Singapore warns Myanmar activists to stop protests

IANS Saturday 23rd August, 2008

Singapore's home ministry warned political activists from Myanmar in the city state not to ignore repeated police orders to stop illegal public protests and anti-Myanmar activities, the The Strait Times newspaper said Saturday.

A spokesman of the Overseas Burmese Patriots (OBP), a group of Myanmar activists, said the Singapore government has not renewed immigration passes for five of its members who had participated in a public protest in November.

'We do have suspicion that the rationale for the rejections might be because of the protests and our activities,' Myanmarese activist Myo Myint Maung said.

A ministry spokesperson 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' and that activists repeatedly ignored requests from government officials to meet to discuss the group's conduct.