Coronavirus Singapore: migrant worker’s self harm raises concerns over mental health toll

The man was pictured in bloodstained clothing at the foot of a stairwell in a migrant workers’ dormitory
His plight has fuelled concerns about the mental toll of lockdowns imposed on the city state’s low-wage workers

Coronavirus pandemic

Reuters

Published: 8:47pm, 5 Aug 2020

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A migrant in Singapore who self-harmed and was pictured bloodied in a stairwell has heightened concerns over the mental health of thousands of low-paid workers confined to dormitories in the city state because of the coronavirus pandemic.

In April, Singapore sealed off sprawling housing blocks where its vast population of mainly South Asian labourers live in crowded bunk rooms, in an effort to ring-fence a surge in virus cases among the workers.

Four months on, some dormitories remain under quarantine, and even migrants who have been declared virus-free have had their movements restricted and face uncertainty over the jobs on which their families back home depend.

Rights groups say this has taken a heavy mental toll on workers, pointing to recent reports that migrants have been detained under the mental health act after videos showed them perched precariously on rooftops and high window ledges.

Migrant workers pictured outside their rooms at a dormitory in Singapore that was declared an isolation area in April. Photo: Getty Images

“We’ve heard of the extreme distress because of the inability to provide for families, inability to service debts to money lenders and banks and inability to fund medical care for children and elderly parents,” said Deborah Fordyce, president of migrant rights group, Transient Workers Count Too.

“Many of the workers now say that the mental anguish is a more serious problem than the virus.”

Singapore has recorded over 53,000 Covid-19 cases, mainly from dormitories in which around 300,000 workers from Bangladesh, India and China are housed. Only 27 people have died from the disease in the city state.

Authorities have said they expect to lift quarantines on all dormitories this month, with the exception of some blocks serving as quarantine zones, and that 89 per cent of workers have either recovered or are virus-free.

A migrant worker living in a factory-converted dormitory pictured amid the pandemic in April. Photo: Reuters

But reports and images published in local media on Wednesday of a man in bloodstained clothing at the foot of some stairs have fuelled concerns about the mental toll of the lockdowns.

Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower – which has overseen the quarantines – said it was aware of the incident in which a worker had “harmed himself”, adding that he was now in a “safe and stable condition”. Police said the 36-year-old man was detained under the mental health act.

Checks had found there was no indication the man was in distress before the incident or was owed any salary, the ministry said in a statement, urging workers not to “act rashly” and reach out to non-governmental organisations for help.

The ministry did not immediately have further comment, but referred to previous remarks saying it was working with NGOs to address mental health needs of migrants by providing services including counselling.

02:52

Migrant workers in Singapore fear job loss after coronavirus quarantine ends

Singapore found an additional 908 coronavirus cases on Wednesday with the bulk coming from foreign worker dormitories, according to a statement from the Ministry of Health.

These cases are made up mostly of dormitory residents who were tested during their isolation or quarantine period and were asymptomatic. The workers are among the final group being cleared and they are from dormitories with a high prevalence of Covid-19 infections.

Singapore’s health ministry said it expects the daily case counts to be high for the coming days before tapering off as the government task force completes dormitory clearance. It said the government remains on track to clear all dormitories by August 7, with exception of a few stand-alone blocks in these facilities that are for quarantine purposes.

Roughly 9,700 workers are staying in these quarantine facilities. In the city state’s wider community, four cases were reported, plus another four imported cases who have been placed on stay-home notices.

Additional reporting by Bloomberg

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