A study by SMU School of Social Sciences’ Assistant Professor of Sociology Nicholas Harrigan and SMU alumna Koh Chiu Yee revealed that 62 per cent of lower-skilled South Asian migrant workers in Singapore awaiting salary or injury claims and 13 per cent of regular workers are likely to suffer from serious mental illness. The main drivers of distress were housing, debts and threats of deportation. The study surveyed 801 workers, mostly from India and Bangladesh. It proposes recommendations such as the government providing housing, allowing a Short Term Visit Pass that lengthens workers’ stays after their work permits are cancelled, and allowing workers to change employers without employer permission, to help reduce the danger that such threats pose to workers’ mental health. Assistant Prof Harrigan commented that employers have tremendous power in deporting a worker in just a few days, despite workers’ huge investments in coming to Singapore, among other issues. The study is part of the Social Insight Research Series of reports on unmet social needs in Singapore, driven by the Lien Centre of Social Innovation under SMU. It was launched yesterday with a panel discussion including senior representatives from Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2), Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics (HOME), Silver Ribbon Singapore, and HOH Law Corporation.