Migrant workers facing salary disputes, work injury woes, employment problems or other legal issues will be able to get free consultations at a new law centre that opens in 2025.
The Migrant Workers’ Law Centre, which will open in the first quarter of the year, is a collaboration between NTUC’s Migrant Workers’ Centre (MWC) and Pro Bono SG. It will be located on MWC’s premises, at 579 Serangoon Road in Little India.
A memorandum of understanding between the two organisations was signed on Dec 15 at the International Migrants Day 2024 celebration organised by the Ministry of Manpower’s (MOM) Assurance, Care and Engagement (ACE) Group and MWC.
International Migrants Day fell on Dec 18.
The new law centre will expand Pro Bono SG’s capacity to deliver legal awareness and advice to migrant workers, said the charity’s chairman Gregory Vijayendran.
It will have a full-time on-site lawyer and programme coordinator. It will also tap volunteers from Pro Bono SG’s extensive pool, SG Cares Volunteer Centres and other community organisations specialising in migrant worker support.
This will complement Pro Bono SG’s existing services for migrant workers, who can currently seek free basic legal advice at its legal clinic at Angullia Mosque in Little India on two Sundays a month and at its office at Havelock Square.
The legal clinic at the mosque opened in May 2022, and has seen a high demand for its services. There were 40 per cent more migrant workers seeking legal assistance there in 2024, compared with 2023, Mr Vijayendran said.
The new centre, which will open from Tuesday to Sunday, will likely be able to handle multiple consultations a day.
“With an available, accessible on-site lawyer, migrant workers will receive immediate professional legal advice and assistance, especially for acute injustice cases,” said Mr Vijayendran.
“Our centre will also be a first responder service to reduce delays or barriers our migrant community faces in access to justice.”
He said some of the common areas migrant workers need help with are salary claims, work injury claims, and employment-related, scam and moneylending issues.
Designed to “significantly enhance capacity”, the new centre aims to engage more than 1,000 migrant workers and serve over 120 migrant workers through its legal guidance and representation schemes in 2025, Mr Vijayendran added.
Mr Mariyaselvam Alexander, 44, who works in the construction sector, said one of the common issues his fellow migrant workers have recently faced is scams. “Some workers are aware of scams... but some do not know what is real or fake,” he said.
Mr Mariyaselvam hopes that with the new law centre, migrant workers can better seek advice on what to do when they get scammed or face other problems like workplace injuries.
The Migrant Workers’ Assistance Fund will finance the centre for two years, and operations may be subsequently extended, depending on the demand for its services.
On Dec 15, more than 10,000 members of the migrant community attended the International Migrants Day celebration in Jurong Lake Gardens, which featured performances by local and international artistes as well as the finals of a kabaddi tournament.
The Straits Times
