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SINGAPORE: Migrant workers’ rights groups say that banning the transport of workers on caged lorries from 2027 is a step in the right direction, but maintain that the long-term goal should be to ban the transport of workers on all lorries.<\/p>\n
Senior Minister of State for Transport Sun Xueling announced in parliament on Wednesday (Mar 4) that Singapore will ban the use of caged lorries to transport workers from next year.<\/p>\n
Companies that fail to comply with the ban will face penalties, with details to be announced ahead of the 2027 deadline.<\/p>\n
Mr Ang Teck Chye, a lorry driver with more than 30 years of experience, has driven workers in caged lorries in the past and found it to be unsafe.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He said the cages typically cannot be opened from inside \u2013 someone on the outside must unlatch them before workers can disembark. This has made him feel uneasy every time he transports workers on such lorries.<\/p>\n
“My feeling is that they’re like animals in a cage,” he said. “I think this ban is good.”<\/p>\n
But rights groups say the ban does not go far enough.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Dr Stephanie Chok, executive director of migrant worker rights group Humanitarian Organization for Migration Economics (HOME), described it as “a small step in the right direction in signalling that migrant workers deserve dignified transport”.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She cautioned that lorries themselves remain an unsafe mode of transport regardless of whether they are fitted with cages.<\/p>\n
These caged lorries also constitute just 1 to 2 per cent of the 50,000 lorries in Singapore, she said.<\/p>\n
“As such, this measure will affect only a small fraction of workers, who will still continue to be transported on the back of lorries and exposed to the same risks as before,” she added.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mr Ethan Guo, executive director of migrant workers rights organisation Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2), said the “ultimate goal” should be to phase out goods vehicles entirely for worker transport in favour of passenger buses.<\/p>\n
“There will be costs involved in doing the right thing, yes, but in return, the workers arrive at work in peace and consequently perform better in their jobs the rest of the day,” he said.<\/p>\n
“This isn’t something that should be viewed through the lens of profit and loss, but the value of a human life.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n