RE Literature Review

1. RE Literature Review On Foreign Labour Policies - “Our Governments and Us”

2. Abstract • With the rise of globalization, foreign labour is becoming an increasingly popular labour option • Lower wages than local labourers • No union or political clout • Often leads to violations of foreign labourers’ rights • Examine the role which the Governments around the world played in helping foreign labourers. • Three case studies: Singapore, Russia and Saudi Arabia

3. Singapore • The PAP encourages the employment of foreign labourers • As of March 2006, there are 670,000 foreign labourers in Singapore – a 170% increase since the last 46 years • On the other hand, • There is rapid rise in the number of cases of foreign labourer abuse • In 1997, there were 4 cases of domestic worker abuse. In 2000, there were 39 cases • “Foreign labourers complain, among others, of unsafe working environments, insufficient pay, and physical abuse by employers.” – Human Rights Watch Report

4. PAP To The Rescue! • The Ministry of Manpower provides a special hotline for foreign labourers • Prints information on employees’ rights and police hotline number; random interviews conducted to ensure that they are not abused • Singapore Government funds shelter for abused workers, providing them with counseling, health care, physical security and skills development programs – www.humantrafficking.org • However, some cases has still slipped through MOM’s scrutiny Rating: Good Job

5. In Soviet Russia…… • The financial crisis adds fuel to the nationalist anti-foreigners flame • For example: Russia, hit by global recession, faces widespread loss of jobs for rural native workers. • Companiesretrench local workers • Turn to foreign labourers for workforce • Foreign labourers work for much lower salary than locals • “Recent executions push the number of race murders to more than forty”, which is “twice the number of race murders at this point last year” (Sova, Moscow-based organization, 2007 report)

6. The Party Finds YOU! • Russia revised its migration laws recently • Workers who enter Russia without a visa can legalize their stay and employment more easily • This prevents unscrupulous employers from blackmailing workers • Threaten to report the labourers without a visa to the authorities • Fearing a fine or a jail term, the labourers would have to work in harsh environments, with little pay • Unfortunately, the reforms “do not go far enough to protect migrant workers from abuse “ – Human Rights Watch Feb 2009 Rating: Not up to standard

7. Saudi Arabia…’Nuff Said • Foreign workers in Saudi Arabia are frequently exposed to “egregious abuses” with “little or no hope of redress” • Ramani Prianka, a worker there, worked from 4.30am till midnight, without fail every day. • Others complain that their pay is routinely late, or that it is partially, or sometimes even totally, withheld from them • Their complaints were rarely heeded • It was not until 1992 that foreign workers obtained the right to litigation; not much has changed since then