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Brazilian orphan to soon be given Taiwan citizenship

The five-year-old orphan at the center of an international custody dispute, Iruan Ergui, will be granted citizenship next week at the earliest, KMT lawmaker Lin Yi-shih (林益世) said yesterday.

Lin said that he had exchanged views with the Department of Population Administration under the Ministry of the Interior and that the MOI has agreed in principle to grant Iruan Ergui Wu, the son of a Taiwanese man and Brazilian mother, Taiwan citizenship.

The next step, Lin said, will be to acquire an identification card and passport, then ask his Brazilian relatives to come to Taiwan to settle the custody dispute.

The boy, who holds a Brazilian passport, came to Taiwan in March with his father Wu Teng-shu (吳登樹), the captain of a Taiwan fishing vessel. However, the elder Wu died of a heart attack 11 days after they arrived and the little boy has since been in the care of Wu's younger brother.

The boy's grandmother, Rosa Leocia Ergui, has requested that the boy be returned to Brazil, but his uncle has asked for the Taiwan government's assistance in having the boy remain in the country to be educated.

The child's father had appointed the grandmother as Iruan's guardian before a Brazilian court three years ago when his Brazilian mother, Marisa Tatiane Ergui Tavares passed away.

Lin noted that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the boy's aunt in Brazil has applied to come to Taiwan but that it is not certain if she will visit.

Lin said the boy's visa will be extended until September, expressing hope that the custody row will be settled by then.

The dispute should be settled by both the child's relatives in Taiwan and in Brazil and not by one side alone, Lin added.
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