1,411 stateless people living in Singapore: MHA

SINGAPORE — As of Jan 31 this year, there were 1,411 stateless persons living in Singapore, Minister for Home Affairs K Shanmugam said on Monday (Feb 29).

Mr Shanmugam said 59 per cent of the 1,411 stateless persons are male, and 41 per cent are female. Seventy-four per cent, or 1,048 of them, are aged 50 and above, he added in a written answer to a question from MP Png Eng Huat (Hougang SMC).

The Home Affairs Minister said the majority of these stateless persons came from other countries to live and work in Singapore. Others were born in Singapore but were not eligible for Singapore Citizenship at birth as their parents were not Singapore Citizens at their time of their birth, and did not obtain foreign citizenship for them from their home countries, Mr Shanmugam said.

He also said many of the stateless persons have since become Permanent Residents. “Stateless PRs can also acquire Singapore Citizenship if they meet the requirements,” Mr Shanmugam said.

Responding to a separate question from Mr Png, Minister for National Development Lawrence Wong also revealed that as of January this year, there are 613 stateless persons living in HDB public rental flats. Mr Wong added that most of them live with family members who are Singapore Citizens. CHANNEL NEWSASIA