Eight travellers returning to Singapore, including four Singaporean citizens could find themselves in hot water after allegedly making false declarations regarding their Stay-Home Notices (SHN).

These declarations were made in their applications to opt-out of serving SHN's at dedicated government facilities.

Since Nov. 2, travellers from selected countries and regions have the option to opt-out of using dedicated SHN facilities and serve their SHN at a suitable place of residence while wearing an electronic monitoring device if they meet the following criteria:

• The traveller has not travelled to any other country/region apart from the selected countries/regions in the 14 consecutive days prior to entering Singapore
• The traveller is occupying his or her place of residence (i.e.residential address) alone, or only with household members who share the same travel history and are serving SHN of the same duration

False declarations about who they were residing with

The eight travellers under investigation include four Singaporeans, two permanent residents, and two long-term pass holders.

They had arrived from South Korea and Thailand between Nov. 5 and 12.

In their applications to opt-out of using dedicated SHN facilities, they had declared that they would be occupying their place of residence alone, or only with household members with the same travel history and serving SHN of the same duration.

However, checks by enforcement officers between Nov. 6 and 13 found that the travellers were residing with others who were not serving SHN.

ICA to review status of non-Singaporeans

Upon discovery, the travellers were sent to dedicated SHN facilities and were referred to the police for investigations.

If the investigation proceeds to prosecution in court, the accused may face imprisonment terms, fines, or both.

The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority also said, if found guilty, they would review the immigration status of the four non-Singaporeans.

This could include with a view to revocation of their permanent resident status, or cancelling or shortening the validity of their re-entry permit and/or long-term passes.

Image by Muhammad Hasbi from Pixabay

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