Shelter and other forms of assistance would be provided to Hong Kong asylum seekers once the Hong Kong humanitarian assistance action plan proposed by President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) last month passes a review by the Executive Yuan today, a source familiar with the matter said.
The plan, which comes in response to Beijing’s introduction of national security legislation for the territory, would involve many government agencies, including the ministries of the interior, the health and welfare, labor, education and justice, the National Security Bureau and the Investigation Bureau, the source said last week.
The plan, which the Mainland Affairs Council helped draft, would see the establishment of a residential facility for asylum seekers who are financially unable to pay for their own, the source said.
The program is intended to be the implementation of Article 18 of the Act Governing Relations With Hong Kong and Macau (香港澳門關係條例), which states that assistance should be provided to residents of the territories who are suffering political persecution, they added.
The council is also seeking to amend Article 25 of the Enforcement Rules of the Act Governing Relations With Hong Kong and Macau (香港澳門關係條例施行細則) to stipulate that during the period after an asylum seeker applies for residence and before such residence is granted, the government should provide “care and accommodations,” the source said.
Although there is a two-month preview period for proposed amendments to the enforcement rules, once the plan is approved by the Executive Yuan, it can be applied immediately to those from Hong Kong who have already applied for residence, the source said.
At present the government typically processes asylum seekers from Hong Kong based on evaluations of their background and risk to national security provided by human rights lawyers in Hong Kong. The cases are then handed over to local human rights lawyers.
Under the proposal, background and security checks would be handled by the National Security Bureau and the Investigation Bureau, which would help prevent Chinese agents from slipping in, the source said.
Part of the proposal’s aim is to provide assistance transitioning to life in Taiwan, such as providing psychological support, answering questions about daily life in the nation, helping with enrollment in the National Health Insurance program, and help finding academic programs, training and employment, the source said.
Hong Kong asylum seekers have usually relied on fundraising in Hong Kong to support them while they wait for their applications to be processed, but that is becoming more difficult, the source said.
The government is also planning to budget funds to help them, the source said.
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