SINGAPORE — More than half of the Singaporeans polled in a wide-ranging survey of four countries think migrant workers increase crime rates and threaten the country’s culture and heritage, according to a new study.

A majority of the 4,099 respondents surveyed in all four countries concurred that crime rates had increased due to migration: 52 per cent in Singapore, 83 per cent in Malaysia, 77 per cent in Thailand and 51 per cent in Japan.

On the issue of a country’s culture and heritage, a majority also saw migrant workers as a threat: 53 per cent in the Republic, 68 per cent in Malaysia, 58 per cent in Thailand and 42 per cent in Japan.

“There is little evidence to back up the claim that migrant workers are more likely to commit crimes than the rest of the population, unless lack of documentation is considered a crime,” according to the report entitled “Public Attitudes Towards Migrant Workers In Japan, Malaysia, Singapore And Thailand”.

“It is evident that considerable portions of the public (in these four countries) hold negative perceptions towards migrant workers. This amounts to or can easily translate into discriminatory behaviours towards (them).”

The report was commissioned by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and United Nations Women. Some 1,005 Singaporeans took part in the study, which also took in feedback from, among others, governments, employers' bodies and non-government organisations.

It was the second such poll in a decade. The last survey in 2010 took in public attitudes towards migrant workers in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and South Korea. Japan took the place of the latter in the new study due to its emergence as an important destination country for low-skilled migrant workers in Asia.

“While overall migration has increased over the last decade, the new study reveals that positive attitudes towards migrant workers have declined...recent polls and elections in other countries highlight that channelling xenophobia towards migrant workers is a potent political instrument.”

Singapore is the highest scoring country

The study found that of the quartet of countries, the Republic was the highest scoring in the KAP Index (knowledge, attitudes, practice Index, a composite of answers to 15 survey questions on a 0-100 scale). This indicates that support for migrant workers here remains relatively strong.

Compared with 2010, there was a modest decline in the scores of Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand.

However, while such workers in Singapore are better protected than in many other destination countries, their employment remains closely regulated, and laws and public opinion are not entirely in their favour.

“Migrant domestic workers are excluded from Singapore’s main labour law, resulting in working hours going unregulated. Singapore does not have a minimum wage for any sectors,” noted the report.

“Like in Malaysia, women migrant workers are deported if found to be pregnant, and employers often restrict the movement of domestic workers, resulting in isolation and restricted ability to seek help when it is needed.”

Many of the respondents also did not support equal rights for foreign workers. In response to the statement “Migrant workers should not receive the same pay and benefits as local workers”, 60 per cent of Singaporean agreed.

No need for migrant workers: respondents

Despite an ageing population and a falling dependency ratio - which means there is a lower percentage of workers in the population - not all Singaporeans are convinced of the need for migrant workers.

Just 25 per cent of those surveyed agree that there is a need for such workers. And when asked if they are a “drain on the economy”, a third agreed.

Nevertheless, 58 per cent of them agreed that migrant workers have an overall positive net effect on the economy.

There are some 1,368,000 migrant workers in Singapore, comprising 42 per cent of the labour force. They are among the 11.6 million migrant workers in the Southeast Asia and Pacific subregion, of whom almost half are women.

Support for domestic helpers’ rights, but...

There was also consistently strong support for the rights of female migrant workers. For example, a majority in every country polled felt that they should have rights to maternity leave, including 51 per cent in Singapore.

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