Indonesian man jailed for swimming back to Singapore despite being deported
- Yusoff Ishak, a recalcitrant offender, entered the city state illegally to find employment
- He was sentenced to jail for four months and five strokes of the cane
Yusoff Ishak, a 37-year-old Indonesian national, was sentenced to jail for four months and five strokes of the cane on Thursday.
He pleaded guilty to one count under the Immigration Act of entering Singapore without a valid pass, with another count of illegally returning to Singapore taken into consideration.
The court heard that Yusoff was sentenced to 10 weeks’ jail, four strokes of the cane and fined S$1,000 (US$743) in January 2022 for entering Singapore illegally and for customs-related offences.
In December 2023, while in Batam, Yusoff decided to enter Singapore illegally to seek employment, even though he knew he could not do so without written permission.
He paid a boatman 6 million rupiah to board his sampan. Halfway through the journey to Singapore, he jumped off and swam to a shoreline in Changi.