This morning at about 0645 hours, Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officers conducted a raid at a HDB unit in Ang Mo Kio and successfully arrested seven immigration offenders.

2 Preliminary investigations revealed that all the immigration offenders arrested are Myanmar nationals and aged between 19 and 38 years old. Six of them had entered Singapore illegally and one had overstayed. They will be charged in court.

3 ICA takes a serious view of attempts by foreigners to overstay or enter Singapore illegally and would prosecute them and others who abet their illegal stay or entry into Singapore. Under the Immigration Act (Cap 133), the penalties for overstaying or illegal entry are a jail term of up to six months plus a minimum of 3 strokes of the cane.

4 ICA would also like to remind the public that it is an offence to offer shelter and employment to immigration offenders. When in doubt, homeowners are advised to verify the immigration/employment status with the respective authorities, i.e. Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (immigration passes) at Tel: 63916100 or our website: http://www.ica.gov.sg; or Ministry of Manpower (work passes) at Tel: 64385122 or at their website: http://www.gov.sg/mom. Members of public with information regarding immigration offenders can call ICA at Tel: 1800-391 6150 or contact the Police.


END OF NEWS RELEASE

Immigration & Checkpoints Authority
2 May 2003