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Activists protest immigration issues, call for resignation

A crowd of immigrant rights activists protested outside the Executive Yuan yesterday, demanding the resignation of National Immigration Agency (NIA) Director Wu Chen-chi (吳振吉) and sweeping changes to the way the government treats immigrants.

Calling themselves the "Alliance for Amending the Human Rights Protection Law," 30 or so officials from local charities that help immigrants and immigrant spouses descended on the Cabinet to deliver a petition calling on Wu to step down.

They cited authorities' allegedly warrant-less searches of immigrants' homes nationwide and what they said was the government's unwillingness to draft an amendment to the Immigration Law (入出國及移民法) guaranteeing basic rights to immigrants.

Agency Secretary-General He Jung-tsun (何榮村) appeared at the protest to accept the petition. He left shortly after receiving it.

response

"If no positive response [to our petition] comes soon we'll organize an even bigger protest," threatened Taiwan Association for Human Rights vice-secretary Wu Chia-pei (吳佳珮).

Wu Chia-pei led the alliance yesterday in calling for the NIA director's resignation, saying that none of the agency's service centers nationwide are running properly since they opened on Jan. 2. They lack a budget to offer language and personal counseling services to immigrants, she said.

With 65 percent of agency staff having formerly served in law enforcement agencies, they lack the cultural awareness and international experience to effectively deal with immigrants, she added.

Activists yesterday also cited a string of scandals involving corrupt immigration officials that have rocked the new agency.

The alliance also seeks to introduce a draft amendment to the Immigration Law that would protect immigrants against random police searches and other violations of their rights.

statement

In response to the protest, the agency issued a statement later yesterday, saying that it would enhance counseling services for immigrants and push for changes to the Immigration Law to appease critics.

The challenges of coordinating so many human resources and different tasks so soon after the bureaucracy was established four months ago, were many, it added.

Currently, agency staff are undergoing intensive training as the agency continues to adjust to its new duties, the statement said.
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