Thirty-six foreign nationals were arrested in two raids in Yunlin County and Taichung carried out on Saturday by the National Immigration Agency (NIA) as part of a crackdown on illegal foreign workers and people who overstay their visas.
Agents of the NIA’s Yunlin branch and local law enforcement officers raided a house in Yunlin County where 27 foreign nationals were arrested, including one underage girl who hid in a wardrobe, the NIA’s Yunlin branch said in a statement issued on Sunday.
The girl was found to have overstayed her tourist visa and was detained, the statement said.
The others were found to have either overstayed their visas or worked in Taiwan illegally.
Aside from the 27 foreign nationals, 14 Taiwanese were arrested during the raid — eight employers, three illegal brokers, a suspected thief and two suspected of sex offenses, the statement said.
Meanwhile, agents from the NIA’s Taichung branch apprehended nine Vietnamese who had either left their contracted employers or overstayed their visas at a construction site in the city’s Cingshuei District (清水) on Saturday.
They are to be returned to Vietnam, the NIA said in a statement on Sunday.
The NIA agents were still looking for the brokers who arranged the illegal jobs for the arrested foreign nationals and the people who employed them, the statement said.
Companies that employ foreign workers illegally face a fine of NT$150,000 to NT$750,000 (US$4,759 to US$23,794), the NIA said.
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