New collaboration gives migrant workers access to free professional legal advice
Spurred by the increasing demand from migrant workers for assistance, the Migrant Workers' Centre (MWC) launched its second help-centre in Geylang six months earlier than planned. Officially launched by MWC Chairman Yeo Guat Kwang, the new help-centre is expected to serve the large number of mainland Chinese migrant workers who live and congregate in the area.
At the opening of the new help-centre on 22 September 2013, Mr Yeo announced MWC Geylang's new service for migrant workers ' legal counseling where workers will be able to get free legal advice for non-employment issues.
Geylang: One-stop help-centre for migrant workers
Migrant workers will be given easy and readily available access to aid through three help channels in the Geylang vicinity ' Healthserve, a fellow migrant worker NGO specialising in providing medical care: where they can seek affordable medical attention; the Geylang Food Project: a soup kitchen jointly run by MWC and Healthserve; and MWC Geylang: where workers can find employment related solutions. Located within five minutes of each other, the three initiatives are also easily accessible via public transport.
At the launch which also serves to mark the Mid-Autumn Festival, Mr Yeo led some 100 guests comprising migrant workers, representatives from Healthserve, the Law Society of Singapore (LSS) and other working partners on a tour of the new 2,000 square foot premises where he explained the new suite of services for MWC Geylang. Mr Yeo also distributed goodie bags to the guests containing mooncakes, daily essentials like umbrellas and toiletries which carry information on MWC and its helpline and brochures on employment rights.
Giving free non-employment legal advice to migrant workers
In collaboration with the Pro Bono Services Office of LSS, the free legal clinics on non-employment related issues will be scheduled by MWC staff once monthly and the frequency may be adjusted in future based on demand. The new service will be offered to migrant workers at MWC Geylang by next month. In cases whereby language differences between the migrant worker and the lawyer arise, MWC staff who are fluent in all migrant-worker native languages will be present to provide interpretation services.
Personal legal issues such as family disputes and brushes with the law could cause a negative effect on a worker's mental and emotional health, and in turn, affect his ability to work. In cases where investigations are ongoing, this may even impact his eligibility to work and upset his livelihood. Advice on employment-related issues will continue to be provided by MWC.
Chairman of MWC Yeo Guat Kwang said: 'At MWC, we provide migrant workers with employment-related advice but have not been able to help those who seek legal advice of a non-employment nature. A typical consultation could easily cost at least two months' base salary for some of these workers ' a difficult amount to part with as many have substantial debts to repay. Therefore, we are heartened that the Pro Bono Services Office of the Law Society of Singapore has agreed to partner with MWC to offer this service to migrant workers.
'Joining hands with our likeminded partners and weaving together our areas of expertise allow us as a community of migrant worker NGOs to ensure that more distressed migrant workers have access to specialised care and no distressed migrant worker has no one to turn to for help,' Mr Yeo added.
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