S'pore to curb illegal migrants

S'pore to curb illegal migrants

SINGAPORE (AFP): The Singapore government expressed concern
yesterday at the prospect of more Indonesians trying to slip
illegally into the island and warned anyone caught can be jailed
up to six months and caned.

"The problem of illegal immigrants from Indonesia has been of
serious concern to the government in the last few years," a
statement from the home ministry said in response to media
queries.

"The situation is likely to get even more serious as the
economic situation in Indonesia deteriorates. More illegal
immigrants will try to slip into Singapore from Indonesia," it
added.

Indonesia, with more than 200 million people, is now
undergoing its worst financial crisis in decades, triggering
fears of an exodus of economic migrants to neighboring countries
also undergoing a slowdown.

Hundreds of thousands of Indonesians already work in Malaysia,
and thousands are employed in Singapore, mostly as construction
hands and domestics.

The Singapore home ministry said local police and immigration
officers were stepping up enforcement at sea and on land to stop
illegal immigrants and overstayers.

"Work sites and other congregation points are being checked,"
it said, adding that an island-wide operation on March 5 netted
91 illegals of various nationalities.

"The punishments are severe -- imprisonment of up to six
months and three strokes of the cane. Offenders are repatriated
after serving their sentence," it said.

Singapore police last week noted that a consecutive nine-year
trend of falling crime rates could be upset this year by an
increase in crimes committed by foreigners who sought to enter
the city-state because of economic hardship at home.

"A possible scenario is that the unemployment in neighboring
countries may result in many people seeking to come to Singapore
and some may turn to crime, " Police Commissioner Khoo Boon Hui
said.

Indonesians were the second largest group of foreigners who
were arrested in 1997 for various offenses, excluding illegal
entry into Singapore, police said.

The government said state prosecutors will also seek deterrent
sentences for employers and people who harbor illegal immigrants
and overstayers.

The home ministry said more illegal immigrants from other
countries were also slipping into the country via southern
Malaysia's Johore state.

"We would need more cooperation between the police in
Singapore and Johore to deal with this problem," it said.