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Oh the horror! What a waste of human labor!
Migrant workers in dire straits all over globe
Shipyard caged 100 foreign staff to hide job losses
Melanie Lee, Reuters
Published: Sunday, February 08, 2009
SINGAPORE -- Ship welder Mohammad Ali came to Singapore to earn money to support his family in Bangladesh. Little did he know that an economic storm brewing continents away would kill his humble dream and leave him incarcerated in a cage.
After taking out almost $6,000 US in loans to pay employment agency fees to work in Singapore, Ali was soon laid off when the economy soured and shipyard work dried up.
What happened to him next was unimaginable. His employer locked him and 100 other workers in an outdoor cage to prevent them from telling the authorities about their unpaid salaries.
Ali was trapped like an animal for three months. His ordeal ended in September when a local advocacy group, Transient Workers Count Too, found out and told Singapore's labour ministry.
Ali, who is now living at a metro station and surviving on one free meal a day, is eager to go home. "Come to Singapore is no good, I want to go back to Bangladesh,"Ali said in broken English.
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Shipyard caged 100 foreign staff to hide job losses
Melanie Lee, Reuters
Published: Sunday, February 08, 2009
SINGAPORE -- Ship welder Mohammad Ali came to Singapore to earn money to support his family in Bangladesh. Little did he know that an economic storm brewing continents away would kill his humble dream and leave him incarcerated in a cage.
After taking out almost $6,000 US in loans to pay employment agency fees to work in Singapore, Ali was soon laid off when the economy soured and shipyard work dried up.
What happened to him next was unimaginable. His employer locked him and 100 other workers in an outdoor cage to prevent them from telling the authorities about their unpaid salaries.
Ali was trapped like an animal for three months. His ordeal ended in September when a local advocacy group, Transient Workers Count Too, found out and told Singapore's labour ministry.
Ali, who is now living at a metro station and surviving on one free meal a day, is eager to go home. "Come to Singapore is no good, I want to go back to Bangladesh,"Ali said in broken English.
...
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