Humanitarian assistance plays an important part in guarding Singapore’s sea borders.
Hence, the objective of the newly opened Seafarer’s Welfare Centre (SWC) at Jurong Fishery Port is to provide welfare assistance to migrant fishermen and workers who do not have legal work or stay visas in Singapore.
It will also be positioned as a preventive solution against abuse of workers where fishermen can access welfare services.
The centre is the result of the collaborative efforts of the Singapore Maritime Officers’ Union (SMOU), Singapore Organisation of Seamen (SOS) and the Migrant Workers’ Centre (MWC).
It all began in 2010 when SMOU and SOS asked the help of MWC to reach out to migrant fishermen at the Jurong Fishery Port. Because their union constitution prevented them from representing the fishermen that time, SMOU could only provide humanitarian support.
The actual building of the facility to assist migrant fishermen started in 2012 and it did not come easy.
“The port is about 60 years old and is quite rundown… with such an old facility, the infrastructure for electricity, telecommunications and water can be quite rundown. So we had to find our own ways to work around it,” said MWC Executive Director Bernard Menon.
Abuse and exploitation are common among migrant fishermen.
SMOU President Captain Robin Foo shared that some of these migrants were promised work as waiters or other jobs. But their passports would be taken the moment they landed in Singapore and were out on a fishing boat.
Mr Menon added that there are instances where a fisherman may never get compensated for having been cheated to come here to work on a vessel.
The SWC will be open daily from 5pm to 9pm. The MWC and the International Lutheran Seafarers’ Mission (ILSM) will also be working to provide mobile phones and internet links to allow users to contact their families in times of need.
Source: NTUC This Week
