101 East

Maid in Singapore

Agents in Myanmar are recruiting girls as young as 15 to work as domestic helpers in Singapore.

There are more than 200,000 foreign domestic workers in Singapore.

Under the law, they have to be at least 23 years old.

But one NGO says it is seeing more and more minors at its shelter for abused maids.

Most of these girls come from Myanmar, where investigations reveal a web of deceit and corruption in the recruitment process, and immigration officials are regularly bribed to doctor birthdates on travel documents.

Because of their youth, the girls are often easy targets for abusive employers and sexual predators.

But just how bad is the problem and what is being done to remedy it? 101 East investigates. 

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