Nearly 300 Myanmar nationals living in Singapore have renounced their ties to their homeland and acquired Singaporean nationality last year, according to an announcement from the junta-controlled embassy there.
A person originally from Myanmar told Radio Free Asia that some are doing this because they were having difficulties extending their passports through the embassy. Others decided they wanted to avoid paying taxes to the junta, which took over Myanmar in a coup four years ago, ousting the country’s democratically elected government.
Additionally, some said they did not want to return to Myanmar because the junta is aggressively conscripting people to fight the civil war against a patchwork of factions opposed to military rule.
According to the embassy’s announcement, those who renounced their citizenship must return their Myanmar national ID cards and passports to the embassy by Feb. 28.
The former Myanmar citizens are mostly educated professionals.
In order to gain citizenship, they have to have been living in the city state as permanent residents for two or three years.
Permanent residency is only available to those who earn 3,000 Singapore dollars (US$2,200) per month.
‘Bad political situation’
The uptick in naturalization is directly related to military rule in Myanmar, a worker in Singapore told RFA on condition of anonymity for security reasons.
“In the past, those who were living as permanent residents had the intention to return home and did not apply for Singapore citizenship,” the worker said. “But now that there is a bad political situation (in Myanmar), they are not willing to return any more.”
The junta’s push to conscript more and more Myanmar citizens, is also encouraging people to switch, the first source said.
A person who returned to Myanmar after acquiring permanent residency status in Singapore told RFA that many are switching because they see Myanmar has many problems.
“If our country was as safe as Singapore in terms of security, economy, and healthcare services, none of our citizens wants to live in another country,” the third source said.
RFA tried to contact those who were recently granted Singaporean citizenship, but for security reasons, none wanted to speak on record.
According to Singapore’s Ministry of Human Resources and Empowerment, over 200,000 Myanmar citizens live in the country.
Meanwhile, an individual who lived in Japan for over 13 years told RFA that he now regrets his decision to return to Myanmar permanently. He returned when the democratically elected government led by Aung San Suu Kyi was in power.
“(At that time,) returnees came from Singapore, Bangkok, and Japan, believing they could finally build a better future at home,” he said. “But all their hopes were dashed after the military coup, and some who had renounced their foreign citizenship to return to Myanmar now deeply regret their decision.”
He said that these days, “nearly everyone” is trying to leave Myanmar as the situation worsens.
Translated by Aung Naing. Edited by Eugene Whong and Malcolm Foster.