“Some of the women may feel coerced into performing sexual services that they did not promise to do because they’ve already paid such a large amount of agency fees and they’re afraid that if they refuse, they will be terminated and sent back home,” said HOME executive director Stephanie Chok.
“We’re also seeing situations of wrongful dismissals, where they get terminated after a very short while for very dubious reasons. So probably, this churn is just for the agencies to earn recruitment fees from a worker, fire the worker, and then bring another worker and earn (more) agency fees.”
PROMISES VS REALITY
Many arriving from Myanmar are fleeing active conflict, economic collapse and, since 2024, stricter conscription that has heightened fear among young people.
While there are no official numbers, estimates suggest there are about 200,000 Myanmar workers in Singapore, which is often perceived as a nearby and stable place offering better pay.
But for some, reality bears little resemblance to the paperwork handed to them.
In the case of Diana, for example, the job approval letter she was shown listed her as a food processing worker.
