Abduction of Sombath Somphone in Laos

Mr Charles Chong asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs (a) whether the Government has requested for assistance from Laos in tracing the whereabouts of Mdm Ng Shui Meng's husband, Sombath Somphone, who was abducted in front of a police station in Laos on 15 December 2012; (b) if so, what has been the response from the Laotian authorities; and (c) whether our embassy in Laos seeks regular updates from Laos on the investigations of this case.

Since Mr Sombath Somphone's disappearance in December 2012, the Singapore Embassy in Vientiane has been in close contact

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with Mr Sombath's wife, Dr Ng Shui Meng, a Singapore Citizen resident in Vientiane, and providing her with consular assistance. Our Ambassador in Vientiane facilitated a meeting between Dr Ng and the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Lao People's Democratic Republic (PDR) over this issue.

The Singapore Government has also consistently raised our concern to the Lao PDR government over Mr Sombath's disappearance at the highest levels, including with the Lao PDR President, Prime Minister, President of the National Assembly and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs. We have urged the Lao PDR government to expedite their investigations and to resolve this case as quickly as possible. In all our interactions with the Lao PDR government since December 2012, they have assured us that they were taking Mr Sombath's disappearance very seriously and have maintained that they were doing all they can to investigate the case.

The matter is within the purview of Lao PDR. There is little that countries outside of Lao PDR can do. Nevertheless, our Embassy in Vientiane will continue to keep in close contact with Dr Ng and seek regular updates from the Lao PDR government on the investigations into Mr Sombath's disappearance.