According to Amnesty International one quarter of Singapore's population were migrants at the end of 2009.
The Employment of Foreign Workers Act excludes domestic workers (2009). Singapore does not provide basic protection for foreign domestic workers, such as a standard number of working hours and rest days, minimum wage and access to employment benefits.[15] The recruitment fees of domestic workers can be up to 40% of the workers salary in a two-year contract. Until end of 2010 Singapore government have refused to regulate the recruitment fees.[16]
In 2010 two migrants from Burma, after 11 years' work in Singapore, did not receive new work permits, following their active support for Burma's pro-democracy movement.[11]