SINGAPORE — Four more foreign workers involved in the Little India riot earlier this month have been deported, bringing the total number of deportees to 57, the police announced yesterday.

All have been deported by last night and will not be allowed to enter Singapore again.

The four additional Indian nationals repatriated are among the seven who were initially charged in court for rioting but whose charges were later dropped. They were served stern police warnings instead and hence became “undesirable immigrants in our country”, said Police Commissioner Ng Joo Hee at a press briefing yesterday.

“The persons who received the warning in this case are foreigners, so they are then deemed undesirable immigrants in our country ... There are powers (which) the State has to proclaim someone a prohibited immigrant and then to remove him from the country,” he said. Every non-Singaporean requires the permission of the State or Government to reside here, he added.

Mr Ng said the four individuals had full access to consular assistance and were seen by members of the Committee of Inquiry (COI) set up in the wake of the riot on Dec 8. Of the other 53 individuals repatriated — all Indians except for one Bangladeshi — 16 spoke to the COI.

Responding to media queries, the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) said an average of 13,000 foreigners were repatriated annually over the past three years. Deportees include illegal immigrants, overstayers and those who have had their work privileges cancelled, the ICA said.

Repatriated persons are informed via a notice that they are to obtain prior written permission from the Controller of Immigration should they wish to enter or reside in Singapore in future. Those who enter without doing so could be jailed one to three years and fined up to S$6,000 if convicted of unlawful return, and be liable for removal from Singapore.

Tomorrow, about 200 people who were at the riot, but deemed not to have committed any offence as their involvement was passive and incidental, will be issued formal police advisories at the Police Cantonment Complex.

The police are notifying their employers to present the workers — from over 150 firms in the marine, trade, construction and other industries — to the Criminal Investigation Department to be formally advised. An advisory is a reminder to comply with Singapore laws, and Mr Ng said written and verbal advisories will be given to the workers, with employers present as witnesses.

DESIGNATED HOLDING AREA FOR BUSES

Meanwhile, from tomorrow a Halifax Road car park will be used on Sundays as a holding area for buses ferrying foreign workers to and from Little India, the Land Transport Authority said in reply to TODAY’s queries.

The bus associations wanted a designated holding area sited close to Little India for easy deployment of their buses, and the LTA worked with relevant authorities to designate the Halifax Road car park for this purpose. The car park will be closed to other vehicles on Sundays from 3pm to 9pm, an LTA spokesperson said.

The LTA and the public transport operators will closely monitor the public transport situation and make adjustments to train and bus schedules where required, she said.

Singapore School and Private Hire Bus Owners’ Association President Neo Tiam Beng said the association is “quite happy” with the new holding area. This weekend will be the first where workers will wait at Hampshire Road to board the private buses back to their dormitories; previously, the buses would be the ones waiting, he said.

But he was worried that the number of workers making the trip to Little India would be low. “If the dormitories have activities, maybe fewer will come down. Maybe (the workers) will be scared of the police presence (in Little India),” he said.

Major dormitories will be holding activities such as movie screenings and sports on weekends and public holidays for their lodgers.

Asked about the cost of organising these activities at the press briefing, Mr Kevin Teoh, Divisional Director of the Manpower Ministry’s Foreign Manpower Management Division, said: “I understand the dorm operators occasionally, throughout the year, may do some activities on their own. So as we work with them to consider bringing forward these activities, it will probably be cost-neutral.”

He added that not all activities are expensive but his ministry will look into funding issues. “You could have a cricket game, drinks could be provided — it’s not expensive, so these are things that we can consider,” he said. ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY WOO SIAN BOON