MEASURES TO PREVENT HIRING OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS

Mr Cyrille Tan asked the Minister for Manpower whether his Ministry will consider tougher measures to prevent employers from hiring illegal immigrants at the expense of Singaporean workers as current penalties have not deterred such abuse.

Dr Lee Boon Yang: In 1998, my Ministry's enforcement officers arrested 4,259 illegal foreign workers, including 1,307 foreigners who had entered Singapore illegally or had overstayed beyond the validity of their social visit passes. In comparison, a total of 1,884 illegal foreign workers were arrested in 1997. The presence of illegal workers creates social problems, affects our law and order and undermines economic upgrading. I would like to inform Members that in view of the current threat of illegal immigration, we have intensified our enforcement actions and are working closely with the Police to ferret out the illegal workers.

Illegal foreign workers and those caught employing them already face stiff penalties under the law. They can be fined or jailed. Employers of more than 5 immigration offenders will be caned. The penalties for the employment of illegal immigrants and overstayers are spelt out under the Immigration Act administered by the Ministry of Home Affairs. In view of the rising number of illegal foreign workers caught, the Ministry of Home Affairs had raised the penalties for such employers in October 1998 as a further deterrence. For employers of more than 5 immigration offenders who could not be caned (ie, women and males who are more than 50 years of age), the maximum fine was increased from $6,000 to $10,000. This will ensure that such employers would be subjected to a heavier fine than those who employ 5 or less immigration offenders ($6,000). For corporate bodies convicted of employing immigration offenders, the fine was increased from between $50,000 and $100,000 to between $100,000 and $200,000.

Earlier, in March 1996, the Employment of Foreign Workers Act (EFWA) was amended to hold main contractors in the construction industry liable for illegal foreign workers found at their site. The amended Act also prescribed security measures contractors should take to prevent illegal workers from entering their sites. This will ensure that contractors make serious effort to keep out illegal foreign workers.

We also stepped up enforcement and persecution actions. The number of raids conducted by the Employment Inspectorate and jointly with MHA has increased by over 80% between 1997 and 1998 (Number of inspections conducted by EI or EI and MHA in 1997 and 1998 is 572 and 1,014 respectively, i.e. increase of 89%.). In 1998, my Ministry prosecuted 320 employers for employing illegal foreign workers. While the Employment of Foreign Workers Act provides for mandatory imprisonment for a second offence, my Ministry has sought deterrent sentences on some first time offenders. This had resulted in 5 first time offenders being sent to jail since 1997. The maximum jail sentence meted out was 100 weeks to a proprietor of a construction company which employed more than 100 illegal foreign workers.

We are of the view that the current penalties are adequate to deter employers from employing illegal workers. However, my Ministry will monitor the situation closely and if necessary, seek enhancement of penalties to check illegal employment. Employers are reminded not to employ illegal foreign workers as the risks and penalties involved outweigh any short-term benefits.