UK grants Lee Hsien Yang asylum and 5-year 'refugee status'

The UK has granted Lee Hsien Yang asylum following his allegations against the Singapore government of criminal prosecution, BBC reported on Wednesday (Oct 23).

According to a letter shown by Lee to the BBC, his claim for asylum was successful.

The letter stated that Lee, 67, was given a five-year "refugee status" as the UK government accepted that he had a "well-founded fear of persecution and therefore cannot return to [his] country Singapore."

Lee's wife Lee Suet Fern had also been granted asylum.

While a UK Home Office spokesperson said it is a "longstanding government policy that [the Home Office does not] comment on individual cases", the BBC reported that it has independently confirmed Lee's asylum status and his other claims are in line with Home Office asylum policies.

"Everything the Singapore government has said is fully public and must surely have been taken into account when the refugee status was granted," Lee told the BBC.

Allegations are 'without basis': Singapore government

On Tuesday, Lee revealed in a Facebook post that he sought asylum in 2022 and is now a political refugee. 

"The Singapore government's attacks against me are in the public record. They prosecuted my son, brought disciplinary proceedings against my wife, and launched a bogus police investigation that has dragged on for years," he wrote.

"On the basis of these facts, the UK has determined that I face a well-founded risk of persecution, and cannot safely return to Singapore."

In response to British media outlet The Guardian's earlier proposition that Lee and his family are victims of "baseless and unfounded persecution", a spokesperson for the Singapore government had responded that the allegations were "without basis".

There is also no basis to other claims made by Lee about political repression in the country and pointed out that there are no legal restraints on Lee and his wife coming back to Singapore, the spokesperson added.

"They are and have always been free to return to Singapore."

On Lee's allegations of criminal prosecution, the spokesperson said that Singapore's judiciary is "impartial and makes decisions independently". 

"This is why Singaporeans have a high level of trust in the judiciary," the spokesperson added.

"In Singapore, no one is above the law. Anyone, including the offspring of the founding prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew, can be investigated and brought before the courts."

The spokesperson also cited Singapore's third-place ranking in the 2023 World Justice Project index, while the UK was ranked 11th.

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bhavya.rawat@asiaone.com