Agency suspended for ‘selling’ maids on Carousell
The employment agency that "sold" maids on online retail platform Carousell has had its licence suspended.
In a statement yesterday, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said it had established that employment agency SRC Recruitment was behind the maid advertisements.
It said the agency has been served with a notice of licence suspension and can no longer deploy any new foreign domestic workers (FDWs) for employment.
The MOM also said it was investigating the agency with the view of taking prosecution action for infringements under the Employment Agencies Act (EAA).
The suspension will remain for as long as investigations are ongoing, the ministry said.
Mr Kevin Teoh, Commissioner for Employment Agencies, said: "The MOM is committed to protecting the well-being of FDWs in Singapore.
"We strongly condemn the advertising of FDW services in an undignified manner.
"Advertising FDWs on an Internet platform meant for trading goods is completely inappropriate and unacceptable. Such an act is an offence under the EAA."
WARNING
The MOM was first alerted to the Carousell listings on Sept 14 and put up a Facebook post to warn other employment agencies against such practices.
It also told Carousell to take down the offending posts.
The ministry said it was in touch with the Indonesian Embassy and has informed them of the investigations.
The listings on Carousell were posted by user @maid.recruitment and showed the faces of maids, allegedly from Indonesia.
Some of the posts indicated that the maids had been "sold".
The postings had prompted the Indonesian Embassy to say it would request a thorough investigation of the advertisements.
According to the Jakarta Post, the Indonesian Foreign Ministry's overseas citizen protection director, Mr Lalu Muhammad Iqbal, had said on Sunday that the Indonesian Embassy in Singapore had voiced its concerns about the practice to the MOM.
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