Elderly women jailed for housing Singapore illegals

Malaysian Pheh Kim Lan, 60, was sentenced by a district court to six months in jail for harbouring two illegal immigrants from China. Thirteen similar charges against her were taken into account. "They had shown the accused copies of certain passes and said the original passes were kept with their employers," Pheh's counsel Ang GekPeng was quoted as saying by The Straits Times. "The accused believed them." The offenders had been sentenced earlier to a month in jail and four strokes of the cane for unlawful entry.

Also charged on Friday with harbouring four illegal immigrants from Bangladesh was Lee Hong Tee, a 70-year-old grandmother. The court was told her apartment had been used by the tenants as a centre for churning out fake work permits. A pre-trial conference was set for Monday. The latest legal actions came barely a month after a 72-year-old illiterate widow was put behind bars for seven months for subletting a shophouse to immigration offenders. Under Singapore law, landlords are required to ensure that tenants are not illegal immigrants by inspecting original work permits and comparing the details with those in passports. If the tenant is employed, the landlord is also responsible for matching the particulars with those in the employer's records. Harbouring illegals resulted in the arrests of 590 people last year, compared with 306 in 1999. Immigration offenders numbered 16,500, with most from China, Bangladesh and India.

(dpa)