MEDIA ADVISORY 21 August 2008, Embargoed until 22 August 2008

Burmese Citizens Denied Renewal of Visas in Singapore

Groundless non-renewal of key immigration and work documents of Burmese Patriots by Singapore immigration and manpower authorities

Background
Since the Saffron Revolution of September 2007, the Burmese anti-junta movement has gained remarkable momentum in Singapore, fuelled by the increasing frustration and discontent of the Burmese people in Singapore at the outrageous atrocities committed by the Burmese military junta. Burmese patriots in Singapore work as one united group to raise awareness about human rights violations by the Burmese junta, advocate for free and democratic Burma, and stand in solidarity with the freedom and democracy movements inside Burma as well as around the world. Some of the notable milestones are the peaceful protest along Orchard Road on 20th November 2007 during ASEAN Summit and the "Vote NO" Campaign for the sham referendum on the military-drafted, new constitution for Burma during late April and early May 2008. These activities were not only effective in raising awareness about the injustice committed by the Burmese Junta and the true desires of the Burmese people but also lawful in Singapore. The political objectives of the Burmese activists have always been to advocate political change in Burma and their guiding principle is to use peaceful as well as lawful means in Singapore while expressing themselves. Indeed, none of the anti-junta political activities of the Burmese activists has ever been declared unlawful or in conflict with the local sensitivities by the Singapore government. Apart from receiving a police warning for their participation in the Orchard Road anti-junta protest, the Burmese activists have never been charged for any unlawful act while pursuing their political objectives.

Non-renewal of key immigration documents

Since July 2008, many Burmese patriots in Singapore have been denied renewal and extensions of their visas or permits by Singapore's Immigration and Checkpoint Authorities and the Ministry of Manpower for no reason or explanation. In a span of just over two weeks, 6 Burmese patriots have been affected, and 3 of them have been forced to leave Singapore to date. There is no evidence that the 6 affected Burmese patriots have ever committed a crime against the law in Singapore. No reason or explanation has been given by the Singapore Immigration and Checkpoint Authorities for rejecting the renewal and extension of the visas and permits of these Burmese patriots. In the eyes of the Burmese patriots affected, the rejections appear arbitrary and without rationale.

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Statement of intent
We, Burmese patriots, are releasing this press statement to publicly inquire: The underlying reasons for the apparently arbitrary rejections by Singapore authorities Whether the Burmese activists have been rejected for their peaceful political activism Why the Singapore government unfairly ill-treated the Burmese activists despite its declarations of support for peaceful political change in Burma

Photo & Interview Opportunities

Your reporter and cameraman are invited to cover the press conference, which is open to full media coverage. The details are as follows: Date : 22 August 2008 (Friday) Time : 3.00pm to 5.00pm Venue : Lilac Room, Level 5, Peninsula Excelsior Hotel

*****

PROFILES
The following is the profiles of the 4 out of 6 affected activists and the details of their cases.

Ngwe Zin Soe

Occupation : Assistant Engineer Type of visa/permit : PR Re-entry Permit Related agency : ICA Since her graduation from Temasek Polytechnic in 2003, Ngwe Zin Soe has been working in an Engineering company with a Permanent Resident (PR) status in Singapore. Considering her PR Re-entry Permit would expire on 11th September 2007, she went to ICA on 21st July 2008 to apply for its extension as Re-entry Permit can be extended within 6 months prior to the expiry date. At ICA, Ngwe Zin Soe was told that her permit could not be extended immediately and she would be contacted at a later time. It is an unusual delay because PR Re-entry Permit extension can be processed usually within 30 minutes. However, no reason was given for this. To date, she has yet been contacted by ICA in regard to her application. According to ICA, "a Singapore Permanent Resident (SPR) who wishes to leave Singapore must obtain a Re-Entry Permit (REP) to enable him/her to return to Singapore as a SPR. A SPR who remains outside Singapore without a valid REP will lose his/her SPR status."

Maung Soe Thiha

Occupation : Student (recently graduated from NUS in 2008) Type of visas/permit : Social Visit Pass & Employment Pass Related agency : ICA & MOM Since the expiry of his Student Pass on 17th May 2008, 8 days after the completion of his studies at NUS, Maung Soe Thiha was living on a Social Visit Pass to look for a job.

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According to a bond between him and MOE, he has to work in Singapore-registered companies for 3 years upon graduation in return for his receipt of MOE Tuition Grant. About two weeks after his receiving a degree scroll at NUS Commencement, his application for long-term Social Visit Pass was rejected by Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) through a letter dated 24th July 2008, which his sponsor received on 26th July 2008. On both 28th July 2008 (Monday) and 29th July 2008 (Tuesday), he approached ICA officers to ask for the reason of the rejection as he had valid reasons to remain in Singapore to seek employment in order to serve his bond. No reason was given. In the morning of 30th July 2008, the day when his Social Visit Pass expired, the flight to Cambodia he intended to take was missed by him because of the delay caused by an unreasonably long checking of his passport by an immigration officer at the airport. He was later told that his passport was alright, but no reason was given by the officer for checking it so long. Eventually, he was given a Special Pass for one-day stay in Singapore with the requirement that he leaves Singapore from Changi Airport. In that time of dismay, he got a job as a project engineer at Hai Yong Engineering in the afternoon of 30th July 2008. An application for Employment Pass was done for him through EP Online System around 1:30 pm on 30th July 2008. With his employment letter, Maung Soe Thiha then went to ICA to appeal for the extension of his Social Visit Pass until the outcome of his EP application would become available. That appeal was outright rejected by ICA; however, again, no reason was given. Maung Soe Thiha left for Cambodia on 31st Jul 2008 and his application for Employment Pass is still pending after nearly three weeks so far.

Myo Tun
Occupation : Construction worker Type of visa/permit : Work Permit Related agency : MOM On 30th Jul 2008, the extension of Myo Tun's Work Permit Pass, which expired on 1st August 2008, was rejected. As per normal, Work Permit extensions are applied in batches by his company. Out of 5 or 6 applicants in his batch, Myo Tun was the only one left out by MOM for rejection without any apparent reason. Myo Tun left Singapore on 2nd August 2008 and is currently staying in Thailand.

Hlaing Moe
Occupation : Technical Supervisor Type of visa/permit : S Pass & Social Visit Pass Related agency : MOM & ICA Hlaing Moe had been working as a Technical Supervisor in Sankyu (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., since 17th July 2006 on S Pass when his application for the renewal of his S Pass was rejected on 17th July 2008 according to the letter from MOM. There was no reason given for the rejection and his company was still willing to employ him further. On 21st July 2008, he submitted an appeal letter to MOM for reconsideration, but it was again rejected on 25th July 2008 without any reason given. After the cancellation of his S Pass, he received a Social Visit Pass to stay in Singapore until 5th August 2008. He is studying part-time for Diploma in Technology (Mechanical) at Ngee Ann Polytechnic and in his 5th semester there so far. Since he had then upcoming exams during 14th August 2008 to 24th August 2008, he appealed to ICA on 29th July 2008 to extend his Social Visit Pass until he would have finished sitting the exams. Despite his valid

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reasons for staying in Singapore, the appeal was outright rejected for no given reason. Hlaing Moe left Singapore on 5th August 2008 and is currently staying in Malaysia. During his stay in Malaysia, he applied for Singapore visa in order to sit the exams that have started since 14th August 2008. It was finally approved on 20th of August 2008 in the evening, just two days before this press conference, but it was too late for him. 22 August 2008

Singapore shows Burmese dissidents the door

Led by Singapore's George Yeo, Asean foreign ministers last September "expressed their revulsion to Myanmar Foreign Minister Nyan Win over reports that the demonstrations in Myanmar [were] being suppressed by violent force", and called on the military junta there to "work towards a peaceful transition to democracy." Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong had spoken "to his ASEAN counterparts... and [would] be writing to Senior General Than Shwe," the joint Asean statement said [1]. During that period, Singapore was the rotating chair of Asean, and people thought this unusually strong statement was a hopeful sign of where Singapore stood. But was this government, always so boastful of its "integrity", being sincere? After handing over the chair of Asean to Thailand last month, Singapore appears to have reverted to its true nature - and mindless of our international reputation too - which is to punish anyone who had organised and spoken out against a fellow authoritarian government. Their core philosophy seems to be: "Autocrats of the world, unite!" Six Burmese have been thrown out of Singapore in the last month or so when their residency passes were denied renewals. While the immigration office has not provided any explanation for any of these cases -- and the silence itself can be read as sinister "they had some commonalities", said Myo Myint Maung at a press conference on 22 August. All six have had their personal particulars recorded by the police at one or more events organised by the expatriate Burmese community since last September, and each of them have, at least once, been summoned to Tanglin Police Station for investigation.

The press conference on 22 August 2008 at Peninsular Excelsior Hotel. Picture shows only half the room.

The Burmese in Singapore have organised "more than dozen" events in the last few months, from the march along Orchard and Tanglin Roads during the Asean summit held in Singapore last November, to petition signing against the sham referendum, to

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prayer vigils for those slain in the streets of Rangoon, said Myo. All have been peaceful, but they have also been a reflection of the deep anger felt by Burmese over the vileness of the military regime.

Paid for his education, then threw him out

One of the six persons our government threw out had in fact been bonded to work for Singapore-registered companies for 3 years, a condition of a tuition grant given by the Ministry of Education. Maung Soe Thiha had been looking forward to start work when he graduated from the National University of Singapore this year. His student pass expiring upon graduation, he applied for a Long Term Social Visit Pass, to look for a job. This should be routine, and "normally, people on Long term Social Visit Passes can stay for 6 months or more to seek employment," said Myo. But in Soe Thiha's case, the government rejected his application altogether, giving no reason for its decision. Simultaneous with these events, the young man's job search had just about found success. Hai Yong Engineering was prepared to give him his first job and the company promptly filed an electronic application for an Employment Pass for him. Without any visa at all, however, Soe Thiha had to leave Singapore. Hai Yong's application for an Employment Pass for him is still in limbo three weeks later. He is now languishing in Cambodia living on his savings.

Employer wants him, but government says Go!

Another equally ridiculous case is that of Hlaing Moe. He had been working as a Technical Supervisor with Sankyu (Singapore) Pte Ltd since July 2006 on an S Pass, which is the residency document for skilled foreigners. He applied for a renewal of his S Pass in July this year (his company was willing to continue employing him) but this application was also rejected without any explanation. He therefore could only continue staying for a short while more under a Social Visit Pass (i.e. a tourist pass).

Hlaing Moe was also a part-time student at Ngee Ann Polytechnic, studying for a Diploma in Technology (Mechanical) with Cold heart exams on 14 24 August 2008. He appealed for an extension of his Social Visit Pass to Hlaing Moe was not even allowed to stay enable him to complete his exams, but this on for 2 more weeks to finish his exams. appeal was rejected, also without any reason. Were our bureaucrats just plain unfeeling? Were they merely being He is now languishing in Malaysia. robotic? Myo Myint Maung provided more details of 2 Or were they deliberately being cruel? other cases at the press conference, which you can glean from his press release, archived as Burmese citizens denied renewal of visas in Singapore

Singapore still trying to "recruit" talent

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Not in the Press Statement is the case of Thu Yein Win (right). He was at the press conference to share with the public his experience over his application for Permanent Residency (PR). Thu Yein Win has been working in Singapore for over a year (but less than 2 years) as an Assistant Engineer with a private company. He is also on the executive committee of the Overseas Burmese Patriots in Singapore (OBP). In April this year, he applied for Permanent Residency, following which he was asked to attend an interview at the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) in June. To his surprise, there was virtually nothing in the twoand-a-half hour interview relating to his application for PR status, nothing on his qualifications or the documents that he had submitted. Instead, the 2 officers present focussed exclusively on his Burmese patriotic activities. "They asked me: 'Who is the leader of the OBP? How many members do you have? Who are they? What are their names? Where do you usually gather for meetings?' And they also asked about my close friends." At one point, they asked him if he would inform them in advance of any activities by the OBP. It's not clear (to me at least) what answer he gave them, but the more important point, as you can see, is what our government agents are up to. Thu Yein Win had in March this year helped organise a petition against the junta's referendum on their extremely undemocratic new constitution. While doing so, his particulars were recorded by some officers, and he was subsequently summoned to a police station for investigations.

The number of Burmese whose particulars have been recorded by the police for participating in various activities is unknown. "Perhaps 50," was Myo Myint Maung's best guess. But going by these examples, all of them may well be expecting the worst. It's not easy to find another country to take them. Do they have to return to Burma? Chasing them out of Singapore "may put them into physical danger of the violence that the Singapore government condemned [last year]," said Myo Myint Maung. Myo was careful to stress that he was not calling these cases deportations. He pointed out that strictly speaking, each case was one of a nonrenewal of residency papers. He concedes that such decisions are up to the Singapore government; as foreigners they cannot demand the right to stay. The intent of the press conference was to raise awareness of this trend and ask the Singapore government for reasons for the non-renewals.

Myo Myint Maung (standing) kicking off the press conference. He was being diplomatic.

Yawning Bread is a citizen of Singapore. I don't have to be diplomatic. Let me be

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blunt: For all practical purposes, these are deportations. By putting their lives at risk, the Singapore government is as callous as the junta when they blocked foreign aid to Cyclone Nargis victims. By penalising anyone who has spoken out against generals, the Singapore government is aiding and abetting those generals in their continuing crime against humanity. Not only is this deportation policy morally wrong -- shockingly, revoltingly wrong -- but from a self-interest perspective, it is unbelievably stupid. Do we think the military regime will last forever? Impossible. One day, it will fall and these young men and women whom we antagonise today will quite possibly be part of the new government. How can it serve Singapore's interest to be on the wrong side of history? What fools we have for a government. Yawning Bread

MHA clarifies its stance on Myanmar work permit rejections

Weekend August 23, 2008
ESTHER NG estherng@mediacorp. com.sg THE message has been made clear: Foreign nationals who want to work or live here are expected to respect the law and local sensitivities, just as Singaporeans do. And with eight of their fellow countrymen failing to get their immigration passes renewed by the authorities after taking part in a gathering on Orchard Road during the Asean Summit last November, some Myanmar nationals here have taken the message to heart. Ms Pan Thinzar, 26, a student who took part in the Orchard Road protest, has sworn off all protests. If another violent crackdown happens (in Myanmar), Ill channel my emotions through meditation, or through online petitions, she told Today. Research fellow Mr Zeyar Aung, 34, who has yet to take part in any demonstration here, has no plans to do so unless it is legal and approved by the authorities. But taking a different line, Mr J J Edward Su, an executive committee member of the Overseas Burmese Patriots (OBP), said the latest developments will not deter its members from demonstrating their political beliefs. On Friday, the group held its second press conference in a month, asking for the reasons why the passes of the eight were not renewed. We will still continue with our social and political activities, said Mr Su. But when pressed, he declined to say what activities the group had planned. In response to queries, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said that the police and the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority have no objection to members of the Myanmarese community in Singapore pursuing their political activities so long as they abide by our laws. Indeed, the Police has approved and facilitated many such activities conducted through lawful means. However, it said that, unlike other groups which have conducted theiractivities in a lawful manner, the OBP has chosen to do so in open and persistent defiance of our laws. OBP members were investigated by the police for staging a number of illegal protests. The authorities have chosen to

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issue several of them with a warning for their offences instead of prosecution, so as to give them a second chance. The police had summoned around40 people who had taken part in a street protest last November to a police station to help with investigations, and later let them off with a warning. Regrettably, this leniency is not appreciated. Some of the individuals concerned in the OBP continue to maintain a position that suggests they see themselves being above the law which Singaporeans observe. The OBP members have ignored repeated advice from the Police to act within our laws, and also ignored requests by Government officials to meet to discuss the groups conduct. The MHA spokesperson also noted: The right of a foreign national to work or stay in Singapore is not a matter of entitlement or a right to be secured by political demand and public pressure. Of the eight Myanmar nationals who did not have their immigration passes renewed, six have left Singapore and are living in countries including Malaysia, Cambodia and Thailand. The other two,Ms Ngwe Zin Soe and Mr Wunna Saw Thein, both Permanent Residents, are still waiting for their re-entry permits to be renewed. Aug 23, 2008

Myanmar activists not above the law They have persistently ignored police warnings in the past year, says MHA
By Sue-Ann Chia SOME Myanmar nationals involved in political activism here believe that they are above Singapore laws and have ignored repeated advice by the police to act within the laws, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said yesterday. It said foreigners who work, study or live here must 'respect the law and local sensitivities in Singapore'. 'The police and Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) have no objection to members of the Myanmar community in Singapore pursuing their political activities so long as they abide by our laws,' a ministry spokesman told The Straits Times. 'Indeed, the police have approved and facilitated many such activities conducted through lawful means.' His statement was in response to a group of Myanmar nationals who held a media conference yesterday, the second in three weeks, to press the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority to reveal why it did not renew the passes for six of them. The spokesman singled out the Overseas Burmese Patriots (OBP) - a loose grouping of about 50 Myanmar nationals - and noted that it is one of a number of groups that organised activities to express their concerns about the situation in Myanmar. But unlike other Myanmar groups 'which have conducted their activities in a lawful manner, the OBP has chosen to do so in open and persistent defiance of our laws', the spokesman said. There are about 30,000 Myanmar nationals living in Singapore. MHA said OBP members have been investigated by the police for staging a number of illegal protests. 'The authorities have chosen to issue several of them with a warning for their offences

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instead of prosecution so as to give them a second chance. Regrettably, this leniency is not appreciated,' it said. Some individuals in the OBP 'continue to maintain a position that suggests they see themselves being above the law which Singaporeans observe,' it added. Members not only ignored repeated police advice to act within Singapore's laws, but also ignored requests from government officials to meet to discuss the group's conduct. At the press conference, OBP spokesman Myo Myint Maung confirmed that of the six whose passes were not renewed, five had taken part in a public protest last November. The sixth person was in the vicinity of the protest in Orchard Road. 'We do have a suspicion that the rationale for the rejections might be because of the protests and our activities,' he said. The press conference was attended by political activists, bloggers and opposition party members. Some of OBP's activities include what Mr Myo called a 'peaceful protest' in Orchard Road during the Asean Summit last November, and the 'Vote No' campaign to protest against Myanmar's new Constitution in April and May this year. Since last month, at least six of the Myanmar nationals did not get their visas or permits renewed or extended by the ICA and Manpower Ministry. The two agencies, in line with existing policy, did not give reasons. At the press conference, Mr Myo, 23, a business undergraduate, identified four of the six, saying one was a permanent resident here for eight years. He insisted that all six had not committed any crimes, even though some were issued a stern warning by the police for their activities, which advocate political change in Myanmar. To him, this meant the activities 'were not unlawful enough to put us to court'. The ministry spokesman, in addressing this point, said: 'The right of a foreign national to work or stay in Singapore is not a matter of entitlement or a right to be secured by political demand and public pressure.' sueann@sph.com.sg

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