[ad_1]
Photograph Essays | Society | Southeast Asia
Singapore is just about the one remaining first-world nation the place it’s authorized for migrant staff to be ferried on lorries, a car designed for cargo slightly than passengers
Singapore is just about the one remaining first-world nation the place it’s authorized for migrant staff to be ferried on lorries, a car designed for cargo slightly than passengers. The observe stays authorized in Singapore, at the same time as international locations within the Center East with giant migrant employee populations, like Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, and Qatar, have banned it.
Regardless of activists and NGOs advocating on this challenge for the previous 20 years, the Singapore authorities and industries concerned haven’t proven any inclination towards banning this observe. Following the latest deadly lorry accidents in July 2023, enterprise chambers and associations issued a joint assertion on why phasing lorries out is tough, highlighting the complexities and prices concerned.
The senior minister of state for transport echoed these issues, explaining {that a} ban on lorries would put many corporations out of enterprise. To this point, there was no analysis into prices of alternate options nor a timeline for phasing out this mode of transport.
Their inertia is paradigmatic of Singapore’s tradition of low-cost labor, the place low price and aggressive income are prioritized over human lives and limbs. Unsafe transport is simply the tip of the iceberg – migrant staff additionally undergo cramped residing circumstances, minimal facilities, and exploitative wages in Singapore.
This photograph essay presents the experiences and views of low-wage migrant staff, from the lorries they experience in to their dormitories and worksites.
[ad_2]
Source link