The Ministry of the Interior (MOI) yesterday said that it has over the past year helped naturalize 17 undocumented stateless children, many of whom are the children of illegal immigrants.
The government has for a long time had measures in place to help children who are not registered in national household registration databases, but many illegal immigrants do not register their children for fear of incurring penalties or risking deportation, the ministry said.
Without citizenship, those children are denied access to healthcare, social welfare and opportunities to receive education.
The ministry on Jan. 9 last year launched a program to help stateless children and teenagers born in Taiwan obtain Republic of China (ROC) citizenship.
For children who have a foreign mother and an unknown father, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Immigration Agency first try to contact the child’s mother to find out whether the child has citizenship in the mother’s home nation, the MOI said.
If the child’s mother does not respond within three months, or if the child is proven to be stateless, the government would help the child find a home and apply for naturalization, it said.
Since the program was launched, a total of 17 children have been confirmed as stateless, it added.
A boy in Taichung with an unknown father has been naturalized through the program, after a household registration office in the city applied for his naturalization on behalf of his Vietnamese mother, the MOI said.
The boy’s mother had refused to apply for Vietnamese or ROC citizenship for him, because she had married into another family, it said.
Another child who has been naturalized is a four-year-old girl in Keelung, the MOI said.
The girl’s mother was an illegal immigrant from Vietnam who had not registered the girl for fear of deportation, it said.
Staff at a local hospital reported the case to a household registration office when the girl was taken for medical treatment, the MOI said, adding that the office eventually convinced the mother to apply for the child’s registration and naturalization.
Members of the public should first seek help at local household registration offices when they have problems related to citizenship, it said.
The MOI said that it would review cases that involve more complex problems, or they would be discussed at interministerial meetings to ensure that children’s rights are protected.
NEW AGREEMENT: Malaysia approved imports last year after nearly two years of negotiations and inspections to meet quarantine requirements, officials said Up to 3.6 tonnes of pomeloes from Taiwan cleared Malaysian customs on Friday, in the first shipment of Taiwanese pomeloes to Malaysia. Taiwan-grown pomeloes are popular in domestic and overseas markets for their tender and juicy taste, the Ministry of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency said. The fruit is already exported to Japan, Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore and the Philippines, it added. The agency began applying for access to the Malaysian market in 2023, compiling data on climate suitability, pests and diseases, and post-harvest handling, while also engaging in nearly two years of negotiations with Malaysian authorities and submitting supplementary
PEAK MONTHS: Data showed that on average 25 to 27 typhoons formed in the Pacific and South China seas annually, with about four forming per month in July and October One of three tropical depressions in the Pacific strengthened into a typhoon yesterday afternoon, while two others are expected to become typhoons by today, Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecaster Lee Ming-hsiang (李名翔) said yesterday. The outer circulation of Tropical Depression No. 20, now Typhoon Mitag, has brought light rain to Hualien, Taitung and areas in the south, Lee said, adding that as of 2pm yesterday, Mitag was moving west-northwest at 16kph, but is not expected to directly affect Taiwan. It was possible that Tropical Depression No. 21 would become a typhoon as soon as last night, he said. It was moving in a
One of two tropical depressions that formed offshore this morning could turn into a moderate typhoon by the weekend, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. Tropical Depression No. 21 formed at 8am about 1,850km off the southeast coast, CWA forecaster Lee Meng-hsuan (李孟軒) said. It is expected to move in a northwesterly direction as it continues building momentum, possibly intensifying into Typhoon Mitag this weekend, she added. The radius of the storm is expected to reach almost 200km, she said. It is expected to approach southeast of Taiwan on Monday and pass through the Bashi Channel between Tuesday and Wednesday,
Tigerair Taiwan and China Airlines (CAL) today announced that several international flights were canceled or rescheduled due to Typhoon Ragasa. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) has maintained sea and land warnings for the typhoon. Its storm circle reached the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) on Taiwan's southern tip at 11am today. Tigerair Taiwan said it canceled Monday's IT551/IT552 Taoyuan-Da Nang, IT606/IT607 Taoyuan-Busan and IT602 Taoyuan-Seoul Incheon flights. Tomorrow, cancelations include IT603 Seoul Incheon-Taoyuan, as well as flights between Taoyuan and Sapporo, Osaka, Tokyo Narita, Okinawa, Fukuoka, Saga, Tokyo Haneda, Nagoya, Asahikawa and Jeju. On Wednesday, the IT321/IT322 Kaohsiung-Macau round-trip would also be canceled. CAL announced that today's
RSS