Indian workers made false declaration under duress
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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.