Singapore

On 6 May 2011 the delegation of Singapore appeared before the UPR working group to discuss its human rights record. The delegation was headed by Mr Ong Keng Yong, the Ambassador at Large of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He was joined by representatives from the ministries of health, law, home affairs, and community development. Throughout the dialogue he reiterated Singapore's principle to only ratify conventions and international human rights treaties that it knows it has the capacity to implement.

The police have rejected applications by civil society groups Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics (Home) and Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2) to hold activities commemorating International Migrants Day on Saturday.

The groups wanted to hold a vehicle procession to raise awareness of the dangers of migrant workers being transported on the back of lorries as well as to distribute flyers to raise awareness of the United Nations Convention for the protection of migrant workers, which the Singapore Government has not ratified.

For the first time Singapore's human rights record is under scrutiny by the UN. At least eight civil society groups in Singapore have put forward their views on the country's human rights track record. They represent diverse groups from migrant workers to womens' groups. Collectively, the groups have also submitted a joint proposal collated by MARUAH, the Singapore Working Group for an ASEAN Human Rights Mechanism. Their message is that economic growth does not necessarily equate to quality of life.

More than 12,000 migrant workers got together to celebrate International Migrants’ Day on Tuesday. The celebrations centred on the theme of harmony and integration. For the first time, four major dormitory operators collaborated with the Migrants Workers Centre to host four separate nine—course sit down dinners for about 2,000 migrant workers. This is to recognise and appreciate the contributions of migrant workers who make up 36 per cent of Singapore’s total workforce.