Indonesians smuggled into S'pore

Indonesians smuggled into S'pore

SINGAPORE (AP): While Singapore police tighten enforcement, syndicates are refining their operations to smuggle Indonesian workers into the city-state, a newspaper reported yesterday.

At least 20 syndicates are using the nearby islands of Batam and Bintan -- popular destinations for Singaporeans on weekend holidays -- as staging points for highly coordinated smuggling into Singapore and neighboring Malaysia, The Sunday Times said.

Because of the economic difficulties in its Southeast Asian neighbors, particularly Indonesia, Singapore is experiencing an influx of illegal immigrants, and fears the situation will worsen.

Police carried out a series of highly publicized crackdowns last week, netting hundreds of illegal immigrants who had either been smuggled in or had overstayed their work visas.

The newspaper said the syndicates are recruiting workers from all over Indonesia, housing them at various staging points on the two islands, and then smuggling the laborers across the Straits of Singapore at night.

The unemployed workers "plead with me to help them get out from the economic hell," said Indonesian smuggler Ahmad Harman, who admitted to more than 20 smuggling runs.

Typically, 10 to 15 illegal immigrants are ferried in small speedboats for the 20-minute trip from Batam or the two-hour journey from Bintan, the report said.

The Indonesians pay 800,000 rupiah (US$ 77), or the equivalent of three months' wages, for the chance to sneak into Singapore.

"I have been out of work for seven months," former construction worker Juffri Iskandar Sabri said while waiting his turn. "I know the risk of trying to sneak into Singapore, but what else can I do? I have four children to feed."