Another daring detention center escape in Ilan County involving 10 illegal Vietnamese immigrants yesterday rocked the National Immigration Agency (NIA), an agency press release said.
The agency, which oversees the center, is still reeling from a string of scandals this month, including two other escapes from an Ilan City detention center involving six illegals.
Yesterday's escape occurred in the early hours at an Ilan County detention center after a group of Vietnamese women smuggled a soldering iron into their quarters and melted back the bars over a window, creating a small hole through which to escape, agency deputy director Steve Wu (
"The hole was about as big as a piece of A4 paper," Wu said by telephone yesterday.
He didn't elaborate on how the women were able to get their hands on the soldering iron.
Small, thin and scrappy, the 10 detainees in the quarters slipped out into the night amid rain and wind from the approaching typhoon, and were met by getaway vehicles waiting near the center, Wu said.
The escapees, who had been involved in a human-trafficking gang, had phoned an accomplice on the outside from within the center on Wednesday, one day before the break, to arrange for transportation, he said.
"They are very smart," he said. "Nobody expected them to do this."
Busy preparing for Typhoon Sepat as it makes landfall, the Ministry of the Interior has yet to issue a statement on the matter, Wu said, adding that "punishments would be doled out to agency officials," perhaps including agency director Wu Chen-chi (
The immigration agency falls under the ministry.
Despite the weather, authorities in Ilan, working with agency officials, had located one of the escapees yesterday not far from the center, he said. The agency is coordinating a search with police for the other nine escapees, as well as escapees who broke out of the Ilan City detention center earlier this month.
On Aug. 1, five Vietnamese illegals at that center formed a human chain in their quarters at night, reaching up to a duct through which they climbed to the center's roof.
Authorities in Sansia Township (
Asked why detention centers in Ilan were the sites for all three escapes, Steve Wu said that escapees in the Aug. 1 case and yesterday's case were all members of the same trafficking gang, which smuggles or traffics illegal laborers from Vietnam into the country.
The escapees in the Aug. 1 case had likely helped yesterday's escapees, he said.
The first two F-16V Bock 70 jets purchased from the US are expected to arrive in Taiwan around Double Ten National Day, which is on Oct. 10, a military source said yesterday. Of the 66 F-16V Block 70 jets purchased from the US, the first completed production in March, the source said, adding that since then three jets have been produced per month. Although there were reports of engine defects, the issue has been resolved, they said. After the jets arrive in Taiwan, they must first pass testing by the air force before they would officially become Taiwan’s property, they said. The air force
GLOBAL: Although Matsu has limited capacity for large numbers of domestic tourists, it would be a great high-end destination for international travelers, an official said Lienchiang County’s (Matsu) unique landscape and Cold War history give it great potential to be marketed as a destination for international travelers, Tourism Administration Director General Chen Yu-hsiu (陳玉秀) said at the weekend. Tourism officials traveled to the outlying island for the Matsu Biennial, an art festival that started on Friday to celebrate Matsu’s culture, history and landscape. Travelers to Matsu, which lies about 190km northwest of Taipei, must fly or take the state-run New Taima passenger ship. However, flights are often canceled during fog season from April to June. Chen spoke about her vision to promote Matsu as a tourist attraction in
PAWSITIVE IMPACT: A shop owner said that while he adopted cats to take care of rodents, they have also attracted younger visitors who also buy his dried goods In Taipei’s Dadaocheng (大稻埕), cats lounging in shops along Dihua Street do more than nap amid the scent of dried seafood. Many have become beloved fixtures who double as photography models, attracting visitors and helping boost sales in one of the capital’s most historic quarters. A recent photo contest featuring more than a dozen shop cats drew more than 2,200 submissions, turning everyday cat-spotting into a friendly competition that attracted amateur and professional photographers. “It’s rare to see cats standing, so when it suddenly did, it felt like a lucky cat,” said Sabrina Hsu (徐淳蔚), who won the NT$10,000 top prize in
STRIKE: Some travel agencies in Taiwan said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group tours to the country were proceeding as planned A planned strike by airport personnel in South Korea has not affected group tours to the country from Taiwan, travel agencies said yesterday. They added that they were closely monitoring the situation. Personnel at 15 airports, including Seoul’s Incheon and Gimpo airports, are to go on strike. They announced at a news conference on Tuesday that the strike would begin on Friday next week and continue until the Mid-Autumn Festival next month. Some travel agencies in Taiwan, including Cola Tour, Lion Travel, SET Tour and ezTravel, said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group
RSS