S'pore softens on HIV spouses

S'pore softens on HIV spouses

SINGAPORE (Reuters): Singapore has softened its stance on a law ordering HIV-positive foreign spouses to leave the country with the government saying that most of the dozen infected foreigners repatriated would be allowed to return.

Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong was quoted by the Sunday Times newspaper as saying the law was not meant to throw people out.

The progovernment newspaper said of the 12, all of whom are married to Singaporeans, four had children.

It also said most of them would be allowed back while appeals of other similar cases were being considered sympathetically.

The 12 foreigners, 11 women and one man, who were mainly from Thailand, Indonesia, China and the Philippines, were among the first to be expelled, the paper said.