SINGAPORE CITY (SINGAPORE) – The city state is taking a look at the recent spate of suicides among migrants stoking concerns over the mental health of low-paid workers confined to their dormitories because of the coronavirus infections.
In order to stem the spread of the virus, Singapore sealed off housing blocks which are home to the vast population of South Asian labourers, who live in crowded bunk rooms.
Even after four months, some of the blocks remain under quarantine forcing migrant workers, who have been declared free of the virus, to remain indoors amid uncertainty over their jobs.
According to rights groups, this has affected migrant workers. There have been incidents where workers have been detained under the mental health act after videos showed them teetering precariously on rooftops and high window ledges.
On Sunday, a migrant worker was found lying in a pool of blood at the foot of a staircase in his dormitory after trying to commit suicide.
The Ministry of Manpower said that it was monitoring the recent spate in suicides involving workers in dormitories, adding that it would work with agencies to bring mental health support programmes for them.
The country has recorded as many as 54,000 COVID-19 cases, mainly among workers in dormitories housing 300,000 workers from Bangladesh, India and China.
Government said it would lift the curbs on all dormitories this week.
“Many of the workers now say that the mental anguish is a more serious problem than the virus,” said Deborah Fordyce, president of migrant rights group, Transient Workers Count Too.
(Photos syndicated via Reuters)
This story has been edited by BH staff and is published from a syndicated field