1. Reported Stateless Persons
Singapore has consistently reported 1,109 stateless persons to UNHCR in the years 2020, 2021, and 2022. As of February 2019, Singapore’s Immigration and Checkpoints Authority reported 1,303 persons. This number has improved slightly since January 2016, when the Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Law reported that 1,411 stateless persons were living in Singapore. Of that figure, 59% were reported to be male, and 41% female. Recent recommendations from the CERD Committee, as discussed above, indicate that reported data on the number of stateless persons in Singapore may not be updated or comprehensive.
In 2016, it was reported that 85% of stateless persons were Permanent Residents. In 2020, the Minister for Home Affairs reported that 76% of Singapore’s current stateless population are Permanent Residents of Singapore, meaning that the percentage of stateless persons with access to benefits conferred by being a Permanent Resident diminished significantly between 2016 and 2020. While Permanent Residents can access healthcare, educational benefits and Certificates of Identity which facilitate travel, stateless persons who are not Permanent Residents do not receive the same benefits. They are issued a Special Pass, which must be renewed every six months to continue their residency in Singapore.
Singapore’s stateless population consists primarily of three groups: persons born in the country before independence who did not meet the requirements of citizenship which were in effect at that time, permanent residents who have lost their foreign citizenship, and children born to foreign nationals not recognised as citizens in their home countries. In particular, the separation in 1965 between Singapore and Malaysia was a key contributor to the complication of proving one’s citizenship, as individuals were displaced and at times did not have the necessary paperwork to document their right to citizenship.
In 1957, the Citizenship Ordinance offered all residents born in Singapore or the Federation of Malaya, and British citizens, the ability to register for a Singapore citizenship. It also offered naturalisation to residents living in Singapore for more than ten years who were ready to take an oath of allegiance and renounce their allegiance to other countries. However, the Ordinance also inevitably made it possible for the Government to deny citizenship to those deemed as displaying dissatisfactory representations to the Constitution or the Queen. During this time of significant change, some residents were not able to or did not register themselves as citizens of the new nation of Singapore. After the separation between Singapore and Malaysia in 1965, individuals who were displaced and did not have the appropriate paperwork to prove their place of birth were then left to face significant complications in proving their citizenship.
| Country | 2019 (year start) | 2020 (year end) | 2021 (year end) | 2022 (year end) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singapore | 1,303 | 1,109 | 1,109 | 1,109 |
Source: UNHCR, Global Trends: Forced Displacement from 2019-2022.
