Keystone-SDA
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October 23, 2024 – 3:54 p.m.
(Keystone-ATS) The youngest son of Singapore’s founder says he was granted asylum in the United Kingdom after saying he was persecuted, amid family conflict. He claimed to be a “political refugee from Singapore”.
Lee Hsien Yang, son of Singapore’s first head of government Lee Kuan Yew (1959-1990), wrote on Tuesday on the social network Facebook that he had requested asylum in 2022 “as a last resort” in the face of government attacks against him.
“I am a political refugee from Singapore under the 1951 Convention” relating to the status of refugees, said Mr Lee, 67. “I face a well-founded risk of persecution and cannot safely return to Singapore. »
In the city-state, the Lee family is closely related to a royal family. Its members are in conflict over a bungalow that hosted the formation of the People’s Action Party (PAP), which has governed Singapore since 1959.
The dispute has caused a lot of ink to be spilled: while Lee Hsien Yang and his sister Lee Wei Ling support the opposition and want to destroy the house, the older brother, former Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, wants to preserve the property.
Public conflict since 2017
Following the death on October 9 of Lee Wei Ling, who lived at the disputed property, Lee Hsien Yang said he did not feel safe returning to Singapore for the funeral, saying there was a “risk” that his brother is using “the institutions of Singapore” against him.
“The Singapore government’s attacks on me are public order. They prosecuted my son, initiated disciplinary proceedings against my wife, and launched a false police investigation that has lasted for years,” he wrote on Facebook. “I remain a citizen of Singapore and I hope that one day I will be able to return home safely,” he added.
The Singapore government has countered that Lee Hsien Yang’s allegations of persecution are baseless and that he and his wife are free to return to Singapore.
The conflict within the Lee family became public in 2017, two years after the death of their father, who declared independence for the former British colony in 1963 after a brief but unsuccessful union with Malaysia, and which is credited with transforming the city-state into a wealthy financial center. Lee Hsien Loong, who served as prime minister for two decades before resigning in May, remains secretary-general of the ruling PAP party.
