MINDEF: Youth Only Applied For Leave 2 Months Before Stipulated Deadline The Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) has shot down a youth’s allegations that its actions had indirectly caused him to lose his Singapore citizenship. In an interview released on Tuesday (31 Jul), Mr Xu claimed that his rejected leave applications during NS didn’t allow him to complete his citizenship procedures. This led him to lose his Singapore citizenship and has effectively left him stateless. In a statement, a Ministry spokesperson implied that the rejection was a result of Mr Xu’s own irresponsibility. He reportedly only started applying for leave in July 2017. That’s just 2 months before he had to complete his citizenship formalities. The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) required Mr Xu, now 23, to complete the Oath of Renunciation, Allegiance and Loyalty (ORAL) by September that year, according to AsiaOne. The process can take anywhere from a month to a year. ICA reminded Mr Xu about the deadline twice: before he turned 21 and 6 months before he turned 22. MINDEF added that if Mr Xu had done submitted the relevant documents – presumably earlier – the SAF would have “fully supported him”. Left effectively stateless The incident has left Mr Xu […]
6 years ago
