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`Certain' foreigners scrutinized

The police have said that it might be time for the government to apply stricter security measures when officials consider visa applications of people from "certain countries," because foreigners from these countries could become social problems once they enter Taiwan legally or illegally.

The National Police Administration (NPA) did not name the countries, but officers said that most of them are in Africa and the Middle East.

"It is definitely necessary to do so," said Mark Hsin (邢一民), deputy commander of the NPA's Foreign Affairs Police Brigade. "For illegal immigrants, we can simply kick them out of the country once we have nailed them. But for those who have legal documents and are implicated in criminal cases in this country, it will be a totally different story." Hsin said.

He said that citizens of these countries could use falsified documents, including false names or academic qualifications, to apply for Taiwanese visas in their home countries. It is very difficult to tell immediately whether these people are using false information on their applications.

According to Hsin, officers from the division have had lots of experience in dealing with cases involving foreigners with legal identification documents in Taiwan. However, officers also discovered that many of them have used false information to apply for Taiwanese visas in their own countries.

"You cannot do anything about it even if you know that they are not who they said they are," Hsin said.

"For example, an African man could claim to be a college graduate and be allowed to work as an English teacher in Taiwan. However, if you follow up on the information, you might discover that he might not even have finished high school," Hsin said.

The NPA carried out an "Anti-illegal Immigrants Program" on Aug. 1 and Oct. 31 and arrested 129 foreigners for illegal immigration, working without permits and human smuggling. Five of them had contravened the Criminal Code and were indicted.

According to the police, 51 of those arrested are from Bangladesh, 21 from India, 18 from South Africa, 13 from Nigeria, 13 from Pakistan, 10 from Iran, two from Ghana and one from Cameroon.

Police found that more and more foreigners, mostly men, from these "certain countries" have tried all kinds of methods to enter Taiwan legally or illegally to make a living. Once they arrive, they try to marry Taiwanese women so that they would be eligible for Taiwanese citizenship and can stay here as long as they want.

Their investigation also showed that most of these men would seek a divorce immediately once they get their citizenship.

"According to the isolated cases that I have been dealing with, many Taiwanese girls have been so innocent as to get married to these foreigners, who were not really sincere in their marriage proposals," said Tony Tsao (曹晴輝), director of the Foreign Affairs Department of the Taipei City Police Department.

"If they get married, they are allowed to work in this country immediately," he said.

Police records show that many of these suspect foreigners, with or without Taiwanese citizenship, earn their living illegally from fraud, drug dealing or human smuggling. Some of them also rely on charity donations because they do not have real jobs.

"We welcome `normal' foreigners or visitors, but criminals will only increase our burden and create more social problems," Hsin said.

He said the police began paying attention to these foreigners after the Sept. 11 attacks in the US, because research has shown that many terrorists try to gain citizenship of a foreign country in which they plan to execute an attack by getting married to local women.

Hsin said that no sign of terrorist activities has been found in Taiwan.

"I assure you that this country is still quite safe," he said.

Another senior police officer at the NPA, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that Taiwan's national policy could be blamed for the problem. He said the policy should be updated, because foreign criminals are creating more and more problems.
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