangements for their return back home. Trafficking of
Filipinas in Veronica Uy, Inquirer, www.traffickingproject.org/2008/05/trafficking-of-filipinas-to-singapore.html [accessed 22
December 2010] In November 2007,
INQUIRER.net posted a special report on the growing number of young Filipino
women being lured to Philippine
Ambassador to Singapore Belen Fule-Anota said
Filipinas who want to work overseas must scrutinize their recruiters in the
Philippines well and ensure they have valid contracts before leaving the
country. She also advised jobseekers
to have their contracts duly verified by the Philippine Overseas Employment
Administration (POEA) "before packing their bags for Singapore." New Philippine Film
Raises Awareness of Sex Trafficking In Singapore Alto Broadcasting
System-Chronicle Broadcasting Network ABS-CBN, January 20, 2008 traffickingproject.blogspot.com/2008/01/mona-singapore-escort.html [accessed 22
December 2010] Mona ends up in a
brothel in TRUE STORY - According to
director Jowee Morel, “Mona Singapore Escort” exposes the reality of white
slavery in Singapore, which counts Filipinas among its victims. Despite Singapore's reputation as a strict,
law-abiding society and its hardline stance on crime (the Singapore
government has put to death even foreigners found guilty in illegal drugs cases),
Morel said human trafficking and sexual slavery are disturbing realities in
Singapore. Letter to Gov.
Kulongoski Michu Uaiyue,
June 12, 2007 www.akha.org/content/blog/page6.html [accessed 22
December 2010] [scroll down] In 2004 the Akha
woman Ms. Amue Athu, from
Disasters Increase
Risk of Human Trafficking Rofiqi Hasan, TEMPO
Interactive, Denpasar, 08 November, 2006 www.tempointeractive.com/hg/nasional/2006/11/08/brk,20061108-87306,uk.html [accessed 22
December 2010] The crimes are many
forms: distribution of 880 babies from North Sumatra to Microsoft Uses
Grants To Help Alleviate Human Trafficking Josephine Roque, All
Headline News AHN, At one time the source
article had been archived and may possibly still be accessible [here]
[accessed 11
September 2011] Microsoft Corp. has
released grants worth more than $1 million to six Asian countries to deal
with human trafficking by providing computer skills. Called the
"Unlimited Potential," the grants were distributed throughout:
Cambodia, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Why Does October 28, 2006 singabloodypore.wordpress.com/2006/10/28/why-does-singapore-imprison-the-victims-of-trafficking/ [accessed 22
December 2010] ONGOING CASES - We are concerned that the government of Singapore slams US
report on human trafficking, maid abuse Agence www.singapore-window.org/sw04/040830af.htm [accessed 22
December 2010] www.straitstimes.com/singapore/courts-crime/singapore-disputes-us-human-trafficking-report [accessed 15 January
2020] Singapore on
Monday, Aug 30, strongly rejected a US government report alleging that an
illicit trade in Asian prostitutes and the "involuntary servitude"
of some foreign maids exists in the city-state. "While Singapore is not spared from
vice activities, forced prostitution is very rare here," the Ministry of
Home Affairs said. "A small
minority of foreign domestic workers face seriously abusive labor
conditions," it said, adding that "in a few such cases, these
circumstances may amount to involuntary servitude." Comments on the
2004 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report on Ministry of Home
Affairs, www.mha.gov.sg/news_details.aspx?nid=NDU2-y0VV%2fviNbZ0%3d [accessed 14
February 2015] Human Rights
Overview Human Rights Watch [accessed 6 May
2020] Singapore’s
political environment is stifling. Citizens face severe restrictions on their
basic rights to freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly
through overly broad criminal laws and regulations. In 2017, the country
tightened the already strict limits on public assemblies contained in the
Public Order Act, which requires police permits for any “cause-related”
assembly outside the closely monitored “Speakers’ Corner.” The rights of the
LGBT community are severely curtailed: sexual relations between men remains a criminal offense, and there are no legal
protections against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or
gender identity. ***
EARLIER EDITIONS OF SOME OF THE ABOVE *** Human Rights
Reports » 2005 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices U.S. Dept of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and
Labor, March 8, 2006 2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61626.htm [accessed 11
February 2020] TRAFFICKING
IN PERSONS
– In 2004 there were three prosecutions, two of which involved forced
prostitution, and one of which involved bringing a woman into the country
under false pretenses for the purpose of prostitution. The latter case
involved a Sri Lankan woman, who was recruited in The police and
other elements of the government were widely recognized to be both effective
and among the least corrupt such institutions to be found. There were no
reports of any official involvement in trafficking in persons. All
material used herein reproduced under the fair use exception of 17 USC § 107
for noncommercial, nonprofit, and educational use. PLEASE RESPECT COPYRIGHTS OF COMPONENT
ARTICLES. Cite this webpage as: Patt,
Prof. Martin, "Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery - |
