Singapore branded a Malaysian scholar an “undesirable visitor” and denied her entry for political activism.
The home ministry said on Friday that Fadiah Nadwa Fikri had “encouraged some youths in Singapore to adopt her brand of radical advocacy”, without offering any further explanation.
Ms Fikri, a human rights lawyer and anti-corruption activist, said in a social media post that she was barred from entering the country and deported back to Malaysia.
She sought an explanation for her deportation, but was told that the reasons could not be disclosed, the scholar claimed. “It’s stunning because I stayed there for five years and was conferred a doctoral degree on 31 January," she said.
Ms Fikri was awarded a doctorate of philosophy by the National University of Singapore earlier this year. She argued that her deportation was “tantamount to a deliberate attack on my scholarly work” on decolonisation and anti-imperialism.
The scholar is an advocate for the Palestinian cause.
Ms Fikri said she was visiting Singapore at the invitation of her former supervisor to deliver a guest lecture and to collect her degree certificate.
The city state’s home ministry said the scholar encouraged youth “to go beyond protests, to mobilise students and different communities in Singapore, and to undertake disruptive and violent actions to support specific causes”.
“We will not tolerate foreigners getting involved in our domestic politics, nor the promotion of unlawful, violent and disruptive methods of civil protest," the ministry added, according to the broadcaster CNA. “Fadiah is an undesirable visitor and we have thus denied her entry into our country."
Ms Fikri has been a member of the Malaysian legal rights advocacy group Lawyers for Liberty and the Centre to Combat Corruption and Cronyism. She has reportedly been investigated in the past for alleged sedition and improper use of network facilities in relation to a demonstration against the appointment of Muhyiddin Yassin as prime minister.
She has also faced a sedition investigation for allegedly insulting Malaysia’s monarchy following the 2018 election, CNA reported.
Singapore enforces strict restrictions on protests, requiring a police permit for any public gathering held to promote a cause. While the government argues strict protest rules are required to preserve peace in the country, critics say they stifle free expression and activism.
In 2024, Singaporean authorities charged three women with organising an illegal procession after they staged a pro-Palestinian march. The women were later acquitted by a court.
Singaporean YouTuber convicted of child sex offences deported from US
Three dead in major outbreak of hand, foot and mouth disease in Vietnam
Eswatini to repatriate Cambodian man deported by US
Cambodia-Thailand border clashes damage 1,000-year-old temple
A US tourist was arrested for going on a walk in Bali. Here’s why
Moo Deng: Man arrested after climbing into pygmy hippo enclosure at zoo
