Taiwan’s first-ever report on the implementation of the UN International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) marks a milestone in Taiwan’s human rights development, the National Immigration Agency said yesterday.
The report assesses the government’s compliance with the convention by evaluating legislation, institutions, policies and education efforts, Executive Yuan spokesman Lo Ping-cheng (羅秉成) told a news conference at the agency in Taipei.
Lo, who is the convener of the Cabinet’s Human Trafficking Prevention and Racial Discrimination Elimination Coordinating Meeting, said that the report was conducted to ensure the nation is observing the treaty’s standards.
Photo: CNA
It is one of nine major conventions that make up the UN’s core human rights covenants and the sole treaty among them that the Republic of China fully adopted before it left the international body in 1971, Lo said.
As a ratified and promulgated treaty, it has the force of domestic law, which the government is duty-bound to implement, he said.
In 2020, the Cabinet finalized plans to implement the ICERD, tasking the Ministry of the Interior with executing measures and making a report of its progress every three years, he said.
Advancing human rights is as important to the nation as economic development, he said.
Although Taiwan is not a UN member, the nation continually strives to comply with international norms and takes pride in promoting the human rights covenants of its own volition, he said.
The Cabinet conducted its examination of human rights in Taiwan according to the standards the UN would have utilized to evaluate a member state, with adjustments to fit local conditions, he said.
“People are not born in equal circumstances, but the human aspiration for equality is universal,” he said.
The interior ministry consulted multiple government departments and 34 non-governmental organizations in the evaluation process, Deputy Minister of the Interior Chen Tsung-yen (陳宗彥) said.
Taipei’s promulgation of ICERD emphasizes indigenous cultural preservation and justice, revitalization of the language and culture of ethnic minorities, and the promotion of human rights, Immigration Affairs Division head Huang Ling-yu (黃齡玉) said.
The report assesses the effectiveness of the government’s measures to promote equality for ethnic minorities, including indigenous, Hakka, Mongolian and Tibetan peoples, as well as new immigrants and migrant workers, she said.
An evaluation of Taiwan’s compliance with the covenant by international observers is planned for publication in 2024, she said, adding that the government is in the early stages of preparations to determine the makeup of evaluators.
Super Typhoon Kong-rey is the largest cyclone to impact Taiwan in 27 years, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. Kong-rey’s radius of maximum wind (RMW) — the distance between the center of a cyclone and its band of strongest winds — has expanded to 320km, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. The last time a typhoon of comparable strength with an RMW larger than 300km made landfall in Taiwan was Typhoon Herb in 1996, he said. Herb made landfall between Keelung and Suao (蘇澳) in Yilan County with an RMW of 350km, Chang said. The weather station in Alishan (阿里山) recorded 1.09m of
STORM’S PATH: Kong-Rey could be the first typhoon to make landfall in Taiwan in November since Gilda in 1967. Taitung-Green Island ferry services have been halted Tropical Storm Kong-rey is forecast to strengthen into a typhoon early today and could make landfall in Taitung County between late Thursday and early Friday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, Kong-Rey was 1,030km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), the nation’s southernmost point, and was moving west at 7kph. The tropical storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 101kph, with gusts of up to 126 kph, CWA data showed. After landing in Taitung, the eye of the storm is forecast to move into the Taiwan Strait through central Taiwan on Friday morning, the agency said. With the storm moving
NO WORK, CLASS: President William Lai urged people in the eastern, southern and northern parts of the country to be on alert, with Typhoon Kong-rey approaching Typhoon Kong-rey is expected to make landfall on Taiwan’s east coast today, with work and classes canceled nationwide. Packing gusts of nearly 300kph, the storm yesterday intensified into a typhoon and was expected to gain even more strength before hitting Taitung County, the US Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center said. The storm is forecast to cross Taiwan’s south, enter the Taiwan Strait and head toward China, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The CWA labeled the storm a “strong typhoon,” the most powerful on its scale. Up to 1.2m of rainfall was expected in mountainous areas of eastern Taiwan and destructive winds are likely
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday at 5:30pm issued a sea warning for Typhoon Kong-rey as the storm drew closer to the east coast. As of 8pm yesterday, the storm was 670km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) and traveling northwest at 12kph to 16kph. It was packing maximum sustained winds of 162kph and gusts of up to 198kph, the CWA said. A land warning might be issued this morning for the storm, which is expected to have the strongest impact on Taiwan from tonight to early Friday morning, the agency said. Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) and Green Island (綠島) canceled classes and work
RSS