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More than 5,000 foreign sex workers
caught in S'pore
SINGAPORE - THE Republic arrested more than 5,000 foreign
prostitutes last year but it is unrealistic to expect vice to be
eliminated, the Home Affairs Minister has told parliament.
Wong Kan Seng was responding to a question from an MP about efforts
to curb 'rampant gambling and prostitution' in Singapore's
red-light Geylang district.
'The vice situation in Singapore is under control,' Mr Wong said in
a written response released on Tuesday.
He said police across the city-state last year conducted 950
vice-related operations, up from 890 the previous year. They
arrested 5,400 foreign sex workers, a 25 percent increase over
2006, he said.
Despite its reputation as a straight-laced society, prostitution is
legal in Singapore, where licensed brothels operate in designated
areas such as Geylang. Pimping and public solicitation are
illegal.
Foreign women working voluntarily in the sex trade cannot be
arrested unless they are caught offering their services out in the
street or violate immigration and other laws.
Mr Wong, who is also a deputy prime minister, said installation of
closed-circuit television cameras in Geylang has helped deter
solicitation.
He said daily police operations to target gambling in the back
alleys of Geylang led to 280 arrests last year and an improvement
in the situation.
'Illegal gambling in Geylang is not rampant,' he said.
'But I should add that it is not realistic to expect vice to be
totally eliminated,' he said, particularly as the city-state seeks
to promote tourism.
'Among those who come, there will be a very small number who enter
under the pretext of social visits but engage in vice activities.
This is the reality which Singaporeans should face up to.' --
AFP
