The government is unable to establish a dedicated bureau to handle immigrant affairs due to a law restricting the number of bureau-level agencies, but in the interim such affairs would be handled by a preparatory office and dedicated task forces at the local level, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said yesterday.
The government can legally only have 70 bureau-level agencies, Liu told the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) in an interview, adding that the ministry would have to wait until a slot becomes available before it can formally establish an immigrant resident affairs bureau.
Until that time, the ministry has established a preparatory office and supports the idea that immigrant residents should have the right to access media, she said.
Photo: Yu An-ting, Taipei Times
The government must send out the message that it is here to help those in need, she added.
Liu also urged local governments to set up immigrant affairs task forces, adding that it would be more efficient than having the National Immigration Agency or the Ministry of the Interior handle such affairs.
Liu disagreed with the naming of the Immigrant Resident Basic Act (新住民基本法) passed last month, stating that it was not as inclusive as the ministry intended, but still functioned per the ministry’s plans to uphold the rights of all immigrants legally entering Taiwan, regardless of whether they enter for work or as residents, before obtaining an identification card.
While the name “basic act” afforded the legislation a higher tier of the legislative hierarchy, it also clashes with other acts, such as the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), she said.
Meanwhile, commenting on President William Lai’s (賴清德) emphasis on building resilience, Liu said that different ministries have different tasks in the event of war.
Liu commended former president Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) efforts to shore up the nation’s infrastructure — gas, power, sugar, water and other state-owned businesses — but said that the public must be aware that war would not take the form of traditional warfare as seen in World War II.
Citing the Ukraine-Russia war and the Israeli invasion of Gaza as examples, Liu said part of modern wars would be about which side can successfully infiltrate and “lock down” the majority or the entirety of the opposing side’s access to the Internet, or bombard the opposing side with fake information.
This trend highlights the importance of maintaining digital and other critical infrastructure, she said, adding that the ministry would train personnel to ensure they are up to the task.
Liu also said that the ministry would train the public to be self-sufficient during war or natural disasters, as such skills would enable people to survive the initial shock.
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