Falsehoods

A Facebook and an Instagram post containing a video showing a large group of travellers from South Asia arriving at Changi Airport Terminal 1 has been circulating. The video, published on the Singapore Incidents’ Facebook and Instagram posts on 5 May 2021, contained a watermark indicating the date of the video as 5 May 2021 and the location as Changi Airport. There are also other similar videos spreading on social media.

This video, viewed in the light of the Government's public statements on the restrictions on entry by non-Singapore Citizens or Permanent Residents with recent travel history to India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, implied that the Government’s current restrictions on entry were not in effect, or that the travel ban was not being properly enforced, or enforced at all, by the Government.

The information in the video is false. The video was not filmed on 5 May 2021.

Clarifications

1. The video showed travellers from South Asia arriving at Changi Airport Terminal 1, and a clock indicating the time as 14:53 hrs. According to flight records, there were no flights from South Asia (India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka) that arrived at any terminal in Changi Airport between 08:00 hrs and 15:30 hrs on 5 May 2021.
   
   
2. In the video, passengers were seen walking past a renovation hoarding at gate hold room D42/43 in Terminal 1. This hoarding had been removed on 5 April 2021, establishing that the video was taken before 5 April 2021.
   
   
3. As the Government announced previously, all long-term pass holders and short-term visitors with recent travel history to India are not allowed entry into or transit through Singapore with effect from 23 April 2021, 23:59 hrs. This border control measure was extended to all long-term pass holders and short-term visitors with recent travel history to Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka with effect from 1 May 2021, 23:59 hrs.
   
   
4. While there are still passenger flights arriving in Singapore from South Asia, these flights carry primarily returning Singapore citizens and Permanent Residents, cargo, or fly in empty to pick up passengers in Singapore who are returning to South Asia. For example, on 5 May 2021, there were 5 passenger flights arriving in Singapore from South Asia, carrying a total of 50 passengers, all of whom were returning Singapore citizens or Permanent Residents. The breakdown of passengers on these flights is as follows:

Breakdown of passenger flights arriving from South Asia on 5 May

5. All passengers arriving from the above-mentioned countries are currently subject to the stringent border health measures. At Changi Airport, these passengers are escorted through the airport, separately from passengers arriving from other countries.