SINGAPORE: After an eleventh-hour appeal for a migrant worker’s stay in Singapore to be extended was turned down, some have taken to social media to express their disappointment.
Mr Md Sharif Uddin flew home to Bangladesh on Friday morning (May 31) despite a personal appeal to Prime Minister Lawrence Wong.
Activist Kirsten Han expressed “sickening disappointment” in a post on her Facebook page, asserting the need to treat people with dignity.
Former editor Andrew Loh, meanwhile, raised a pertinent question: “MOM should have facilitated mediation between Md Sharif and his employer since the police could find no evidence that Md Sharif had borrowed from loan sharks.
Such mediation is common, and there is an established practice of this too. So why didn’t MOM do that?” he wrote in a Facebook comment.
When the Immigration and Checkpoint Authority and the Ministry of Manpower issued a joint statement on the decision not to allow Mr Sharif to extend his stay, a number of commenters also expressed dismay.
“Uddin Shariff (did) nothing wrong yet he has to suffer unjust treatment by being sacked and deported,” one opined.
Another wrote that if even intervention from Prime Minister Lawrence Wong could not change the situation, it may be time for changes to policies “so that (leaders) truly serve the people, and truly live up to our national promise of justice and equality.”
He also reminded the public that “Sharif is the victim here. None of this would have happened if he was not harassed.”
Mr Sharif is a writer and human rights activist. His book of poetry and diary entries, Stranger to Myself, won in the non-fiction category of the Singapore Book Awards in 2018.
Mr Sharif worked for 16 years in Singapore. In March, his employer dismissed him after harassment from alleged loansharks.
However, he denied that he had borrowed money, and an investigation followed. After which authorities said there was no proof that he had borrowed funds from moneylenders and that they had not been able to find the person who reportedly harassed him.
He was allowed to stay in Singapore during the investigation. While his work permit ended, he still had a special pass to find employment until May 24. This was later extended to May 31.
On Thursday, he posted on social media that he had written to Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and that friends from Marsiling had approached the PM during his MPS on May 29 on his behalf.
In a widely praised move, Mr Wong said he would write a letter to ICA.
But later that day, a joint statement from ICA and MOM was released, saying no further extension would be given.
“Should Mr Sharif wish to return to Singapore for work in the future, he will have to apply afresh for a work permit based on the prevailing criteria,” the statement added. /TISG
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