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A migrant boat off the coast of Lampedusa, Italy. Photo: dpa picture alliance/ AlamyStock Photo

During the peak of Europes coronavirus crisis, immigration a perennial hot-button issue in Italy was conspicuously MIA from the countrys political debate.

Not any more. A fresh surge of migrants arriving across the Mediterranean, combined with a string of mass escapes from migrant quarantine facilities, has reignited tensions over irregular immigration into Italy, as anti-immigration politicians cast the new arrivals as a potential threat to public health.

The growing number of arrivals and breakouts the most recent of which happened on Monday have heaped pressure on the countrys coalition government, and been gratefully seized on by anti-immigrant opposition politicians, who have painted the escapees as potential carriers of the virus.

For the last ten days, immigration has been back at the top of the Italian political agenda, Teresa Coratella, program manager in the Rome office of the European Council on Foreign Relations, told VICE News. The government is deeply divided; this is putting a lot of pressure inside the coalition. Were back in a critical point of the political debate.

READ: Social Media Footage Shows Massive Explosion Rocking Beirut

Coratella said the tensions had been created by a huge surge in arrivals that began last month, when more than 5,000 migrants arrived by boat on Italian shores, compared with about 1,000 in July of 2019 and 2,000 the previous July.

About 200 more migrants arrived on the island of Lampedusa overnight on Monday alone. The new arrivals were taken to an overcrowded reception center built to hold 95 people, which now holds nearly ten times that number.

The surge has been driven by a massive flow of people fleeing political and economic instability in Tunisia, currently in the grip of a major political crisis. Of the 13,700 migrants the Italian government says have arrived by boat this year, more than a third were Tunisians.

Alarm over the surge in arrivals some of whom have been photographed landing on beaches surrounded by sunbathing tourists, or even disembarkingwith rolling suitcases and a pet poodle in tow has been compounded by mass escapes from reception centers where the new arrivals are required to spend a mandatory 14-day quarantine.

About 50 Tunisians escaped by climbing the fence of a migrant center in the Sicilian town of Porto Empedocle on Monday, sparking a major manhunt. It was the second large breakout from the facility, after about 100 people escaped last week. Italian media reported the facility, which had capacity for 100 people, was holding about 500 migrants at the time.

Just days earlier, 184 migrants fled another Sicilian detention center in Caltanissetta.

Coratella said the escapes appeared to be motivated by widespread fears among Tunisians that they would be repatriated as economic migrants without a legitimate asylum claim.

READ: China Is Sending a COVID Testing Team to Hong Kong. Locals Worry It Might Be a Front for Government Spying.

Amid growing public alarm over the rising number of arrivals and escapes, senior ministers have condemned the situation, sent a naval ship to the Sicilian coast to act as a floating quarantine center and raised the prospect of cutting off development funding to Tunisia unless it stops the boats leaving its shores. Interior Minister Luciana Lamorgese said Italy was grappling with an uncontrolled flow from Tunisia that was creating significant problems for the health system.

But that hasnt been enough to blunt the attacks from the countrys anti-immigration populists, who have gratefully seized on the issue and condemned the government for failing to do enough to control immigration.

Giorgia Meloni, head of the Brothers of Italy party, has attacked the center-left ruling coalition for subjecting Italians to draconian lockdown measures while allowing illegal immigrants to transgress our borders and violate quarantine, wandering around infected, while Salvini, the leader of the populist Lega party, has been firing daily broadsides at the government over the issue.

Salvini feels hes losing support, so hes using the only two strong arguments he has: migration and coronavirus, said Coratella. These merge together to create the perfect political propaganda immigrants bring coronavirus to Italy.

So far, she said, that claim hasnt been supported by the testing of migrants, which had found only low levels of COVID-19 infection among the new arrivals. But that hasnt quelled fears among a public that is only just emerging from the trauma of one of the worlds worst outbreaks. Nor have recent clusters detected on migrant boats elsewhere in the Mediterranean; last week, 65 of 94 migrants who were brought to Malta after being rescued at sea tested positive for the virus.

Link:
Mass Breakouts from Quarantine Centers Are Reigniting Immigration Tensions in Italy - VICE

The pandemic has proven to be challenging times for every community in the country. The worst hit by this crisis is the lower income group of the nation which is not only vulnerable because the low wage system but also due to the lack of infrastructure of the country in terms of health, housing, transportation, food and life security. With all the business being shut it has evidently taken a toll upon the economy of the country. The pandemic has been successful in affecting each and every sector of our economic built up. If analysed from a wider perspective the crisis has created a multi dimensional domino effect. With a pandemic at hand, it has also given rise to a migrant crisis added with the burden of providing people with suitable security needed amid the economic slowdown. Within all this, a crucial question of payment of wages and salaries to the employees came into the picture before the government which went to a number of twist and turns throughout the period of last 3 months. Now, from any natural justice giving mechanism it is clearly expected that, the system would be able to empathise with all the parties involved and shall be able to reach, in the words of the Supreme Court- a reasonable solution through negotiation. The attempt would be to analyse the opinions and conditions attached to both judiciary and the legislative decisions in the matter. Adding to which determination regarding the numerous other interests and strategies involved is also be made which shall guide us towards understanding this convoluted affair which comprises of the some major stakeholders of our welfare oriented state.

The issue begins with an order passed on March 20 by the Ministry of Labour and Employment where it was notified that all the employers were duly bound to pay the wages or salaries to all their employees, further adding that they also could not deduct any percentage of money from the payment. Interestingly not much clarity was given on the specifications as to what kind of work does it apply to nor did it specify as to what nature of employer- employee relationship comes into its ambit thus giving it a larger scope of interpretation which aided to the deteriorating chaotic conditions. In a addition to this on March 29 the Government of India, to effectively implement the lockdown order and to mitigate the economic hardship of the migrant workers issued an order under Section 10(2)(1) of the NDMA. It directed the State governments and the Union Territories to issue orders, compulsorily requiring all the employers in the industrial sector, shops and commercial establishments to pay wages to their workers at their workplaces on the due date without any deduction during their closure due to lockdown. With this, the government gave it a legal angle by making it an obligation and non adherence of which was a straight legal offence. This was practiced by The Home Secretary, Ministry of home affairs in exercise of the powers conferred by Section 10(2) (l)of the Disaster Management Act, 2005. The Central Government issued the MHA Order to restrict the movement of migrant workers within the country in order to contain the spread of COVID-19 in the country.The MHA Order directed the governments and authorities of the states or union territories to take necessary action and issue orders to their respective District Magistrate or Deputy Commissioner and Senior Superintendent of Police or Superintendent of Police or Deputy Commissioner of Police, to implement the additional measures contained therein. Furthermore the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship ordered all the establishments to pay full stipend to the designated and trade apprentices engaged by them during the lockdown period. All these tumultuous orders coming back to back from different ministries were bound to create panic amongst the industrial employers of the country also keeping in mind that the vagueness of all these order further makes the condition even more vulnerable due to its open interpretation.

It was after this, that numerous petitions were filed in the Supreme Court challenging the order. A batch of petitions came before the Apex Court challenging the constitutional validity of the MHA Order. Among the petitioners, the Karnataka-based Ficus Pax Private Limited filed a writ petitionchallenging the constitutional validity of the MHA Order as well as an advisory dated March 20, 2020issued by the Ministry of Labour and Employment, on the grounds that they violated Articles 14 and 19(1)(g) of the Constitution of India and, were in contravention of the principles of 'equal work, equalpay' and 'no work, no pay'by not differentiating between the workers so covered and those who had been working during the lockdown. The petitioners submitted that in light of the pandemic and the subsequent lockdown, many industries were unsustainable and already at the brink of insolvency, wherein payment of full wages to its workers would drive them out of business. They even argued that they should be allowed to pay the worker 70% less and the rest of the amount should be taken care of throughthe funds collected by the Employees State Insurance Corporation or the PM Cares Fund or through any other government fund. The basis of this demand seemed compelling and credible pertaining to the fact that they have not been able to conduct business because of the nationwide lockdown and that being forced to pay workers in full in these compelling circumstances has put extreme financial and mental stress on them. Amid all this, the reasoning given by the government was that it was a temporary order which shall be mandatorily applicable for 54 days as the migrant crisis was at its peak, thus the payments of wages would help in bringing the crisis into some stability. The bases of the orders were termed to be completely altruistic and humanitarian which had the goal to avert human suffering. What needs to be analysed here is that the way in which the orders have turned out by different ministries without much interpretation or conditional clauses clearly shows the short sightedness of the government. It seems as if the government failed to recognise that the ongoing pandemic is not limited to the vulnerable sections of the society but even the middle class employers and high end firms are under its atrocities as well. During this global pandemic and economic slowdown, solutions in the form of such orders are by no means an efficient solution. Further adding to the facts if we may try to connect the dots the orders are so ambiguous by each ministry that not only do they create an unrest is the industrial set up but are also unable to address the more technical aspects of the issue including the question of managerial level employees, paid leave adjustments, accurate timing of the payment etc. All these factors leave a room for a lot of exploitation while social welfare of the country takes a back seat.

Acknowledging the gravity of the situation, on May 15, 2020, the Apex Court had asked the Central Government not to take any coercive action for a week against companies and employers who were unable to pay full wages to their workers or employees during the nationwide lockdown. After reserving the order on June 4 2020, the judgement was pronounced by three judge bench comprising Justice Ashok Bhushan, SK Kaul and MR Shah in batch of petitions filed by more than 15 MSMEson 12 June 2020. The court highly emphasised upon the fact that the notification compelled the payment of 100% of the salaries. It could have been around 50 to 75% by the firms. So the question stood, do they have the power to get them to pay 100%, and on their failure to do so, prosecute them. The court was also of the point of view that such standards should only be set after the negotiations with the industries and the government should rather act as a facilitator of solutions rather than behaving in an authoritarian manner such as in the present case. So on June 12 2020 the court gave its verdict upon the issue addressing the various aspects and expectations from the parties involved. The court expressed that, the employers willing to enter into negotiation and settlement with the workers or employees regarding payment of wages for the 50 Days period, may initiate a process of negotiation with their employees' organization and enter into a settlement with them. If they are unable to settle by themselves, a request may be submitted to the concerned labour authorities. This advisory was also made to those firms which were functioning during the lockdown period but not to their full capacity. The court also conveyed that the employers who proceed to take the steps recommended shall publicize and communicate about their steps to the workers and employees for their response or participation. Such a settlement would be without prejudice to the rights of employers and would promote the willingness of the parties towards a solution. Further adding, that if a mutual agreement is reached by the parties till the end of July then further legal formalities would be initiated. The present directions given are the most practical and viable solutions which the judiciary could have provided given the uncertainty of the situation, considering that due and timely payment of wages also comes within the ambit of legal rights of the labourers but at the same time it is equally important to address and acknowledge the special case of the ongoing of pandemic. Keeping the same in mind, the harmonious approach which the court has recommended to follow sets a precedent for any future decision which the government might take to cater to the present crisis. A key highlight which shall be noticed here is that the court was silent upon the non compliance of any regulation which would be initiated after the negotiation. This sends us into an assumption that it was done so with an intention to maintain harmonious relationships within the industry and also to prevent any further disturbances. The essence of the judgement is the far sightedness adapted by the court as all the steps suggested would not only almost solve the current issue at hand but would also ensure and aid the process of the post crisis economy revival.

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Scrutinising the anarchical situation of wage regulation in the country amid the covid pandemic - Lexology

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New Delhi: The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Labour, in its report on Code on Social Security, 2019, has recommended that the time limit for payment of gratuity to an employee after termination of employment should be reduced from the current five years of continuous service to just one year.

The committee, which submitted its report to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla Friday, also said the provision of gratuity should be extended to all kinds of employees, including contract labourers, seasonal workers, piece rate workers, fixed term employees and daily/monthly wage workers.

Recommending the reduction of time limit, the committee noted in its report, most people are employed for a short duration period only, making them ineligible for gratuity as per extant normsthe committee desires that the time limit of five years as provided for in the code for payment of gratuity be reduced to continuous service of one year.

This code will replace nine existing social security laws and is pending before Parliament. The parliamentary committee, headed by senior BJD MP Bhartruhari Mahtab, had examined the code referred to it by the Lok Sabha last December.

Also read: Migrant workers, freelancers must be under social security net, Parliamentary panel suggests

Considering the migrant crisis, which had unfolded in the wake of a nationwide lockdown, the parliamentary panel has also recommended that inter-state migrant workers be mentioned as a separate category in the Code on Social Security, 2019 and a welfare fund be created exclusively for them.

The fund should be financed proportionately by the sending states, the receiving states, the contractors, the principal employers and the registered migrant workers.

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The funds so created should exclusively be used for workers/employees not covered under other welfare funds, the committee said.

ThePrint had reported on 30 July that the parliamentary panel has also recommended universalisation of social security coverage to include domestic workers, migrant workers, gig workers (freelancers), platform workers (who access other organisations using online platforms and earn money, such as Uber, Ola drivers) and agricultural workers.

To address issues of identification and help in inter-state portability while extending welfare aids, especially at the time of distress and exigencies like Covid-19 pandemic, the panel has called for the creation of a central online portal and database of registered establishments as well as migrant workers, including building and other construction staff.

The parliamentary panel has said it should be made mandatory for all establishments, including agricultural, non-agricultural, contract as well as self-employed workers to register under one body, instead of multiple organisations. This body should remain responsible for provision of social security for all types of workers in the country.

The parliamentary panel came down heavily on states for under-utilisation and misuse of the Building and Construction Workers Welfare Fund.

The committee is perturbed to note the latest audit findings on underutilisation of BOCW funds by as many as 24 states and misutilisation of such funds by one state. It is a matter of serious concern that states are sitting on thousands of crores of rupees collected towards the welfare of construction workers, even as labourers have been left to fend for themselves amid the prolonged lockdown period arising out of the Covid-19 pandemic, the report states.

The committee has recommended an enabling mechanism in the code itself for portability of Building and Construction Workers Welfare Fund among states so money due to beneficiaries can be paid in any state irrespective of where the cess has been collected.

The Building and Construction Workers Welfare Fund is raised by levying a cess of 1 per cent of the construction cost. It is part of the Building and Other Construction Workers (BOCW) Act, 1996, which regulates employment and working conditions of construction workers and also provides for their safety and welfare measures.

Also read: Directly employed, self-employed also migrant workers under Modi govts new definition

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Reduce gratuity payment period to 1 yr, extend it also to daily wagers Parliament panel says - ThePrint

Written by Pranav Mukul, Aashish Aryan, Prabha Raghavan, Aanchal Magazine | New Delhi | Updated: August 4, 2020 10:44:23 am Many of them are now realising that the rural economy has hit a saturation point and cannot absorb more workers.

A key bellwether of activity in the manufacturing sector slipped in July after two months of steady growth reflecting the adverse impact of localised lockdowns by states to fight the surging Covid curve. For those who lost their jobs, this fresh metric three months into the lockdown PMI falling to 46 in July from 47.2 in June is a disquieting reminder that a return to normalcy, or even a sustainable uptick, is far away.

More so for the thousands, who because of job losses or lacking a safety net if infected, moved from metros and urban industrial hubs to their hometowns and villages. Many of them are now realising that the rural economy has hit a saturation point and cannot absorb more workers.

Take Chittranjan Kushwaha.

The first in his family to hold a diploma in engineering, 30-year old Kushwaha went to Pune in 2014 and found an assembly line job with a major auto-component maker. Earning a monthly average of Rs 21,000, he was laid off in the lockdown and so returned to his family in Kushinagar, eastern Uttar Pradesh.

Opinion| Despite govt claims, migrants continue to be vulnerable and abandoned

Unlike many, Kushwaha got lucky: his diploma helped him get a job at a Common Service Centre (CSC) but at less than one third of his Pune salary.

His expenses are down as he doesnt have to pay rent but the drastic cut in income means he has to cut several corners. One big casualty: his childrens education.

After schools closed, I paid fees for a month. After that I got them de-registered. How will I pay Rs 1500 for three kids? he said.

Kushwahas case is emblematic of the crisis that has hit a majority of those who returned. Their scale is sweeping.

Official records show that of the 64 lakh migrant workers across 116 districts in six states Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand and Odisha (covered under the Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan), a quarter returned to just 17 districts across these states.

The highest number of returned migrants under the scheme has been registered for Bihar, with 32 districts accounting for 23.6 lakh or 37.2 per cent of the total migrant workers covered, followed by Uttar Pradesh, with 17.47 lakh returned workers (27.5 per cent of the total) and Madhya Pradesh with 10.71 lakh workers or 16.9 per cent of the total.

Read| Rs 50,000-crore scheme to provide jobs for migrants returning home

The progress of the monsoon and a good summer sowing notwithstanding, the surge in Covid-19 case numbers in Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh is beginning to hurt the rural economy and so most of these workers are struggling to make ends meet.

The reduction in disposable income for many families comes on the top of an already increased household savings a metric that indicates people start saving more than they spend to cover themselves in situations like job losses or pay cuts, which, in turn, is an indicator of a slump in the economy.

RBI records show net financial savings went up to 7.7% of GDP in 2019-20, compared with 7.2% in 2018-19.

This improvement has occurred due to moderation in household bank borrowings being sharper than that in bank deposits, except in the fourth quarter of 2019-20 due to COVID-19 related economic disruptionsSeveral studies show that households tend to save more during a slowdown and income uncertainty, the RBI noted.

Explained| Half of 30 lakh workers who returned to UP are unskilled, MNREGA the main avenue for jobs so far

Job opportunities, few and far between, for those who have returned home are largely coming from public setups. A number of states, including Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, have rolled out migrant labour employment schemes, in addition to the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGA).

In all of the 116 districts covered under the Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan, the number of households availing MGNREGA work in these districts jumped to 89.83 lakh during May 86.27 per cent up from 48.22 lakh in the same month last year.

However, despite these efforts, several are still struggling to find a job.Companies such as Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, Indias biggest carmakers, have been ramping up output but are largely relying on local workers since those from UP and Bihar are yet to return.

Deepak Kumar from Dhagar in Bhiwani district is among those who has queued up at Marutis Manesar factory over the past few days. With the facility restoring output to near normal levels, Kumar and other ITI diploma-holders from nearby towns in Haryana many have prior work experience here have responded to calls to return.

My hope is that even if they keep me as a temporary employee, they should not ask me to leave soon, Kumar said. Until he got the call, he said, he was unemployed and working on a farm.

Similar is the plight of Santosh Kumar, 32, from Dinapatti village in Supaul, Bihar. He ran errands at a small aviation logistics company in Mumbai but went back to his village in May in a three-wheeler auto-rickshaw along with three other persons.

Right now there is a lockdown, how can I go back. I am relying on farming for survival in my village, he said.

When will his company resume operations is anybodys guess. While in the Centres financial package, micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) were among the main intended beneficiaries, these are yet to recover from the impact.

According to a survey by CARE Ratings conducted over two weeks from June 23 to July 7, one-third of the MSMEs faced revenue losses of over 50% in the last 3 months and over 60% have been unable to pay full salaries to their staff.

Santosh said he received the cash transfer of Rs 1,000 from the government and also got Rs 300 a day during the quarantine. The ration supplies are procured by the family through his fathers ration card as he is yet to get a ration card in his name. Santosh said he would like to return whenever his employer calls him back. That call could take longer now.

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July harder than June, migrants out of work hit economic wall at home - The Indian Express

Recently in Singapore, several migrant workers attempted suicide at their dormitories, with at least one death. According to the authorities, some of them did so because they failed to get employers permission to leave the city after purchasing flight tickets (in Singapore, a migrant workers work permit is tied to the employer, and the employer usually keeps the workers passport, and has the authority to cancel the permit and repatriate the worker). Fortunately, most of the suicide attempts were averted by officers on site, and some of the migrants eventually made their journey home. Their ordeal won this group great amount of attention and sympathy in Singapore, where attempted suicide was only decriminalised as recently as January.

For the 323,000 migrant workers who live in shared dormitories in Singapore, earning money before going home has always been their top dream, while making headlines for attempting suicide is certainly not something they would have seen coming. The sudden hardships of 2020 have changed everything.

Migrant workers from countries such as China, Bangladesh and India are a major force powering the Singaporean economy, from building the city-states glittering skyscrapers to cleaning its gleaming shopping centres, yet they have been metaphorically and literally the invisible. They live in high-density dormitories in the islands far-flung outskirts and commute to and from work packed into the backs of trucks. Even in my own few years being based periodically in Singapore, my exposure to this community is still limited.

This prosperous first-world island nation had been a success story in the global battle against coronavirus, until the outbreak brought attention to the predicament of its vulnerable low-wage foreign labourers.

The first time I encountered their story was back in 2016, when a journalism fellowship program took us to a sprawling dormitory complex. I noticed the warnings posted at the entrance listing all sorts of infringements the labourers could be fined for. We were told the residents there had behaved quite well. The dormitory room we went into accommodated 12 men and was stuffy and frowzy in the summer-all-year tropical city. Island-wide, hundreds of thousands of migrant workers lived in this type of dormitory.

I talked to one worker who came from Chinas hinterland and had been working there for a few years. He didnt complain at all about the living or working conditions, and was proud he was earning a better pay that enabled him to support his family, in spite of bearing debts for paying agent fees to secure a job that locals usually considered low-paid and would not take.

A year later, in 2017, I came across another story involving a Singapore-based Chinese migrant worker, when my friend, a Straits Times labour correspondent shared it with me. A then-39-year-old construction worker was severely injured when a slab of prefabricated concrete wall being hoisted by a crane fell on him. He was certified by doctors as completely disabled and unable to work for the rest of his life, and eventually received SG$327,500 (A$330,650) in compensation, the highest amount an injured worker can get. In a way, he was considered a lucky one, as for similar cases, some could end up leaving Singapore empty-handed, my fellow journalist told me.

Over the first three months since the Covid-19 outbreak started, this prosperous first-world island nation had been a success story in the global battle against coronavirus and was lauded for its gold-standard approach to testing and tracing, until the outbreak brought attention to the predicament of its vulnerable low-wage foreign labourers.

The island nation of 5.7 million has more than 1.42 million foreign workers, over 1 million of them doing low-skilled work. Strikingly, migrant workers account for more than 90% of Singapores over 50,000 coronavirus infections as of late July.

Starting in early April, the city-state went through a two-month circuit breaker period when people were ordered to stay home and businesses paused. Then over the recent two months, restrictions have been loosened in a few phrases except in the migrant neighbourhoods.

After the initial shock, four months later, Singaporeans have grown used to the three-digit daily new case figure. The numbers are always updated in two parts the migrant neighbourhood case number, and a much smaller community case number. For the mainstream Singapore society, memories of lockdown are fading, there are long lines outside of restaurants and parks are back. To the labourers however, its a very different picture. For four months, they have had no work and no regular income to make, except a moderate government assistance. Isolated and panicked, going back home has become their priority, even though a flight ticket could cost them several months allowance.

Singapore is by no means the only country that relies heavily on guest labourers and bears the responsibility of taking better care of them. There are an estimated 164 million migrant workers worldwide who are similarly vulnerable both to the disease and the economic pain it has brought. And the issue is particularly acute in Asia: 2017 data shows there wereabout 33 million migrant workers, accounting for 20% of the global total.

It is a common trope that some cultural attributes often seen as characteristically Asian such as obedience to authority, tolerance to restrictions on personal freedom and acceptance of delayed gratification after perseverance may have helped in the regions relative success containing the disease. To some extent, however, this kind of mindset may at the same time have exacerbated the problems the continents silent groups are facing.

Nevertheless, many Asian workers are hardworking, optimistic and hopeful. Despite all the hardships, it is reported that a vast majority of migrant labourers choose to continue working in Singapore well beyond their first contract.

The good news is their future here may become brighter. Like the ancient Chinese proverb goes, Its never too late to mend. The Singaporean authorities have announced that temporary structures will be built by the end of the year, accommodating more than 50,000 migrant workers, with other permanent dormitories to house up to 100,000 to be built in the years to come. The new standards will reduce density and improve air circulation in those complexes. The government is also working on providing the migrants easier access to medical care and support.

I dont know if those heartbroken suicidal workers who went back to their home countries will ever come back to Singapore to make a living again after the crisis. What I do know is that, regardless, the post-pandemic era should not just be ours, but theirs, too.

More:
The invisible during the pandemic | The Interpreter - The Interpreter