The Control Yuan yesterday demanded that the executive branch revise rules and regulations governing foreign nationals who are being kept in the nation’s shelters.
The Control Yuan issued the demand following an investigation into alleged human rights violations at the Taipei Shelter, where some foreigners are being held.
Control Yuan members Chou Yang-shan (周陽山), Lee Ping-nan (李炳南) and Lee Ful-dien (李復甸), who were in charge of the investigation launched in May, published their report yesterday, which found six major flaws in the shelter system.
According to Article 38 of the Immigration Act (入出國移民法), foreigners could be kept in the shelter if they meet one of the following conditions: They are to be deported as a penalty but have not yet completed the procedure for leaving the country; they entered the country illegally or overstayed their visits or period of residence; they are wanted by a foreign government; or need to be detained temporarily.
A major problem with the system was that detention of foreigners was carried out without court intervention, in violation of Article Eight of the Constitution, the report said.
In accordance with the Constitution, “in no case except that of flagrante delicto, which shall be separately prescribed by law, shall any person be arrested or detained other than by a judicial or police organ in accordance with the procedure prescribed by law,” the report said.
Article 38 of the Immigration Act stipulates that the detention shall not exceed 60 days. However, it allows the National Immigration Agency (NIA) to prolong the period when necessary until the foreigner is deported.
Taking the Taipei Shelter as an example, Control Yuan members said they found there were frequent cases at the shelter where some foreign nationals had been kept for months or even years.
The shelters were also overcrowded, the Control Yuan members said, adding that they lacked sufficient healthcare facilities and personnel and did not have quarantine measures against possible pandemic diseases.
The Judicial Yuan shall establish a remedy system for detained foreign nationals to seek remediation through litigation and compensation for unlawful detention, they said.
Lack of protection of human rights of detained foreign nationals was not only inconsistent with the Constitution, but also in violation of international norms, the Control Yuan report concluded.
According to the NIA, currently there are a total of four shelters nationwide that hold Chinese and foreign nationals.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS