U.S. Dep't of State, 2024 Trafficking in Persons Report: Singapore

SINGAPORE (Tier 1) The Government of Singapore fully meets the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking. The government continued to demonstrate serious and sustained efforts during the reporting period; therefore Singapore remained on Tier 1. These efforts included prosecuting and convicting more traffickers, including initiating a trafficking prosecution under the 2014 anti-trafficking law for the first time since 2019, providing more victims referral to protective services, and increasing funding for victim assistance, prevention, and partnership efforts. The government also introduced a new training program for front-line officials to understand and identify psychological coercion as a trafficking indicator and revised its victim identification SOPs to include indicators related to psychological coercion.

Although the government meets the minimum standards, it investigated fewer potential trafficking cases and identified fewer trafficking victims. Authorities did not identify any victims of labor trafficking. Despite reports of trafficking indicators in cases involving domestic worker abuse, the government has never prosecuted or convicted any cases of domestic servitude under the trafficking law. The government did not take steps to eliminate recruitment fees charged to workers by Singaporean labor recruiters or ensure any recruitment fees were paid by employers.

PRIORITIZED RECOMMENDATIONS: Using the 2014 anti-trafficking law, investigate and prosecute traffickers, including traffickers exploiting domestic workers in labor trafficking and children in sex trafficking, and seek adequate penalties for trafficking convictions, which should involve significant prison terms. * Continue to train law enforcement on trafficking indicators, including screening for debt manipulation and psychological coercion, with increased attention to foreign domestic workers, individuals in debt, and individuals in commercial sex. * Increase resources for investigative and prosecutorial training on trafficking for Ministry of Manpower (MOM) officials who handle labor inspections. * Increase efforts to proactively identify trafficking victims, particularly among vulnerable populations, including individuals in commercial sex and People’s Republic of China (PRC) nationals employed at PRC-affiliated company worksites. * Work with employers and NGOs to increase migrant workers’ access to helplines and reporting channels, including access to mobile phones. * Improve cooperation and dialogue with NGOs on victim assistance before, during, and after criminal investigations of traffickers. * Continue implementing reforms to the work permit sponsorship system so it does not provide excessive power to sponsors or employers in granting and maintaining the legal status of migrant workers. * Eliminate all recruitment or placement fees charged to workers by labor recruiters and ensure any fees are paid by employers. * Train judges, prosecutors, and law enforcement officials on the application of anti-trafficking laws, elements of trafficking, investigative techniques, and evidence collection specific to trafficking cases. * Strengthen the legal framework to ensure victims are not inappropriately penalized solely for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being trafficked.

PROSECUTION

The government maintained law enforcement efforts. The 2014 Prevention of Human Trafficking Act (PHTA) criminalized sex trafficking and labor trafficking and prescribed penalties of up to 10 years’ imprisonment and fines up to 100,000 Singapore dollars (SGD) ($75,758), which were sufficiently stringent and, with respect to sex trafficking, commensurate with those prescribed for other grave crimes, such as kidnapping. In addition, Article 140 of the Women’s Charter criminalized “forced prostitution” involving detention or physical force, and Article 141 criminalized the movement of women and girls for “trafficking” but did not define this term. Penalties prescribed for these offenses included a maximum of seven years’ imprisonment and a fine of up to 100,000 SGD ($75,758).

The government investigated most suspected labor trafficking cases as labor law offenses under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act (EFMA), or the Employment Act, which carried lower penalties than the anti-trafficking law. The government initiated 23 trafficking investigations (22 for sex trafficking and one for labor trafficking) in 2023, compared with 25 investigations in 2022 (20 for sex trafficking and five for labor trafficking); authorities determined 22 of these investigations did not meet the PHTA threshold and were either referred to other law enforcement branches or charged under other sexual or labor exploitation laws under the Women’s Charter or the Penal Code. Authorities also continued three investigations involving unspecified forms of exploitation initiated in the previous reporting period. The government initiated prosecutions of nine alleged traffickers (three for forced labor and six for sex trafficking) compared with prosecuting four sex traffickers in 2022.

For the first time since 2019, the government initiated a prosecution under the PHTA for sex trafficking; prosecutions of the remaining eight defendants were pursued under the Penal Code or Women’s Charter. Authorities continued prosecutions initiated in previous years of seven defendants in five sex trafficking cases and of nine defendants in four cases of unspecified exploitation. Courts convicted nine traffickers, including one convicted under PHTA and eight under the Penal Code or Women’s Charter, compared with eight convictions in 2022 (one labor trafficker convicted under the PHTA and seven under the Penal Code). The government sentenced the trafficker convicted under the PHTA – who was younger than 18 years of age – to six months of reformative training for exploiting other children in sex trafficking.

The courts sentenced the other eight traffickers to terms of imprisonment ranging from seven weeks to 18 months under the Penal Code; the courts sentenced the majority of traffickers to less than one year imprisonment. Authorities investigated and prosecuted suspected trafficking crimes, including child sex trafficking, under non-trafficking statutes due to evidentiary challenges or difficulties proving elements of trafficking required by the PHTA beyond a reasonable doubt. Observers noted prosecutors and judges were often more comfortable using laws and precedents they knew to secure convictions. The government did not report any investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of government employees complicit in human trafficking crimes; however, the government convicted a national serviceman – arrested during the previous reporting period – on corruption charges and sentenced him to seven days’ imprisonment for abusing his power as a law enforcement official.

Despite reports of trafficking indicators in cases involving foreign domestic worker abuse, the government has never prosecuted or convicted any cases of domestic servitude under the PHTA; instead, it used other laws to convict offenders, although the penalties were in some cases lower than those prescribed in the PHTA. The Singapore Police Force (SPF) and the MOM led the government’s investigative efforts and the Attorney General’s Chambers led the government’s prosecutorial efforts. The government continued training SPF, Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA), and MOM officials on victim identification, legislation enforcement, and trafficking indicators. Authorities continued cooperation with foreign counterparts on ongoing international trafficking cases through information sharing and joint operational exercises.

PROTECTION

The government maintained protection efforts. The government identified 24 potential trafficking victims (23 sex trafficking victims and one labor trafficking victim), compared with identifying 29 potential victims (16 sex trafficking victims and 13 labor trafficking victims) in 2022. Authorities identified most victims through reports to law enforcement, including victim self-identification via the general police hotline, a web-based reporting form, police reports, and direct interactions with front-line officers. SPF, MOM, and ICA officials had victim identification and referral SOPs, and other government officials, civil society organizations, and foreign embassies could refer potential victims to the MOM and the SPF.

Some observers reported authorities inadequately screened for indicators such as passport retention, forced confinement, and non-payment of wages during law enforcement actions on commercial sex establishments; did not consistently use trauma-informed practices in victim identification and trafficking investigations; and conflated migrant smuggling with human trafficking, which hampered investigations and victim identification. As such, authorities and employers may have facilitated the deportation of unidentified trafficking victims. The government introduced a new training component for front-line officials to identify psychological coercion among trafficking victims in August 2023. The government developed and distributed resource cards containing a list of trafficking indicators to law enforcement officials.

The government updated its victim identification SOPs to include psychological coercion indicators and increased the number of checkups or “touchpoints” with migrant workers to screen for coercion. Some observers noted increased government collaboration with NGOs to help screen and assess potential victims, which assisted with efficient referral processes. The government referred cases with labor trafficking indicators, including passport retention and non-payment of wages, to mediation or issued administrative penalties and warnings. The government, in partnership with NGOs, provided food, temporary shelter, counseling, and other protective services to trafficking victims regardless of their participation in investigations.

The PHTA mentioned only temporary shelter and counseling as specific victim services, but it allowed the Director-General of Social Welfare to expand the scope of services available to victims on a case-by-case basis, including services such as access to interpreters, medical services, skills development, temporary work permits, legal support, and resettlement assistance. Services were available to potential victims, including before authorities established a trafficking investigation and regardless of the law under which their cases were prosecuted, and were not contingent on victims’ participation in investigations. The government reported offering assistance, including food and shelter, temporary employment, interpretation support, and psychological support to all 24 potential trafficking victims, with all victims using at least one of the services; the government reported providing services to 24 victims in the previous reporting period. The government provided temporary employment assistance to one labor trafficking victim in 2023, compared with three victims in 2022.

The government reported spending 149,400 SGD ($113,182) on victim assistance, prevention, and partnership efforts, but did not report the portion allocated specifically to care and support services; it spent approximately 25,760 SGD ($19,515) on care and support services for four trafficking victims in 2022. In partnership with an NGO, the government initiated a new victim care project which aimed to help victims in the initial stages of recovery by providing them care packages including basic necessities and transportation cards; two victims received a care package in 2023. The government funded four shelters with a total capacity of 250 for female victims of crime, including trafficking, and their children; the MOM funded two additional shelters for victims of forced labor and labor exploitation, one of which was specifically designated for use by men. The government also provided partial funding and oversight to 21 homes serving children, including child trafficking victims.

Authorities permitted freedom of movement outside the shelter for most residents of these facilities. NGOs often continued supporting foreign trafficking victims referred by the government from previous years. To reduce the potential re-traumatization of victims, the government expanded its One-Stop Abuse Forensic (ONESAFE) Center, where female victims of sex-related crimes, including sex trafficking, could have their interviews and forensic exams conducted in a single, victim-friendly location. The government required female officers conduct forensic interviews for potential female trafficking victims, with a doctor present if required.

Authorities approached some NGOs to assist in screening potential victims in suspected trafficking cases or to interview potential victims in cases where MOM or SPF officials found conflicting information. In recent years, some NGOs noted interpreters in victim interviews did not receive training to work with trafficking victims and that victims reported discomfort with some interpreters from their home countries, given concerns about imported stereotypes from their shared culture. Despite government measures to facilitate translation, brief interpreters on interview “etiquette,” and screen interpreters’ proficiencies and references, the government did not report efforts to train interpreters on trauma-centered approaches, which may have caused re-traumatization and hampered effective investigations. NGOs offered trafficking victims pro bono legal assistance to pursue compensation in civil court; however, an NGO noted many migrant workers were unaware of this option.

Courts did not issue any new restitution orders in 2023, compared with one trafficker ordered to pay restitution to three victims in the previous year. The government permitted special immigration passes for foreign victims to remain and work in the country for the duration of investigations and legal proceedings. A government policy also allowed foreign victims to apply for a new work permit after proceedings concluded, but the government did not report any victims applying for or receiving one. The government provided mandatory protective services for victims who participated in prosecutions, including in-camera court proceedings for child victims, protection of the victim’s identity, pre-recorded statements from victims, and media gag orders for all sex trafficking cases.

PREVENTION

The government slightly increased efforts to prevent trafficking. The interagency task force, co-chaired by the Ministry of Home Affairs and the MOM, coordinated anti-trafficking efforts through its “National Approach against Trafficking in Persons, 2016-2026.” The task force continued meeting with NGOs regularly on anti-trafficking efforts. The government offered 80,000 SGD ($60,606), the same as the previous two years, in grants to civil society for anti-trafficking awareness-raising campaigns, but it did not receive any applications from NGOs to award these funds in 2023. The government conducted awareness campaigns targeting migrant workers and the public.

The government shared its findings from research conducted on psychological coercion with NGOs in the previous reporting period. Singapore’s Employment Agencies Act (EAA) mandated licensing and regulation of recruitment agents. The law allowed worker-paid recruitment fees; the EAA’s rules capped the maximum recruitment fee a migrant worker may pay a licensed employment agency at one month’s salary for each year of a valid work permit or the period of the employment contract, whichever was shorter, and to an overall maximum of two months’ salary. The government required employment agencies to refund half of the recruitment fee if employment was terminated within six months.

The majority of migrant workers in Singapore paid fees to employment agencies in Singapore as well as to recruitment agents in their home country, which contributed to the workers’ vulnerability to debt bondage. The MOM convicted six recruitment agencies and issued 52 warning letters or fines to agencies for violations of the EAA such as operating without a license and over-charging recruitment fees, compared with 18 convictions and 33 warning letters or fines in 2022. Sentences for offenders ranged from fines up to 30,000 SGD ($22,727) to 18 weeks’ imprisonment for one repeat offender. The government reported none of the migrant workers affected by these agencies were identified as trafficking victims.

The MOM resolved most employment disputes through mediation via the Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management (TADM) and provided an administrative adjudication process for claims in the event mediation did not resolve the dispute. The government did not report how many claims TADM adjudicated in 2023 by the end of the reporting period; TADM adjudicated approximately 160 salary-related claims per month in 2022. In one case from 2022, where a company owed salaries to 268 migrant construction workers, TADM was working with liquidators to recover the salaries after the company had filed for bankruptcy. The MOM managed the work permit process for foreign workers.

Singaporean employers applied to the MOM to sponsor skilled and semi-skilled workers whose employment and legal immigration status was tied to that specific employer. However, government policy allowed workers to change their employment without their previous employer’s consent only when workers had employment-related claims, such as salary delays, that the MOM deemed valid or during a pre-defined timeframe before expiry of their work permit. In the past, some observers noted this policy made migrant workers vulnerable to labor exploitation. NGOs stated the restriction on job mobility, coupled with the ability of employers to terminate a worker’s employment at any time without the need to show cause, created a structure that prevented some foreign migrant workers from resisting and contesting exploitation.

The government allowed foreign workers in the manufacturing, services, construction, marine shipyard, and processing industries to transfer to a new employer within 21 to 40 days before the work permit expired and allowed workers to find a new employer without consent from their current employer. The government also continued its policy of allowing foreign domestic workers’ permits to transfer to their employment agency if services were no longer required, or if the employee requested a new employer. NGOs noted abuses like employer-forged documents and overcharged recruitment fees continued, as well as power imbalances favoring employers who had the right to renew or terminate a migrant worker’s work permit, limiting the employee’s ability to find new employment. An NGO previously reported some employment agencies charged foreign domestic workers a second recruitment fee of up to two months’ salary after they changed employers.

The government reported piloting initiatives to improve transparency in the migrant worker job-matching process and working with foreign embassies to address unscrupulous practices in the worker’s home country, but no substantive programs or procedural changes had been proposed. Among the estimated 1.1 million migrant workers in Singapore, a reported several hundred thousand resided in privately operated dormitories; in previous years, NGOs expressed concern over a lack of oversight of these facilities and inadequate living conditions. However, in April 2023, the government expanded regulatory oversight to approximately 1,600 dormitories with 439,000 beds, compared with 53 dormitories with 256,000 beds in 2022, and, in October 2023, the government announced plans to raise living standards for approximately 1,000 dormitories by 2030. Objectives included increasing living space per resident and improving healthcare support and outbreak resilience efforts.

NGOs previously reported cases of dormitory operators’ improper use of a policy allowing the restriction of movement for workers who were ill or injured, confining otherwise healthy workers. Singaporean law did not prescribe a minimum wage. The Employment Act required employers to negotiate wages and include them in individual contracts of service, but the Act did not apply to foreign domestic workers; foreign domestic workers were instead covered under the EFMA, which lacked clear definitions of appropriate working conditions and limits on overtime, working hours, and sick days. The ambiguity in the law created vulnerabilities employers could exploit.

The EFMA required employers to provide a document containing employment terms such as monthly salary, number of rest days, and agency fees. The government continued to implement policies to detect signs of abuse of foreign domestic workers, including more comprehensive health checks without the employer present, increased random house checks, and two interviews, instead of one, during the first year of employment. The government also provided free SIM cards to all migrant workers to ensure access to assistance and reporting via phone applications and opened new centers where foreign domestic workers could undergo wellness interviews in locations other than worksites. The government also required migrant workers download a phone application, which included information on worker’s rights, channels of communication with authorities, and signs of exploitation in several languages.

The MOM continued to implement a policy requiring employers to notify the MOM if they reduced a migrant worker’s salary from what was stated on the application for the employee’s work permit and after the employer and employee had agreed to the change in writing. Civil society reported employers continued to exploit vulnerable migrant workers through coercive means and forged documents. In 2023, the government convicted 20 employers for making false declarations of higher salaries to obtain employee work passes, compared with convicting 24 the previous year. The MOM allowed employers or recruitment agents to open a fee-free bank account on behalf of the employee as part of the recruitment process so the worker’s salary could be electronically paid; the government required employers of migrant workers living in dormitories to open bank accounts for their workers and pay them electronically.

The government prohibited employers of foreign domestic workers to retain workers’ wages for “safekeeping;” nevertheless, NGOs noted practices such as cash payments, illegal wage deductions, and other forms of labor exploitation continued. The government mandated foreign migrant workers in the construction, manufacturing, marine shipyard, and processing industries to arrive at the MOM’s onboarding centers and complete the one-day Settling-in-Program (SIP), delivered by an NGO in seven languages; program staff onboarded approximately 15,000 migrant workers per month. The program conducted contract reviews and provided information on employment rights and regulations, trafficking awareness, and avenues to report incidents and receive assistance. Separate SIPs were required for foreign domestic workers covering similar topics in four different languages.

Observers previously reported concern over language barriers among staff and workers may have prevented workers from learning critical information; an NGO reported many migrant workers remained unaware of their rights or how to seek assistance after completing the SIP. The government mandated first-time employers of foreign domestic workers to participate in an employer program to review their responsibilities; an NGO reported some employers likely forgot many of the rules and regulations because they only had to complete the program once and could complete the program online. The government continued to air a pre-departure video at overseas testing centers for construction workers to explain foreign workers’ employment rights. The government did not make efforts to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts but made efforts to counter extraterritorial child sexual exploitation and abuse by coordinating with a foreign government to deny entry to 10 known child sex offenders.

The MOM publicized its phone number and a mobile phone application to report trafficking activity; some partially government-funded NGOs also operated 24-hour hotlines for individuals experiencing trafficking indicators. Authorities identified 24 potential trafficking cases from reports made through hotline calls and online reporting tools. TRAFFICKING PROFILE: As reported over the past five years, human traffickers exploit domestic and foreign victims in Singapore, and traffickers exploit victims from Singapore abroad. Some of the more than one million foreign work permit holders who comprise almost one-third of Singapore’s labor force are at risk of trafficking.

Most victims migrate willingly for work in construction, domestic service, performing arts, manufacturing, the service industry, or commercial sex but may later face exploitation in these sectors. To migrate, many workers assume large debts to country of origin recruitment and Singaporean agents, placing them at risk for debt bondage. Traffickers exploit foreign workers in sex trafficking or forced labor through threats of forced repatriation without pay, restrictions on movement, physical and sexual abuse, and withholding wages and travel documents, such as passports. Some foreign women employed as domestic workers are at a high risk for trafficking.

Female migrant workers, particularly in domestic service, have reported rape, torture, and repeated beatings by Singaporean employers. Some recruitment agencies illegally engage in contract switching and charge workers higher fees than the legal limit. Foreign workers have credible fears of losing their work visas and being deported because employers could repatriate workers legally at any time during their contracts with minimal notice. PRC nationals employed in Singapore at PRC-affiliated company worksites are vulnerable to forced labor.

Foreign women who arrive in Singapore to work in the entertainment sector, including nightclubs and bars, are vulnerable to sex and labor trafficking. Foreign women sometimes arrive in Singapore with the intention of engaging in Singapore’s regulated commercial sex sector, but traffickers use the threat of serious harm or other forms of coercion to exploit the women in sex trafficking. Foreign workers from countries with a small presence in Singapore can experience language barriers that increase their isolation. Traffickers may exploit men in labor trafficking on fishing vessels that could transit or dock at Singaporean ports.

Traffickers may exploit Singapore victims in forced labor in online scam operations in Southeast Asia. On This Page search > < SINGAPORE (Tier 1) PRIORITIZED RECOMMENDATIONS: PROSECUTION PROTECTION PREVENTION TRAFFICKING PROFILE: Tags Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs Human Trafficking Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons Reports Singapore