Singapore defends use of South Asian workers in mock riot
Rights groups criticise the 'reinforcing of stereotypes' against South Asian workers
PUBLISHED : Thursday, 13 November, 2014, 11:04pm
UPDATED : Friday, 14 November, 2014, 1:03am
Agence France-Presse
The Police (SCDF), dorm operators and grassroots organisations organised a simulation exercise recently. Photo: Khaw Boon Wan's Facebook
Singapore officials under attack by rights groups for using South Asian workers in a mock riot defended the exercise yesterday and said similar operations will be carried out to preserve law and order.
The drill took place in a migrant workers' dormitory on October 26, less than a year after South Asian workers staged the worst riot in the city-state since the 1960s.
Rights groups criticised it for "reinforcing stereotypes" and "dehumanising" the workers.
The Singapore Police Force and Singapore Civil Defence Force said exercises were regularly conducted in worker dormitories to ensure processes were in place to deal with potential incidents. They said the workers involved were volunteers.
The police and the defence force would "continue to conduct similar exercises in other foreign worker dormitories around Singapore", the statement said.
National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan set off a furore on Tuesday when he posted photographs on Facebook of the drill featuring police, civil defence forces and migrant workers playing the role of rioters.
Khaw took to Facebook again on Wednesday to reiterate that the exercise was a "meaningful collaboration" that was "well received by the various stakeholders", including the workers.
Campaign group Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics said the exercise reinforced "the stereotype that foreign workers, especially those of South Asian origin, are more prone to violence and riots".
Another group, Transient Workers Count Too, said the portrayal of foreign workers as rioters was "dehumanising all those who made family sacrifices" to work in Singapore.
