Singapore supports 243 human rights recommendations, including stronger migrant worker protections

SINGAPORE: Singapore supported recommendations from other United Nations member states on Monday (Sep 28) to strengthen migrant worker protections and improve mental health support for children, as part of its latest review of the country's human rights record.It also supported calls to consider ratifying international conventions covering migrant and domestic workers, ensure new technologies comply with human rights standards, and include vulnerable groups in climate change policies.The commitments are among 243 recommendations Singapore supported following its fourth Universal Periodic Review, a UN mechanism that reviews each member state's human rights record every four-and-a-half years. They account for about 71 per cent of the 342 recommendations Singapore received, up from 65 per cent during its previous review in 2021. Singapore's permanent representative to the United Nations in Geneva, Mr Jaya Ratnam, said the country viewed the process as a platform for frank dialogue and approached it with an open mind."Our approach to human rights rests on a simple premise: progress should always be measured by tangible outcomes for our people," he said at the adoption of Singapore's Universal Periodic Review report in Geneva.Singapore supported recommendations that complemented its efforts to build a more inclusive, cohesive and resilient society, Mr Ratnam added, citing education, public healthcare, support for lower-income groups, migrant worker welfare, labour rights and digital inclusion.He said the country's approach rested on two pillars – pragmatism and the rule of law – and that countries would take different paths to advancing human rights based on their circumstances."What matters is whether these approaches deliver meaningful progress for their people," he said.DOMESTIC WORKERSAmong the more specific recommendations supported by Singapore was one from the United Kingdom to mandate rest periods and create digital recruitment and wage-payment processes for foreign domestic workers. Singapore also supported recommendations to strengthen migrant workers' protections in areas such as working conditions, healthcare, social protection, access to justice and safeguards against exploitation. These included improving migrant domestic workers' legal protections, access to healthcare and mental health support.However, it did not support some recommendations seeking specific changes to legal protections.These included recommendations from Canada and Norway to extend protections under the Employment Act and Work Injury Compensation Act to domestic workers, and a recommendation to establish a government-run recruitment system to prevent deceptive hiring and contract substitution. Singapore also did not support a recommendation to give foreign domestic workers public holidays, regulated working hours and paid leave, and to end mandatory pregnancy and HIV testing.In its response, Singapore said migrant domestic workers required "additional protection" and that their particular working environments were addressed through customised legislation under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act. MENTAL HEALTH, WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENTSingapore supported several recommendations on mental health, including calls to strengthen school-based support services for young people, increase awareness and develop community services.It also backed a recommendation to protect children and older people from cyber harms while maintaining non-digital access to essential services.Singapore also supported a broad range of recommendations on advancing women's empowerment, including increasing women’s representation in public and political life, narrowing gender inequalities at work and strengthening support for women in leadership roles.Other supported recommendations focused on balancing work and caregiving with stronger workplace protections relating to maternity, caregiving responsibilities and flexible work arrangements to raise women’s workforce participation.In its national report for the review, Singapore pointed to measures such as the Workplace Fairness Act and expanded parental leave. Government-paid paternity leave doubled from two to four weeks last year, while shared parental leave rose to 10 weeks from April.DEATH PENALTY, LGBT PROPOSALS NOT ACCEPTEDMost of the recommendations Singapore did not support fell into three broad areas: ratification of additional human rights treaties, abolition or restriction of the death penalty, and freedom of expression and assembly.About a third of the recommendations it noted related to treaty ratification, Mr Ratnam said. Singapore does not regard treaty obligations as "an aspirational exercise", he said, adding that the country would accede to treaties only when it was sure it could fully implement every aspect.For many of the other recommendations, Singapore already had legislation and policies addressing their underlying objectives in ways suited to its social and cultural context, he added.Singapore noted recommendations calling for a moratorium on or abolition of the death penalty. It said capital punishment was reserved for the most serious crimes, including murder and trafficking significant quantities of drugs, and was applied with due process and judicial safeguards.It also did not support recommendations to legalise same-sex marriage, ban conversion practices or add sexual orientation and gender identity as protected characteristics under the Workplace Fairness Act.In its formal response, Singapore said: “All Singapore citizens, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity, are protected under our laws from discrimination and harassment. We will continue to address the concerns of the LGBT community in a sensitive and pragmatic way, protect the vulnerable, uphold the family and preserve the common space for the diverse communities in Singapore.”On freedom of expression and assembly, Singapore supported recommendations to protect these rights and ensure relevant laws and policies comply with international human rights standards.However, it did not support several recommendations calling for specific changes to laws such as the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act and the Public Order Act. The government said the rights to speech, expression and assembly were constitutionally guaranteed but not "unfettered", and had to be exercised responsibly, particularly given Singapore's multi-racial and multi-religious context.Singapore said it was committed to implementing the 243 recommendations it supported.