Hidden behind a shelter in Singapore are hundreds of distressed migrant workers of different nationalities waiting for their cases to be heard and hoping to move on. These people are victims of human labor trafficking, child labor, and emotional, psychological and physical abuses.
Women are most vulnerable to these types of abuses, but even male migrant workers are subject to exploitation. Migrant workers from China, Bangladesh, India, and other Asian countries go to Singapore to work as construction workers with little protection from local labor laws.
In this project, which was supported by a grant from the Pulitzer Center, photojournalist Xyza Cruz Bacani documents the lives of migrant workers in Singapore who left their home countries to seek a better economic future for their families but ended up being exploited.
Artist Bios
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Xyza Cruz Bacani
Xyza Cruz Bacani (b.1987) is a Filipina Street and Documentary Photographer based in Hong Kong. Having worked as a second-generation migrant domestic worker in the city, she used photography to raise awareness about under-reported stories, focusing on the intersections of labor and human rights. She is one of the Magnum Foundation Photography and Social Justice Fellow 2015, has exhibited worldwide, won awards in photography and is the recipient of a resolution passed by the Philippines House of Representatives in her honor, HR No. 1969. Xyza is a WMA Commission grantee, a Pulitzer Center, and Open Society Foundation Moving Walls 2017 grantee, she is one of the BBC’s 100 Women of the World 2015, 30 Under 30 Women Photographers 2016, Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia 2016, and a Fujifilm Ambassador.
Organizations
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ArtWorks for Freedom
ArtWorks for Freedom uses the power of art to raise awareness about modern-day slavery and human trafficking. Working locally and globally and engaging art in all its forms, we are transforming public perceptions, educating individuals, communities, and policymakers, and inspiring action to put an end to modern day slavery.
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Pulitzer Center
The Pulitzer Center makes possible in-depth reporting on important systemic issues, from climate change to health to the impact of AI. We make sure that the journalism reaches the right audiences to inspire curiosity, understanding, and action.
Our grants, trainings, and tools support more than 200 journalism projects each year, published by hundreds of news outlets all over the world. Over our 20-year history, that adds up to 11,000 stories illuminating some of the most urgent, complex issues facing the world today, and the intersections between them.
The journalism we support has led to the repeal of harmful laws, helped change government programs, and borne witness to events and atrocities that otherwise would be hidden from public scrutiny—and garnered the industry’s top accolades, including Pulitzer Prizes and Emmy awards.
Journalism also is a driver of civic engagement. We connect our projects to classrooms, communities, and public forums worldwide, extending impact far beyond publication. As the ways people get their information change, our impact-driven, audience-driven approach is even more necessary for a healthy society.
Breakthrough Journalism, Stronger Communities. That’s been our mission and our passion for two decades. We’re excited to see what the next 20 years bring.
Invisible: Migrant Workers in Singapore
Featuring: Xyza Cruz Bacani
Locations
View Location Details Download a detailed map of this location Brooklyn Bridge Park – Emily Warren Roebling Plaza1 Water St
Brooklyn, NY 11201
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