Troubles faced by the National Immigration Agency in deporting a Spanish fugitive this month highlight the challenges posed by Taiwan’s exclusion from Interpol.
Salvador Alejandro Llinas Onate is wanted in Spain and Italy for allegedly selling cars he did not own from a rental car company he ran in Trento, Italy, in 2019. Llinas Onate was initially deported to Singapore on Saturday last week, but was denied entry on the grounds that he is wanted by Interpol, an agency official said. He was finally deported to an undisclosed European country on Sunday.
The agency has not commented on whether it knew about Llinas Onate’s fugitive status when he was granted permanent resident status in 2021 after entering Taiwan on a dependent visa. He had been living in the country with his Taiwanese wife and children.
It is unlikely that the agency would have known about Llinas Onate’s fugitive status, and even if it had channels through which to obtain such information, would not likely have sought to do so for what would appear to be a routine residency application based on a marriage with a Taiwanese national.
If Taiwan were a member of Interpol, it would receive regular updates on fugitives, which would be shared with customs and immigration officials to screen all entries into the country. Having such information would not only benefit Taiwan, but also countries from which fugitives would flee. Knowing they would be caught at Taiwan’s borders, and potentially face extradition, would be a deterrent for criminals who would otherwise see Taiwan as a safe haven.
Currently, deportation or extradition of fugitives is handled on a case-by-case basis, and requires coordination between various parties. For example, in 2004, W.A. Kimmick, 36, was extradited to the US to stand trial for the murder of his wife, and was in 2005 sentenced to 14 years in prison. Kimmick was arrested after turning himself in to a precinct in Pingtung County, and was escorted to the US by FBI agents who came to Taiwan to take custody of him. In 2009, Mark Lee Kaczmarczyk was extradited to the US to be tried in San Diego for child molestation, while a Texan man who gained notoriety after publishing details online for making handguns using a 3D printer was extradited and later charged for having sex with a minor.
These cases highlight Taiwan-US cooperation on combating crime — something facilitated by the bilateral Agreement on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters — but Taiwan’s precarious diplomatic position means it needs separate bilateral agreements with every country it cooperates with on legal matters. For example, Taiwan signed a judicial agreement with Poland in 2019, and another with Germany last year.
Multiple agreements add complexity and slow down cross-border law enforcement efforts. Agreements are also generally invoked in response to the discovery of a fugitive already in Taiwan, rather than being a preventive measure that stops criminals from crossing the border in the first place. A person who has committed murder, rape, child molestation or some other heinous crime could live unnoticed in Taiwan for many years, working in the country and putting its residents at risk.
After his arrest in 2009, Kaczmarczyk told Taiwanese officials that he “likes Taiwan and would like to stay here to run a daycare center.” It goes without saying that the implications if Kaczmarczyk had not been caught would be terrifying for parents in Taiwan.
Taiwan’s exclusion from Interpol endangers people in Taiwan and delays justice for victims elsewhere. Taiwan should make strides to communicate these risks to Interpol president Ahmed Naser al-Raisi and the Interpol General Assembly, and urge friends in the US and the EU to help Taiwan make its case on the matter. While the absence of Taiwan’s participation is a detriment to all major international organizations, excluding its contributions from global crime-fighting efforts is particularly egregious.
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