migrant women are allowed to be sex workers, and are given yellow cards and contracts with fixed terms that operate as a temporary reprieve from the law. Once the term is up, these women have to leave Singapore, and face a travel ban that prevents them from entering the country again.
Yet these travel bans are not uniformly applied; it varies from one red light district to another. “For licensed brothels in Geylang, the workers are given two-year contracts, and when the contract is up, they will have a lifetime travel ban. But for the brothels around Desker Road, they are given six-month contracts which are renewable. And when it's up, they get a three-to-five-year travel ban. And when you are a freelance sex worker, working illegally, you get a three-year ban if you’re caught by the police