Blogger Amos Yee detained in US while seeking political asylum

Controversial teenage blogger Amos Yee has been detained in the US while trying to seek political asylum, according to a media report.

Yee, who was jailed twice in Singapore for his offensive posts about religion and the late ex-prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, was helped in his asylum bid by US-based Singaporean activist Melissa Chen, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) said in a report Friday (23 December).

Chen said Yee, 18, is being detained in a jail near Chicago and that she last spoke with him via video on Thursday. Yee has a tourist visa for his entry into the US, but was detained after he told border control officers that he was seeking asylum, Chen added.

Yee’s mother, Mary Toh, has been informed of his detention, according to the report.

Several analysts were asked by SCMP whether the detention will have an impact on relations between the US and Singapore.

P.N Balji, a media veteran and ex-editor of the Today newspaper, told SCMP, “Singapore is unlikely to want to sensationalise this case or protest this move. Amos Yee is not a wanted man in Singapore and has paid the price for his acts…if he wants to live in the US and he is granted asylum, that is his human right.”