Four Indian men who were found guilty of providing false
information to the Singapore Ministry of Manpower insist that they
had no choice but to sign documents declaring their income to be 3
times their actual salary.
The four men, who we have chosen not to name, were not offered a
translation of the documents, told what they were signing or that
they were committing a crime. They had no way of knowing what the
consequences would be if they were caught.
They insist that theirs agent and employers conspired to make false
declarations of their income in order to obtain Employment Pass
work visas.
On Thursday 10th of April they were all found guilty
of providing false information and given deportation orders, along
with thousands of dollars in fines.
As they will be out of the country from next week, the men will be
unable to file appeals and so have effectively been forced to
accept the verdict.
Thursday’s prosecutions were hailed by the MOM as proof that
errant companies cannot get away with employment malpractice, a
declaration that the workers find tragically off the mark, “The
company was in the wrong but we are the ones with huge fines, debts
we cant pay and a deportation order. Even if the company gets fined
$20,000, so what? It’s nothing to them. And they are still trading
today. It is no punishment for them”
None of the men have been able to pay back their agency fees of
SG$6,000, nor have they been able to provide for their families
since they came under investigation in December.
Since then they have been in court three times, with representation
provided pro bono courtesy of migrant worker NGO, Home. They are
adamant that they did nothing wrong.
Meanwhile, following a small fine on Thursday their employer
continues to trade using the same employment practices.
More than 200 workers are under investigation by MOM for
supplying false documents while employed by 7-11 franchise
holders.
SingaporeMigrant will continue to monitor the case. On Monday
we will publish our full interview with four of the workers still
under investigation.