(Bloomberg) — The estranged brother of former Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said he has been granted political asylum by the British government based on a “well-founded fear” of persecution.
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Lee Hsien Yang, 67, said in a Facebook post that he had become a “political refugee” because he and his late sister “feared abuse of the organs of the State of Singapore against us” after a very public feud over the fate of a house that belonged to their father and the country’s first leader, Lee Kuan Yew. Lee Hsien Yang said he applied for asylum in 2022.
Britain approved the former Singapore Telecommunications CEO’s asylum request in August and he will be allowed to stay in the country for five years, according to a Home Office letter shared by Lee Hsien Yang. He has been living in self-imposed exile in Europe since June 2022 following a police investigation against him and his wife following the handling of his father’s will.
The revelation about Lee Hsien Yang’s asylum is the latest twist in a bitter family feud that centers on a years-long disagreement over whether their family home should be demolished. The dispute resurfaced this month after the death of his sister Lee Wei Ling, who lived in the colonial house at 38 Oxley Road, near Singapore’s glitzy shopping district.
“There are no legal restrictions on the return of Mr Lee Hsien Yang and Ms Lee Suet Fern to Singapore,” the government said in a 12-page response to media queries about the asylum. “They are and always have been free to return to Singapore.”
Lee Hsien Yang did not return to the city-state for his sister’s funeral and is now asking authorities for permission to demolish the house. He wants to build a small private home to honor his parents’ last wishes.
Lee Hsien Loong, who resigned as prime minister in May after 20 years in power, was accused by his younger siblings of undermining their father’s instructions to demolish the house, partly by setting up a ministerial committee that investigated the possibilities for demolition in 2018. property.
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