Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Apollo Chen (陳學聖) on Wednesday urged the government to show its commitment to human rights and give permanent residency to Indonesians who took refuge in Taiwan to escape persecution against ethnic Chinese in the latter half of the 20th century.
Chen invited Liu Hsiao-fen (劉曉芬), an Indonesian of Chinese ethnicity, to talk about the issue at a news conference at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei.
Liu came to Taiwan with her parents in 1987 when she was two years old because of fears of persecution and sporadic violence that targeted ethnic Chinese from 1965 to 1998.
Liu said that she had to drop out of school, because for the past 30 years she has not been able to apply for a national identification card or citizenship, and was recently told that she is to be deported.
Under Indonesian law, Liu is essentially stateless, as Indonesians who do not return to renew their passport within five years of its expiration date lose their citizenship, Chen said.
According to the lawmaker’s office, a source surnamed Chung (鍾) said there are about 1,000 ethnic Chinese Indonesians who took refuge in Taiwan to avoid anti-Chinese riots and violence, and face similar plights as Liu.
After the news conference, National Immigration Agency Entry and Exit Affairs Division official Sun Hung-chuan (孫鴻全) said the agency gives stateless persons the right of abode for a year, which can be renewed yearly.
After five years, such individuals are able to receive labor and health insurance, as well as rights to education and work, Sun said, adding that after an additional three years, they are eligible for citizenship.
As many of the Indonesians Chen is trying to help did not apply to the agency for stateless status, he said he hopes the government can give them special dispensation as a group and allow them to apply for permanent residency.
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