More raids with more prostitutes nabbed, but don't worry

Member of Parliament Christopher de Souza (Holland-Bukit Timah), who previously raised the issue in Parliament of the rising number of arrests of women soliciting, told MediaCorp that recent raids are more of a "deterrent" than anything else.

The cat-and-mouse game of vice crackdowns
Source: TodayOnline.com


... There have been no less than 10 raids on different days reported in Today and The Straits Times, in operations carried out between January and April by law enforcement agencies. These include landmark anti-vice operations online.

In contrast, there was just one raid reported on during the same period last year.

Even as the crackdowns have taken on a higher profile this year, the number of foreign women nabbed for vice has been climbing since 2006, when 4,310 were arrested. In 2008, the figure was 5,047 and last year, it was 7,614...

... Joo Chiat's Mr Chee believes "our social visit pass process is too liberal". "It was set out with the objective of driving up tourist numbers, but it has also served as an open though unintended invitation to women who ply the trade," he said.

During a recent raid at Orchard Towers, one woman who was not arrested told MediaCorp: "Yes, there are a lot of raids now, so we have to be careful. But a lot of girls still prefer to come to Singapore ... Places like Hong Kong turn us away at immigration."