Mon, Mar 05, 2001 page3

• HIV-positive man kept from family

  'Taipei Times' reporter Irene Lin looks at the case a foreign national who in October 1999 was denied re-entry into Taiwan after a trip abroad because he was HIV positive. Though he moved to Taiwan in 1991, had set up a business, married and had children, health officials refused to allow him re-entry, nor has he been permitted to return for short visits since. People in this situation have pleaded to be reunited with their families, but the government remains stern

  • By Irene Lin / STAFF REPORTER
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  Queuing up at the immigration counter of CKS Airport, Rick Bloom, though exhausted from a long flight, was excited to be back in Taiwan -- a place he called home with his Taiwanese wife and children, and where he had established his own business.

  At first the immigration official stamped his passport, granting Bloom re-entry. But after information came up on the computer, the official stamped "void" across the immigration mark.

  Confused, he was taken aside and told he was HIV positive, and then marshalled off to a small padded room to await deportation. Before the trip, he had not known he was infected with HIV, nor did he expect to be stopped from going home for this reason.

  

  Ivory Lin, office director of the Persons with HIV/AIDS Rights Advocacy Association of Taiwan, told the Taipei Times in an interview that the government's ban on HIV-positive foreign nationals entering the country prevents the Taiwanese families of those individuals from leading normal lives.

  PHOTO: CHEN CHENG-CHANG, TAIPEI TIMES

  "Grief stricken with this unexpected development, I asked to be given a phone so that I could call my wife and children in Taipei who were waiting for me to return home that day," said Bloom. (The Taipei Times has changed his name and other victims' names to protect their identities).

  "I was never given the chance to call them. I was forced to abandon the business my wife and I had spent six years building. I was involuntarily separated from my family, my job and all my life's savings. I was then put on a plane half an hour later, sent out of the country and told that I could never return."

  That was October 1999, and he has been refused entry to Taiwan ever since. Bloom even tried to visit around Christmas last year, when he desperately begged immigration officials to allow him in to spend a few hours with his wife and children, from whom he had been forced to live apart.

  "During the years I lived in Taiwan, I always thought that the country was doing pretty well as far as improving their stance on human rights. With the slap in the face I have received, my eyes are suddenly much clearer than they were 14 months ago. As far as I am concerned, there are no human rights or compassion in Taiwan," Bloom said.

  Having lived in Taiwan since 1991 and establishing a business together with his wife, a Taiwan national he married in 1993, Bloom said he felt it was his duty to come to the aid of the victims of the devastating earthquake that hit the nation in 1999.

  But it was this act of compassion that led Taiwan to the discovery that Bloom was HIV positive. Bloom donated blood for the victims, and tests later alerted health officials as to Bloom's HIV status.

  Blacklisted

  During the "White terror" era, Taiwan authorities kept a blacklist of political dissidents and immigration officials were told to refuse entry to those on the list. Some tried to break through the entry gate, only to be dragged onto a flight out of the country. Behind the entry gate was home, a place they should have been entitled to stay as long as they wanted.

  As democratization eventually led to the lifting of the ban, those on the blacklist were able to come home and end their exile.

  Nevertheless, a blacklist remains to this day, as far as the HIV-positive foreigners are concerned.

  Under the AIDS Prevention Act (後天免疫缺乏症候群條例), a foreigner found to be HIV-positive is be deported immediately. The rule applies even if the spouse of the foreigner is a Taiwan citizen.

  Even if they live in the country and leave it for a trip it is almost impossible for them to re-enter once they have been "blacklisted." Although it's not uncommon for a country to refuse entry to HIV-positive foreign nationals, Taiwan's ban is harsh in that it also applies to foreigners married to Taiwan nationals.

  "Thinking of the plight of the couples would make one wonder what is the justifiable cause to separate a happy couple, to keep the children away from their mum or dad. I think being HIV positive isn't alone going to be a satisfactory answer," said Ivory Lin (林宜慧), office director of the Persons with HIV/AIDS Rights Advocacy Association of Taiwan (愛滋感染者權益促進會).

  "The government probably considers it a necessary way to prevent spread of the disease and a way to avoid medical spending on foreigners. But remember, these foreigners are husbands, wives, fathers and mothers of our nationals. Depriving them of their rights is to deprive their Taiwanese families of the right to live a normal life," she said.

  Truning 'fugitive'

  Mrs Liu, a Taiwanese woman who is married to an Asian man, came to Lin's association for help two years ago. Having returned from a trip overseas, her husband was refused entry by immigration officials for being HIV positive.

  Her husband had a routine medical check at his company and had left before getting the results. Ever since, the couple can spend time together only when the wife flies to her husband's country, or when they arrange to meet in a third country.

  Liu has tried to appeal her case to the Department of Health, but her attempts have been in vain. Liu's husband has even tried to break through the gates at CKS airport, but like the blacklisted dissidents before him, his attempt failed.

  Mrs Huang, a mother of one, is also facing a similar plight after her Asian husband was found to be infected with HIV in a medical examination required for residency status applicants.

  Once a person's HIV status is verified, deportation automatically follows. This harsh outcome has led some families to hide the HIV-positive family member as if he were a fugitive.

  "It's a tough choice they have to make, whether to leave their family or to stay but stay in hiding. And it's also a big concern that they won't be able to receive medical treatment if they chose to stay hidden," Lin said.

  Exceptions unlikely

  With persistent pressure from rights advocacy groups, the government has gradually relaxed some aspects of the ban on HIV-positive foreigners, but has yet to do away with completely.

  Before July 1999 there was no room to petition against the deportation of HIV-positive foreign spouses, but the law has since been changed to make petitions possible.

  Chiang Ying-lung (江英隆), deputy director of the Center for Disease Control under the Department of Health, said the new petition procedures -- which were implemented in early February -- are designed to help HIV-positive foreign spouses.

  But there remain problems with the new rules. A petition is granted only if it can be proven that a foreign national contracted the HIV virus from his or her Taiwanese spouse.

  For those who were infected by someone other than their Taiwanese spouses, there's little hope for leniency. A committee of nine to 11 health officials reviews an applicant's petition to determine whether the foreigner may remain in Taiwan, Chiang said.

  "Lots of concerns affect the decision, particularly whether national health insurance for the foreign spouses will be a burden on our already financially strapped health insurance system," Chiang said. "But on the other hand, a petition might be granted out of humanitarian considerations."

  "Probably" is of no comfort to people like Bloom who have to live apart from their families. Member of the committee are often conservative and rarely grant exceptions.

  A person will not be treated differently just because they are married to a Taiwan national or their children are Taiwan nationals, as health authorities have made clear.

  "And even in cases where the foreign spouses contracted the virus from their Taiwanese spouses, the committee members feel that the foreigner should be first deported, and the petition can come later. Who knows if they really got the virus from their Taiwanese wives or husbands, and what if they cheat?" Chiang said. "As long as they have proved it, they will be allowed re-entry to the country."

  Moving on

  Having been forced apart for more than a year, Bloom and his wife have decided to move to his home country with their two children.

  He hopes to gain a two-week entry to Taiwan, so he can help his wife move their family belongings and start a new life in a place more hospitable to them.

  "My concern now is about the huge job of packing all our personal belongings and getting them shipped to our new home. I think the job is too big for my wife to do on her own," Bloom said. "I must be there to help pack and make all the arrangements, even if I can only get a two-week pass into the country. I just don't know how to make the appeal and who to turn to. Where do I start?"
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