Lee Hsien Yang, the youngest son of Lee Kuan Yew, the founder of modern Singapore, announced on Facebook on Tuesday that he is seeking political asylum in Britain under the UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees.
In a Facebook post, Lee, the sibling of former Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, said Britain had determined that he faced a “well-founded risk of persecution and could not safely return to Singapore.” He said:
I sought asylum protection as a last resort. I remain a Singapore citizen and hope that someday it will become safe to return home.
The Singapore government said the persecution allegations were unfounded, Singapore’s CNN reported, citing a response provided to the Guardian newspaper.
Lee Hsien Yang and his sister Lee Wei Ling, who passed away earlier this month, were at odds with their brother Lee Hsien Loong, who was Singapore’s PM from 2004 until May this year. Their dispute over what to do with their father’s estate after his death has strained family relations.
The younger brother said he applied for political asylum in 2022 because of government persecution of him and his family, and as a result he was unable to travel home to attend his sister’s funeral. Last week, he said he would apply for the demolition of Lee Kuan Yew’s house as he wished. In response, the government said it would look into the real estate issues in due course.
