In Photos: The Secret World Of Modern Slavery

Ali, 24, from Bangladesh, trapped in debt bondage constructing tower blocks in Singapore

It cost me S$18,000 [£10,175] to get here. I was told I could earn S$1,000 a month as a construction worker, but I had to pay S$9,000 to the training centre and another S$9,000 in agent fees before I arrived. My family had to sell land, borrow money, even take out a bank loan to pay for it all. For three months we got no salary at all. Then we discovered our boss had fled Singapore. There’s no way to get the money from him now. I have my parents, three sisters and a brother to look after.

Photo: Tom White for the Guardian