2007 Trafficking in Persons Report - Center for Women Policy Studies

S I N G A P O R E
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investigations or prosecutions, focusing instead on
returning child victims to home communities. The
government does not provide legal alternatives to
the removal of foreign victims to countries where
they face hardship or retribution, although all
trafficking victims rescued to date have been Sierra
Leonean nationals. The government does not penalize
victims for crimes committed as a direct result
of being trafficked.
Prevention
The Government of Sierra Leone made increased
efforts to prevent trafficking. Chaired by the
Ministry of Justice and the MOSW, the National
Anti-Trafficking Task Force, established in 2004, met
regularly during the year. In November 2006, this
body completed a one-year 2007 National Action
Plan to Combat Trafficking, which was formally
approved by the Inter-Ministerial Committee to
Combat Trafficking. This plan mandates the creation
of a government-financed anti-trafficking secretariat.
In September 2006, the government contributed
personnel, a venue and utilities for the launch of the
project “Raising Awareness of Trafficking in Persons
to Reduce its Prevalence.” Sierra Leone has not ratified
the 2000 UN TIP Protocol.
SINGAPORE (Tier 2)
Singapore is a destination country for women and
girls trafficked for the purpose of commercial sexual
exploitation. A small number of foreign domestic
workers in Singapore face seriously abusive labor
conditions that amount to involuntary servitude.
Some women from Thailand, the Philippines, the
People’s Republic of China (P.R.C.), and Indonesia
who travel to Singapore voluntarily for prostitution
or other work are deceived or coerced into sexual
servitude. Some Singaporean men travel to countries
in the region for child sex tourism.
The Government of Singapore does not fully
comply with the minimum standards for the
elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. Singapore demonstrated
a clear commitment to combating trafficking,
particularly in the area of law enforcement and
in instituting new measures to address abuses of
foreign domestic workers. With the exceptions
noted below, its laws address all forms of trafficking.
The Parliament should approve proposed
amendments to the Penal Code that would criminalize
prostitution involving a minor under the
age of 18, extend extra-territorial jurisdiction over
Singaporean citizens and permanent residents who
purchase or solicit sexual services from minors overseas,
and make organizing or promoting child sex
tours a criminal offense.
Prosecution
The Government of Singapore continued its law
enforcement efforts to combat trafficking in persons
in 2006. Singapore does not have a specific antitrafficking
law, but its Penal Code criminalizes
most forms of trafficking. The government does
not criminalize the use of 16- and 17-year-old
children in prostitution, but the proposed Penal
Code amendments will eliminate this statutory gap.
Labor trafficking is prohibited through multiple
sections of the Penal Code, the Employment Agency
Rules, and the Employment of Foreign Workers Act.
Penalties prescribed for sex trafficking, including
imprisonment, fines, and caning, are sufficiently
stringent, though less than the statutory maximum
for rape. In the first nine months of 2006,
23 employers were prosecuted and convicted for
abusing their foreign domestic workers. In one
case, an employer was sentenced to nine months
in jail for scalding her maid and hitting her with a
clothes hanger. In February 2007, an employer was
sentenced to 21 months’ imprisonment for physically
abusing her domestic servant. The Ministry
of Manpower (MOM) investigates complaints by
foreign workers about pay or working conditions,
and first attempts to resolve problems through
mediation and then enforcement action. In August
2006, a father and son were fined SGD 20,000 each
after they pled guilty to failing to pay the salaries of
workers at their now bankrupt construction firm.
The government maintains effective border and
immigration controls and there is no evidence that
government officials are complicit in trafficking.
Protection
The Singaporean government demonstrated modest
efforts to provide assistance and protection to
trafficking victims. The Ministry of Community
Development, Youth, and Sports (MCYS) funded
the provision of shelter at local NGO facilities, and
provided counseling, health care, physical security,
and skills development programs for abused
foreign domestic workers and victims of sexual
exploitation. The government encourages victims
of trafficking to participate in the investigation of
traffickers, and provides foreign victims of serious
crimes with temporary immigration status that
allows them to stay until the need for testimony is
over. Singapore does not otherwise provide a legal
alternative to removal for victims who may face
hardship or retribution in source countries. Victims
are generally not jailed or prosecuted. The MOM
has granted some victims of trafficking the right to