GTI-Infrastructure Singapore

Singapore - a developed country with illustrious healthcare and social infrastructure, propelled by its smart nation vision - presents pandemic struggles through the lens of its migrant workers. Amidst the skyrocketing number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the factory-converted dormitories that house 323,000 migrant men, issues of overcrowding and poor sanitation led to low-paid migrant construction workers forming more than 88 percent of confirmed cases in Singapore. Importantly, it exposed systemic weaknesses relating to their lack of access to health care, unpaid salaries and, more worryingly, their reluctance to report abuse or violations, fearing retaliation from their employers. Current reactionary strategies involve creating a self-contained community which discourages migrant workers from venturing into public grounds, resulting in greater isolation and segregation between migrant and local communities. 

Migrant construction workers (MCW) who are suffering from exclusions, exploitations and inequalities cannot be left behind, highlighting an urgency to tackle this human development challenge. At the same time, we want to improve the predicament of migrant construction workers, through the protection of their social rights as well as their health in order to achieve sustainable human development. We therefore ask: how can inclusive infrastructure strengthen the social integration of migrant construction workers in Singapore?