Singapore must rethink how it treats migrant workers

Coronavirus outbreak highlights poor pay, crowded dormitories and prejudice

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Migrant workers look out from their balconies at a dormitory on Apr. 6: the pandemic calls for a examination of the attitudes toward migrant workers. © Reuters

Catherine James is the Executive Director of the Humanitarian Organization for Migration Economics, or HOME, a Singapore-based charity dedicated to empowering and supporting migrant workers who find themselves victims of abuse and exploitation.

The surge in COVID-19 cases among Singapore's migrant workers, who account for 86% of its confirmed infections, has shone a spotlight on their low-wage lives in large, overcrowded dormitories.

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