Singapore will deport 53 foreign workers, 52 Indian nationals and one Bangladeshi national, following a recent riot in more than 40 years, the country’s Police Commissioner Ng Joo Hee said in a statement on Tuesday.
Another 28 face criminal charges for the riot, which broke out on 8 December in Singapore's Little India district. About 400 foreign workers took to the streets, hurling railings at police and torching police cars and an ambulance.
Singapore’s Home Affairs Minister Teo Chee Hean said they had taken strong and decisive action to charge and to repatriate those who took part in the riot, to send a strong signal that we will not tolerate actions by anyone which threaten law and order in that country.
Those being deported failed to disperse despite police orders and threatened public order, making their continued presence in Singapore undesirable, the Ministry of Home Affairs said in a statement.
Another 200 workers present at the riot are believed to have played a relatively passive role and will be given police advisories but allowed to stay in Singapore, the ministry said.
The violent protests broke out after an Indian national was knocked down and killed by a bus. More than 18 people, mostly police officers, were injured in the riot.
However, initially the local media reports claimed that the victim of the accident was a Bangladeshi national.