Do you have any recollection of your interactions with Singaporeans? What did you think their perceptions were towards refugees?

Unfortunately, by the 1990s, third countries started to default on their commitment to resettle refugees. Hawkins Road Camp soon turned into a camp for rejected asylum seekers, and many refused to leave voluntarily. The threat of repatriation also caused refugees to protest to the UNHCR, conduct hunger strikes, and even attempt suicide. In 1998, in parliament, after speaking about the government’s tough measures against illegal immigration, then-Minister of Home Affairs Mr. Wong Kan Seng addressed the issue of refugees as follows: “… for the same reason that we are a small country with limited natural resources, Singapore is also not in a position to accept anyone who claims to be a refugee, whether he is an economic or a political refugee. We could otherwise be overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of people who want to come here and claiming themselves to be refugees.” He added, “… in the past, we have been kind enough to agree to take in Vietnamese refugees with third country guarantees for resettlement. And for years, we were saddled with them because these third countries which agreed to resettle them did not honour their guarantees. Eventually, when the camp had to be closed, these Vietnamese had to be sent back. We have learnt our lesson and we will no longer accept any refugee even if a third country promises to resettle them.”

Today, the political will of many wealthy countries to take in refugees has waned. Their low resettlement quotas and immense bureaucratic obstacles leave millions of refugees in uncertain, vulnerable, and exploitative situations. Less-wealthy countries are also left with the responsibility of providing protection and care to the refugees in need. In 2020, the US took in only 11,814 refugees, a sharp reduction from 85,000 in 2016. Because of the pandemic, Australia’s admission of refugees fell by 3000. The European Union has also strong-armed Turkey into taking back refugees who have crossed irregularly into Europe. As a result, refugees in countries such as Malaysia, Lebanon, and Turkey can wait for almost 17 years before they are resettled in a third “safe” country.

As one of the wealthiest states in the world, Singapore’s annual contribution of US$60,000 to UNHCR is paltry. There is much more that Singapore can do to help ASEAN countries in dealing with the refugee crisis. Some opportunity areas include: offering avenues for refugees to access education or employment opportunities through scholarships and special work passes. Integrating refugees into the workforce aligns with Singapore’s plans to increase its population to 6.9 million by the year 2030, as stipulated in the government’s Population White Paper.

In difficult times, it is easy for governments and world leaders to focus on the socio-economic constraints within their own countries, but now more than ever, countries must band together and respond to humanitarian crises with compassion and a moral conscience. The responsibility of helping refugees lies not only with traditional resettlement countries like the United States and Australia, or the neighbours of refugee-producing countries, like Bangladesh or Turkey, but with each and every country.

To find out more about Singapore’s stance on refugees, visit our research project “Singapore & Refugees” on socialcollab.sg.