Singapore riot: 200 foreign workers issued police advisories

Some 200 foreign workers, including Indians, were today issued formal police advisories for alleged involvement in Singapore's worst street violence in 40 years.
The move came two days after 56 Indians and a Bangladeshi were deported from Singapore for alleged involvement in the December 8 riot in Little India, a precinct of Indian-origin businesses, eateries and pubs where most South Asian workers take their Sunday break.
Police said those issued advisories had played "a passive and incidental" role during the riot.
The workers started arriving at the Police Cantonment Complex at 10 am to receive police advisories at the Criminal Investigation Department. The foreign workers were accompanied by representatives of the companies they work for.

The workers were reminded they must abide by the laws of Singapore and should they commit any criminal offence, they would face stern action, including the revocation of their work privileges, Channel News Asia reported, citing the advisory.
While a police warning is usually issued "in place of prosecution" and indicates that an offence may have been committed, an advisory is given to those who have not committed offences, and face no further action, The Straits Times quoted Commissioner of Police Ng Joo Hee as saying.

This third group, besides the ones deported and charged, would neither be further detained nor repatriated. They would be allowed to work and stay in Singapore but there should be no complaints against them in future, Ng said in a statement last Friday.

The advisory was given both orally and in written form to the workers.
Meanwhile, the 28 Indians charged with rioting are set to make an appearance in court tomorrow after being remanded for investigations.
The trouble started after a private bus fatally knocked down an Indian pedestrian, 33-year-old Sakthivel Kuaravelu, in Little India. Some 400 migrant workers were involved in the rampage that left 39 police and civil defence staff injured and 25 vehicles - including 16 police cars - damaged.
Singapore previously witnessed violence on such a scale during race riots in 1969.