Statement on Ms Anja Wessels of Research Across Borders Singapore

22 December 2017

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE –

We refer to the report “Bonded To the System” published by Research Across Borders and which was reported by CNN, The Straits Times and Channel News Asia. This project was conceptualised in 2014 by the Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics (HOME). Ms Anja Wessels was the volunteer researcher engaged by HOME to lead and execute the study on our behalf. The study surveyed over 700 Indonesian and Filipino domestic workers and relied on the International Labour Organisation’s trafficking indicators to identify migrant domestic workers who were victims of exploitation, forced labour and human trafficking.

However, in the course of the research, Ms Wessels and HOME disagreed with the manner in which some of the indicators were interpreted. For instance, according to Ms Wessels, a domestic worker who did not have a 24-hour day off or did not have the keys to her employers’ house was classified as someone who was coerced. We also disagreed with her assertion that Filipinos were more vulnerable than Indonesians, as there are many factors apart from nationality that could result in this finding.

These concerns were communicated to Ms Wessels as the report was being prepared in its early stages. Due to this disagreement, Ms Wessels left the project in October this year and published the report under Research Across Borders last week without our consent. HOME will re-analyse the data and provide detailed findings in a report which will be presented early next year.