Two activities that HOME and TWC2 have planned for International Migrants’ Day, December 18, have been canceled because the Singapore police have refused to grant permits for holding them.

The organizers were supposed to conduct a vehicle procession to symbolize how migrant workers are endangered when transported in open decks of lorries. The vehicles would have gone around selected areas with the banners, ‘Migrant Workers are Humans, not Cargo’ and ‘Ratify the Migrant Workers Convention.’

They were also prepared to distribute flyers about the UN Migrant Workers Convention and the need for ratification.  Volunteers dressed in construction work outfits such as helmets and boots, or wearing domestic work outfits such as kitchen aprons with the slogan ‘Respect the Rights of Migrant Workers’ emblazoned on them were arranged in pairs to distribute these.

In protest, the organizers issued an open letter appealing the decision and addressed to the Home Affairs Minister and the Commissioner of Police. The original text of the open letter can be read here:
http://theonlinecitizen.com/2010/12/migrant-worker-ngos-appeal-against-rejection-for-vehicle-procession/

The non-issuance of permit and the subsequent open letter was picked up by local media.  See article at http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC101215-0000180/No-go-for-International-Migrants-Day.  While hoping that the appeal will be granted, HOME and TWC2 hope that the media has at least raised awareness about the convention.

HOME (Humanitarian Organization for Migration Economics, www.home.org.sg/) and TWC2 (Transient Workers Count Too, www.twc2.org.sg/) are MFA members in Singapore.