Singapore migrant worker works under COVID frontier | Coronavirus pandemic News

Singapore – Situated between large rows of public housing blocks and a crowded road surrounded by trees, the compound of Choa Chu Kang migrant workers is almost hidden.

A temporary gray wall hides the compound, which is located northwest of the island of Singapore, and it is almost impossible for anyone passing by to see what is inside.

Behind the wall is a set of blue-roofed bedrooms. Barbed wire fences are everywhere, surrounding buildings and even one of the compound basketball courts.

The compound is home to more than 300,000 migrant workers living and working in Singapore, but while the island alleviates some of the coronary antivirus restrictions, many people and other city-state workers can travel back to those who are fully vaccinated. the bedrooms have no such freedom.

“It gives us a minority complex, to go abroad before COVID, to use transportation, because we did everything, we never thought we were foreign workers,” said 36-year-old Narayan, who comes from Bangladesh and works in construction.

“Now we can’t go out and now we remember that we are foreign workers. It’s not a normal life, ”Narayan said, asking for anonymity for fear of losing his job.

For two years, workers like Narayan have been living under strict control of COVID-19.

The only time they leave their bedroom is to go to work. If they want to visit the nearby leisure centers, they must use a telephone application to request a season ticket, which allows them to leave the room.

A maximum of 3,000 fully-integrated staff are allowed to enter the wider community on a daily basis, double that on weekends and holidays to visit public places. Most men work six days a week.

‘It’s not normal life’

Such a controlled existence is in stark contrast to the lives of other Singapore residents, for whom life is finally returning to some normalcy as the country progresses.Living with COVID”.

Narayan, who has been in Singapore for almost 10 years, is increasingly frustrated by the limitations of his life.

“Guk [the workers] he hopes the government will think of us. We are human beings. We can’t stay in the bedrooms for so long. Especially for our mental health, life is not normal. ”

When COVID-19 first arrived in Singapore two years ago, the government was keen to maintain control of the situation. contact tracking system. The country remained open, with relatively small restrictions in place.

But when cases began to spread among migrant workers, the virus broke out close accommodation.

“As living conditions in the dormitories leave little room for adequate isolation, migrant workers living in the dormitories can be infected with infectious diseases,” said Michael Cheah, CEO of HealthServe, a nonprofit group that provides health care. to staff, he told Al Jazeera.

Many men work in handicrafts that are not strictly preferred by Singaporeans.

The government does not provide a breakdown of their nationalities, but most come from South Asia.

“When the first year of the pandemic hit, there were nearly 90 confirmed cases of migrant workers in Singapore. This led to the blockade of bedrooms and long-term restrictions on movement for disadvantaged groups,” Cheah said.

First complete bedroom lock They were established in April 2020. Workers were ordered to stay in their bedrooms and warned not to interfere with other staff in common areas.

At the time, the island itself was what the government said it was. “switch”But since then the division between internal staff and the rest of the external community has been impossible to ignore.

Migrant workers are almost completely cut off from the general public. They are transported from Singapore in the back of trucks, and are often only seen at the entrances to construction sites or preparing to work on the roads late at night.

“I don’t think there is a difference between a person living in a prison and me. I feel isolated because of the COVID rules and I feel very sad about the difference in life between me and other people, ”said Mohammed, a 30-year-old employee who also spoke on condition of anonymity.

The bedrooms are hidden from the rest of Singapore behind a gray perimeter wall. The staff who live there continue to face severe mobility restrictions [Al Jazeera]

Mohammed came to Singapore from Bangladesh eight years ago and has spent the last eight months stuck in his room after an accident at his workplace. The only time he is allowed to leave is to see a doctor.

“We are all human beings and we all have the same rights and COVID poses the same risk to everyone. I would like to ask MPs why they treat us all the same when we are equal. We are still human beings and we all need freedom.”

“In addition to Covid, there are other diseases that affect foreign workers who cannot seek treatment while locked up,” he added.

Concerns for the future

Constant separation from society has led to the struggles of men’s mental health.

Yale-NUS University in Singapore surveyed more than 1,000 migrant workers in the 2020 lockout period, and concluded that the restrictions on movement have exacerbated levels of depression and stress.

“The isolation of society has led to increased mental anxiety – more workers will also experience symptoms of depression and anxiety and the risk of suicide in the future. This is often in addition to financial, employment, family and health challenges for workers,” Cheah said.

Al Jazeera contacted Singapore’s Manpower Minister Tan See Leng and declined the request for an interview.

In a written statement, the Ministry of Labor said: “We have maintained good health outcomes for migrant workers, with a very low death rate for migrant workers staying in dormitories in mid-2020, even before the vaccine became available in Singapore, and none since it was vaccinated.” .

Responding to questions about mental health care for workers, the ministry said it had “established a comprehensive support system to meet the mental well-being needs of migrant workers” and provided counseling services to volunteers in person and by telephone.

An employee told Al Jazeera, “I don’t think there’s a difference between a person living in a prison and me.” [Al Jazeera]

When they were able to enjoy the ongoing restrictions on workers ’lives and the freedoms they had before the pandemic, the ministry acknowledged that it was a“ trial period ”for men.

“We will continue to make adjustments to meet the recreational and social needs of migrant workers while protecting their health,” the ministry said.

Before the pandemic broke out, workers took advantage of their day off to meet friends in Little India, a restaurant in South Asia known for its South Asian restaurants and shops.

Here, in 2013, a worker was hit by a bus, shocking the country.

Zen Singapore’s first 40-year-old incident and raised questions about the treatment of migrant workers.

With more than 98 percent of the staff living in the dormitories being fully vaccinated, some say there is no longer any “rational justification” for the authorities to continue with harsh cuts.

“The government sees COVID-19 as an opportunity to institutionalize stricter controls on migrant work in Singapore, beyond what the disease justifies,” said Alex Au, vice president of Transient Workers Count Too, a nonprofit. advocating fair treatment for migrant workers.

“Our concern is that it will go beyond the day the pandemic becomes history.”