Fewer illegal immigrants nabbed this year
Some of the illegal immigrants discovered by the authorities had found their way into Singapore by sandwiching themselves between a mattress and cupboard.
By Chai Hung Yin
The New Paper
Monday, Aug 20, 2012
Fewer illegal immigrants and overstayers were nabbed in the first half of this year, said the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) which released its mid-year report wednesday.
A total of 408 illegal immigrants were arrested in the period - an all-time low since 2008.
It is also a 20.2 per cent drop from the number arrested in the same period last year.
The number of overstayers arrested was 910, a 23.3 per cent drop from that in the same period last year.
ICA attributed the decline to its multi-pronged approach, close working relationship with strategic partners and tough laws which have remained effective.
The New Paper spoke to two non-profit organisations that help migrant workers here.
One of them, Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2), which aims to improve conditions for low-wage migrant workers, said it has seen a downward trend.
The number of immigration offenders it helps has dropped more than 60 per cent to 46 this year from 120 in the same period last year.
Food programme
TWC2 runs a food programme called The Cuff Road Project, which serves free food to disadvantaged migrant workers.
Its coordinator, Ms Debbie Fordyce, said: "We allow immigration offenders to join our food programme because it's heartless not to include them."
After the immigration offenders have served their jail term, they are usually repatriated home.
An ICA spokesman said that generally, foreigners will have to start making arrangements to return to their home country immediately after serving their jail sentences.
She said: "Those who do not have sufficient funds for their return may contact their family or friends for assistance.
"Those who enter the country legally but disregard our laws and overstay must be accountable for their actions."
But Ms Fordyce also noted that there are several overstayers whose stay is then legalised for the sole purpose of investigation.
She said: "They are given a special pass when they need to remain in Singapore for a few months while assisting in investigations into someone who employed or harboured an illegal overstayer."
This group of people are not legally allowed to work, she added.
The Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics (Home)'s executive director Jolovan Wham, 33, said many of these people "end up working illegally because they are unable to support themselves".
Said Mr Wham: "If they are unable to find jobs to support themselves, they end up without a roof over their heads."
The ICA said that the number of people nabbed for harbouring and employing illegal immigrants has also gone down.
For the first half of this year, 15 employers were arrested for employing illegal immigrants - a decline of 16.7 per cent compared with the figure in the same period last year.
A total of 19 were arrested for harbouring illegal immigrants in the first half of this year - a 9.5 per cent drop from the same period last year.
FEWER ILLEGALS ARRESTED
1,318
Total number of illegal immigrants and overstayers arrested from January to June this year. This compares to 1,698 for last year and 2,077 in 2010, for the same 6-month period.
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