Nationalities of PR pool not published as it would create ‘negative sensitivities’ — K Shanmugam

Singapore — We do not publish breakdowns of our permanent resident (PR) population by nationality as it may have implications on specific groups of PRs and create bilateral sensitivities with their country of origin, said Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam on Monday (Jul 5).

Mr Shanmugam, in his written reply to a parliamentary question provided by Leader of Opposition Pritam Singh, addressed the topic of the nationalities of Singapore’s PR pool.

Mr Singh had asked for the numerical breakdown of the PR pool from each of the top 20 countries and further sub-divided by gender.

He also asked for the number of those from the top 20 nationalities that remained as PRs for the last 10 and 20 years and have not applied for citizenship at least once.

Mr Singh first responded to the question regarding gender, noting that Singapore’s PR population is comprised of about 45 per cent male and 55 per cent female.

Regarding the nationalities, Mr Singh said that breakdowns aren’t published to avoid “negative sensitivities.”

“Given our history, it has been our assessment that releasing the data of country of origin of our PRs will both create negative sensitivities with other countries; and may affect the flow of PRs from such countries,” he said.

Mr Singh added that a large number of the PRs come from Singapore’s geographically nearest neighbours.

He highlighted that the broad regions where the country’s PR pool come from are published in the annual Population In Brief publications.

The 2020 report mentioned that 60 per cent of the individuals granted PR status were from Southeast Asia, followed by about 34 per cent from other Asian countries, and the remaining six per cent from other countries. The statistics are based on the grants released in 2019.

“Our immigration policy is carefully calibrated, and we have kept the size of our PR population stable at around half a million for a number of years,” said Mr Shanmugam.

About 58 per cent of them have been PRs for ten years and more, while 18 per cent have maintained such status for 20 years or more, he added.

“PRs contribute to Singapore’s economy and society in many ways. Many are also spouses of Singaporeans and parents of Singaporean children. Many go on to apply for our citizenship, and some are eventually granted. We are very strict to whom we grant citizenship,” said Mr Shanmugam. /TISG

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