Placement and/or protection? Singapore's labour policies and practices for temporary women migrant workers

Abstract

This paper examines current labour policies directed at unskilled women migrant workers in Singapore. Since the early 1980s, the rationale underlying Singapore's labour policies towards temporary migrant workers has been that of maximizing economic benefits while simultaneously minimizing social and economic costs. But adopting this position has been increasingly difficult because of the persistent abuses these migrants experience. Closer scrutiny of the immigration policies and practices for unskilled women migrants over the last two decades reveals a gradual shift by the Singapore State towards greater seriousness in addressing temporary women migrant worker issues. This paper argues, however, that the resulting policies tend to reinforce placement procedures more than they help to ensure the actual protection and empowerment of these migrant workers. Moreover, any shift in labour policies and practices towards unskilled migrant workers tends mainly to benefit first the State, then the employer and, only last, the worker.