“I would like to see special attention paid to protecting the dignity of migrant workers, who contribute so much to building society and who must be guaranteed a fair wage.”
The Pope on Thursday called for the “protection of the dignity” of migrant workers and the “guarantee of a fair wage” in Singapore, in a speech to authorities in the city-state, the last stop on Francis’ trip through the Asia-Pacific region.
The Pope arrived in Singapore for the final leg of his visit to Asia and Oceania
“I would like to see special attention paid to the poor.the elderly (…) and the protection of the dignity of migrant workers, who contribute so much to the construction of society and who must be guaranteed a fair salary,” he said.
The International Labour Organization estimates that there are 170 million migrant workers in the world, representing around 5% of the global workforce.
Cheap labor has played a key role in the rapid development of ultra-modern metropolises such as Dubai, Doha and Singapore.
Singapore is home to more than 300,000 migrant workersMost of them come from Bangladesh, India and China, and they contribute, with meager salaries, to the construction of imposing skyscrapers and vast infrastructures of the city-state.
Human rights groups have denounced the treatment by the authorities and called for better living conditions to prevent any form of exploitation.
Since his election in 2013, the Pope has been a fervent defender of the rights of migrants and refugees, multiplying calls for better living conditions.
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Francis, 87, arrived in the territory of six million people on Wednesday, the fourth and final stop on his trip through Southeast Asia and Oceania, which ends on Friday.
In his first speech, delivered to a thousand people at the National University of Singapore, the Pope, often critical of neoliberalism, also paid tribute to “insightful entrepreneurial spirit” of the financial center, with the “forest of ultramodern skyscrapers that seem to emerge from the sea.”
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However, he stressed the importance of a society based on “social justice” and the “common good”calling on leaders to “continue these efforts” to “improve the living conditions of citizens through public housing policies, quality education and an efficient health system.”
Singapore’s President Tharman Shanmugaratnam said during a session at the National University of Singapore that “the global order is weakening,” “conflicts and aggression are continuing” and “climate change is accelerating.”
The Pope is “a passionate global voice against war,” he said.
“It constantly invites us to work to promote harmony and dialogue between different groups and religions,” he added.
Source: Observadora
