Ms He Ting Ru asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs (a) in each of the last 10 years, how many requests for assistance are received by Singapore overseas missions for cases of overseas Singaporeans believed to be missing; and (b) what is the breakdown on the types of missing person cases for which help is sought.
Dr Vivian Balakrishnan: The requests for assistance received by Singapore Overseas Missions over the last 10 years for overseas Singaporeans (OS) believed to be missing is around 30 cases per year.
Some of the OS reported to be missing were later found to be hospitalised, arrested, passed on or were uncontactable temporarily due to lack of mobile connectivity. In some cases, OS chose not to be contactable due to family disputes or other personal reasons.
MFA will continue to do what we can to provide advice and support to families in missing persons cases. We strongly encourage Singaporeans who travel or reside overseas to e-register on the MFA website.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
20 October 2022
https://sprs.parl.gov.sg/search/#/sprs3topic?reportid=written-answer-11775
Office of the Leader of the Opposition 