What happened to Arafur?

Arafur is the sole breadwinner of his family, who are living in Bangladesh. After suffering a workplace injury back in July 2022, he was required to undergo reparative surgery on his finger. While the surgery was a success, Arafur is deeply worried as he still experiences persistent pain in his finger, affecting his hand movement and hence, his ability to resume work. Till today he is unable to clench his fist and grip items well. Losing his employment means that Arafur is no longer able to bring in an income, both for his own and his family’s needs.

With no other sources of income, Arafur’s family borrowed money from loan sharks for their bare necessities, and since then, they have been constantly getting harassed for payment.  

How can you help? 

By donating, you can alleviate  Arafur’s mounting financial worries and cover his living expenses ($500 x 4 months) while he focuses on recuperating and for the MOM assessment to conclude. Funds raised will be transferred to the worker directly.

Find out more/appeal for Arafur

At the age of 27, Arafur came to Singapore to earn an income as the sole breadwinner for his family in Bangladesh. Unfortunately, Arafur suffered an accident at work from heavy lifting in 2018, which left him with a sustained back injury.  His woes multiplied when his father passed on in 2021 after a prolonged illness. The responsibility to take care of his entire 8-member family fell on Arafur’s shoulders.

With few options and great determination to provide stable income for his family, Arafur came back to Singapore in March 2022 to work where his job entailed sealing cracks in MRT tunnels. However, in July 2022, a grout gun discharged chemicals into his finger at work.  Despite wearing two layers of gloves, the strong chemicals still wore through the fabric. After multiple visits to different clinics, Arafur was subsequently brought to the hospital where he underwent surgery. Without the surgery, there was a possibility of infection which may ultimately result in an amputation. However, he was unable to fully recover after the surgery and finds it challenging to clench his fist. 

In September, Arafur’s employer tried to repatriate him after his medical appointments stopped. He was still months away from receiving an assessment for his injury compensation. He rightfully complained to MOM and was granted a special pass to stay on to continue. Since then, Arafur has been unable to work and earn income to remit money to his family.

Currently, Arafur is awaiting the outcome of his work injury insurance compensation. Until this is resolved, he is in no man’s land – unable to work in Singapore, and unable to go back to Bangladesh to seek out other options. Help give Arafur hope while he anxiously awaits an outcome that would allow him to restart his life and provide for his family again.