In conclusion: The Filthy Migrant is an incredibly versatile figure. Not only can he absolve you of your responsibility, he can also change his race/religion according to what you require. If your Chinese population is diseased, he is a Chinaman. If Covid-19 is spreading like wildfire amongst the Bangladeshi and Tamil S-pass holders, then he is an “irresponsible” man who “cannot clean up after himself” and has a “generally lower awareness of hygiene”.

Sadly, The Filthy Migrant does not actually exist—except in the racist imagination.

Some migrant workers are dirty. Some are clean. One worker I spoke to was utterly dismayed by the number of cockroaches inside his dorm. However, to label “these people” or any group of people filthy is plainly bad. Unfortunately, it is also very profitable, or else it would not continue. Such narratives of filth served the British well when they wanted to avoid costly public health reforms. That practice persists today. The Filthy Migrant is here so we do not have to shoulder the financial burden of reform; so the cost savings can be had and shared.

As the historical record shows, almost every group has been stigmatised at some point. The filth is not inherent to anyone. We’ve just failed to provide sanitary conditions for migrant workers—for approximately 200 years. We’ve celebrated the bicentennial, but we’ve yet to disown the beliefs we inherited from the British. And as the current crisis in worker’s dormitories shows, we’ve got a long way to go yet.