Indians among 26 arrested over overstaying in Singapore

Singapore: As many as 26 people from China and India have been arrested by Singaporean authorities for alleged immigration offences of overstaying their allowed terms in the country.

In an island-wide operation conducted on Tuesday, the Immigration & Checkpoint Authority (ICA) officers arrested the alleged offenders.

Under the Immigration Act, the penalties for overstaying or illegal entry are a jail term of up to six months plus a minimum of three strokes of the cane, while the penalties for illegal departure is a fine of up to 2,000 dollars, a jail term of up to six months, or both, the ICA said.

Investigations are still ongoing into accusations against those arrested - who are aged between 26 to 62 years old – for overstaying their allowed entry into Singapore, the Channel News Asia reported on Wednesday, citing ICA.

The report, however, did not specify separately the number of Indians and Chinese arrested.

Two others were arrested on suspicion of harbouring the overstayers.

The ICA said it would like to remind homeowners to exercise due diligence when checking the status of their prospective foreign tenants to ensure their status in Singapore is legal.

This includes checking their original immigration/work pass, crosschecking their particulars on their pass against their passport and verifying the validity of their pass with the issuing authority.

If a homeowner is found guilty of recklessly, negligently or knowingly harbouring overstayers and/or illegal immigrants, he or she may be sentenced to imprisonment and subject to a fine, added the ICA.