They use pieces of cloth and newspaper to cushion against the hard ground. Some hang their clothes on the gates of the shops.

On any given night, as many as 80 of them can be found sleeping in the streets.

Over a period of one month, The Sunday Times spoke to about 40 of these workers and found that the bulk of them were illegals who had come here on social visit passes but overstayed. Most of them had worked illegally.

All had been punished by the courts and served their sentences. But they cannot go home yet because they are helping the authorities to investigate their errant employers and landlords. Some have been living this way for as long as three months.

Mr Somanthan Sedhurajan, 57, from Chennai province, despairs most about his three children back in India - a son and two daughters - who rely on his earnings: 'I have to earn money. My family situation in India is very bad.'

For the first six months this year, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) arrested 1,822 foreigners for working illegally. A total of 390 employers were charged with employing illegal workers.

The ministry said those required to stay to aid with investigations are issued Special Passes by the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority or MOM. These passes enable them to work to support themselves, and employment is facilitated with a temporary job scheme (TJS) administered by the ministry.

'Only key witnesses are retained,' said an MOM spokesman. 'The rest may return home once they have given their statements.'

He added: 'In situations where the workers have to attend to urgent personal matters back home, MOM would also facilitate their return to the home country temporarily.'

But workers like Mr Samikkannu Shanmugam, 25, from Thanjavur, India, said he was not aware of the temporary job option.

In a letter to The Straits Times Forum, Mr Jolovan Wham, 28, executive director of the Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics, an independent organisation, reckons there are several thousand such workers here.

His organisation, which looks into the welfare of migrant workers, currently has 38 at its shelter in Little India.

'More jobs should be made available and there should be better communication to let them know about the scheme.'

Ms Elizabeth Tan, 55, chairman of the Archdiocesan Commission for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People, said errant employers should house the workers.

Contractors drop by Cuff Road to offer day jobs which pay up to $20 a day. At least $5 of that could go to a dormitory room for the night, but for most, the money is better saved.

One of the workers, Mr Ravi, 42, who is the sole breadwinner of his family which includes a 12-year-old son and 14-year-old daughter in Tamil Nadu province, said he appreciates that 'at least he has a place to sleep at night'.

Business owners in Cuff Road have mixed feelings. Mr Tan Koon Seng, 65, owner of He He Food Shop, gives them leftover food from his shop, because 'they are very pitiful'.

But a Singapore Gujarati Society spokesman complained that the workers dry their clothes in front of the main door. He shoos them away 'but after I come back, they are there again'.

bhiggs@sph.com.sg