This Video Shows How Young And Poor Domestic Workers Are Abused In Singapore
It's a living hell.
By Sadho Ram — 02 Oct 2016, 12:48 PM
An investigation by Al Jazeera's 101 East sheds light on how 15-year-old girls are scooped from remote villages in Myanmar to be sent to the high-rises of Singapore to work illegally as domestic workers
While some return back to their villages after running away and spending years in shelters, there are some who never make it home
24-year-old Piang Ngaih Don was murdered by her employers, a mother and daughter, at their ninth-floor flat at Block 145, Bishan Street 11, earlier in July this year.
If convicted, the Indian-origin mother and daughter will face the death penalty.
By law, the domestic workers in Singapore must be at least 23 years old. However, that's not the case, according to one NGO which it says sees more and more minors at its shelter for abused maids.
While there are laws in place to safeguard domestic workers, they hardly work, with employers and employment agencies often find ways to skirt these rules.
Trapped in the web of deceit and corruption in the recruitment process, these young girls are often left with no choice but to continue suffering emotionally and physically.
The 101 East investigation also reveals how immigration officials are regularly bribed to fabricate birthdates on travel documents of these girls from Myanmar.