Iruan seeks presidential intervention

Iruan Ergui Wu (吳憶樺) asked President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday to help him stay in Taiwan.

Iruan wrote a letter to the president and visited the Presidential Office yesterday, where presidential spokesman James Huang (黃志芳) received him and his Taiwanese relatives.

The High Court will announce its ruling on Iruan's case, an international custody dispute, on Feb. 12.

Iruan, currently a first grader in Kaohsiung County's Chieh Ding Elementary School, has been the subject of an international custody dispute between his Brazilian grandmother and his Taiwanese uncle Wu Huo-yen (吳火眼).

In his letter to Chen, Wu wrote he has three hopes. "My first hope is that I can live in Taiwan," Iruan wrote.

"Since I came to Taiwan, everyone has been so nice to me. I am very happy ... I love it here," he wrote.

"I want to stay here, but my relatives told me that whether I can live here depends on the court's ruling. I do not understand," he wrote.

"Mr. President, I want to stay here. I do not want to go back [to Brazil]. These are the words of my heart. Can you help me by letting me stay in Taiwan?" he wrote.

Huang said Chen cares very much about Iruan's custody dispute.

"The president will instruct related agencies to do their best to help Iruan," Huang said.

Iruan also presented his exam results to Huang, who promised to transfer his letter and exam results to the president today.

Iruan also made a Lunar New Year card for his Brazilian grandmother, Rosa Leocadia Da Silva Ergui, in which he told his grandmother he will visit her when the summer vacation comes.

Before entering the Presidential Office, Wu told reporters that he was determined to keep Iruan.

Wu said the living conditions in Brazil were not good enough and described Iruan's Brazilian grandmother, Ergui, as "ungrateful."

"The house she is currently living in was purchased by my brother," Wu said.

According to Wu, Ergui does not have any income besides her slim pension. "I am worried that she would not be able to take care of Iruan," he said.

When Ergui came to Taiwan to seek Iruan's custody in June 2001, the Brazilian government organized a committee consisting of renowned lawyers to help her, Wu said.

"Even some Brazilian political heavyweights offered to help her. In contrast, our government only strived to please the Brazilians and was afraid of offending them," Wu said.

Wu said that although he has several children, he can still afford to raise Iruan. "Look at him [Iruan]. He is so plump now," Wu said.

Iruan's relatives said Iruan was skinny when he came to Taiwan nearly two years ago.

Although Iruan did not understand any Mandarin at that time, now he is fluent both in Mandarin and Taiwanese.

The Kaohsiung District Court last August ruled that Iruan should be returned to his grandmother. The second ruling on the custody dispute is due on Feb. 12.

Iruan was born to a Taiwanese father and a Brazilian mother who died four years ago.

Iruan's father, Wu Teng-shu (吳登樹), a Taiwanese fishing boat captain, died in March 2001, 11 days after he brought his son from Brazil to visit his hometown in Kaohsiung County.