Law enforcement officials on Monday detained 22 foreign workers who had been working illegally at a slaughterhouse in Taipei, the National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday.
The workers, 18 of whom had fled their legal employers and four who had overstayed their visas, were caught during a raid conducted by Taipei prosecutors, investigators and Coast Guard Administration authorities, Deputy Captain Shih Chao-yi (施昭儀) of the NIA’s Taipei Service Center told a news conference.
In all, 119 law enforcement agents took part in the raid, acting on a tip-off received early this month, Shih said.
The slaughterhouse owner employed the workers to meet increased demand for poultry during the 228 Peace Memorial Day holiday, investigators said.
The workers — 13 men and nine women, all from Southeast Asia — were instructed to work from late in the night until morning to avoid detection, they said.
A male Vietnamese worker had overstayed his visa for five years, Shih said.
None of the workers had entered Taiwan under the “Kuan Hung Pilot Project,” an electronic visa program launched in November 2015 that runs until the end of this year as part of Taiwan’s efforts to boost tourism from Southeast Asia, Shih added.
As of yesterday morning, 95 people who had absconded after entering the nation under the program had been caught, while 53 remain at large, NIA data showed.
The program covers visitors from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, India, Indonesia and Vietnam.
Brunei, the Philippines and Thailand were removed from the program after their citizens were granted visa-free entry to Taiwan.
POLAM KOPITIAM CASE: Of the two people still in hospital, one has undergone a liver transplant and is improving, while the other is being evaluated for a liver transplant A fourth person has died from bongkrek acid poisoning linked to the Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said yesterday, as two other people remain seriously ill in hospital. The first death was reported on March 24. The man had been 39 years old and had eaten at the restaurant on March 22. As more cases of suspected food poisoning involving people who had eaten at the restaurant were reported by hospitals on March 26, the ministry and the Taipei Department of Health launched an investigation. The Food and
A fourth person has died in a food poisoning outbreak linked to the Xinyi (信義) branch of Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in Taipei, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said on Monday. It was the second fatality in three days, after another was announced on Saturday. The 40-year-old woman experienced multiple organ failure in the early hours on Monday, and the family decided not to undergo emergency resuscitation, Wang said. She initially showed signs of improvement after seeking medical treatment for nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, but her condition worsened due to an infection, he said. Two others who
MEDICAL: The bills would also upgrade the status of the Ethical Guidelines Governing the Research of Human Embryos and Embryonic Stem Cell Research to law The Executive Yuan yesterday approved two bills to govern regenerative medicine that aim to boost development of the field. Taiwan would reach an important milestone in regenerative medicine development with passage of the regenerative medicine act and the regenerative medicine preparations ordinance, which would allow studies to proceed and treatments to be developed, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) told reporters at a news conference after a Cabinet meeting. Regenerative treatments have been used for several conditions, including cancer — by regenerating blood cells — and restoring joint function in soft tissue, Wang said. The draft legislation requires regenerative treatments
Taiwanese should be mindful when visiting China, as Beijing in July is likely to tighten the implementation of policies on national security following the introduction of two regulations, a researcher said on Saturday. China on Friday unveiled the regulations governing the law enforcement and judicial activities of national security agencies. They would help crack down on “illegal” and “criminal” activities that Beijing considers to be endangering national security, according to reports by China’s state media. The definition of what constitutes a national security threat in China is vague, Taiwan Thinktank researcher Wu Se-chih (吳瑟致) said. The two procedural regulations are to provide Chinese