Taipei Times: Why was the NIA created?
Wu Chen-chi (
Vietnamese spouses, meanwhile, total 80,000. Many spouses from Laos, Cambodia, the Philippines and Indonesia have also immigrated here. They're the new Taiwanese citizens and they give birth here. One out of eight newly-wed couples are cross-border couples and one out of four newborn babies have an immigrant parent. They're the new lifeblood of Taiwan.
This agency will manage NT$3 billion [US$91 million] in funds to help immigrant spouses adjust to life here. That is, we plan to distribute NT$300 million yearly to certain non-government organizations [NGOs] to pay for language courses, medical care and childcare for such spouses. Many NGOs and local-level agencies are more experienced in helping foreign spouses, so we will play a supporting role for them.
Taipei Times: Regarding organization and duties, how is this agency different from the Bureau of Immigration?
Wu: The bureau had more than 700 employees. The agency has 2,012. Our digital infrastructure has also grown and now we have a branch office and task force in every county and city. The bureau only had five offices nationwide. We've absorbed personnel and resources from the Council of Labor Affairs, the Ministry of the Interior, airport and harbor police agencies, foreign affairs police at the local level and the NPA. For example, problems pertaining to financially disadvantaged foreigners that were previously handled by the foreign affairs police are now our responsibility, as are matters previously handled by the harbor and aviation police and border control authorities. The foreign labor affairs section from the Council of Labor Affairs has also been put under us. We will also be in charge of overseeing Chinese tourists when the nation opens up to them, at which point our personnel will increase to 2,044.
Taipei Times: Last October, the bureau was rocked by bribery scandals involving two officers helping human-trafficking rings to smuggle in foreign prostitutes. Do you view these cases as isolated cases, or as signs that the bureau was wracked by corruption?
Wu: I believe that's a single, isolated case. The media said there was a whole group involved, but that's just not possible. It was an isolated incident. The person involved Lee Juo-ling [李若玲] is still in detention and hasn't been indicted. She's innocent until proven guilty.
Taipei Times: Have you taken measures to make sure that such cases don't repeat themselves?
Wu: We were very distressed by Lee's case and I called a meeting of all the bureau's offices to warn them of what they needed to pay more attention to. We also needed to improve the interview process for would-be immigrants. We were short of interviewers. However, now that we have task forces in every county and city, I don't think another case like that of Lee Juo-ling will occur.
Taipei Times: What was your response to Taiwan slipping down to the Tier-2 watchlist in the US state department's latest Trafficking in Human Persons report?
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