A Chinese family of three who were seeking political asylum in Taiwan have been redirected to another country that could provide them with the safety they were pursuing, the National Immigration Agency’s Border Affairs Corps said on Thursday.
The family includes a woman, with the name Deng Liting (鄧麗婷) on her Chinese passport, and has a popular following on the social media platform X, the corps told the Central News Agency.
Deng and her family recently entered Taiwan as transit passengers, and upon arrival made a request to be redirected to a Western country. They also asked about Taiwan’s political asylum laws and their prospects for staying in Taiwan, the corps said.
Photo: Tony Yao, Taipei Times
However, the three family members were unable to board a transfer flight to a Western country, as they did not have the required visas, the corps said.
As Taiwan has no laws to protect asylum seekers or regulations governing the handling of refugees, the corps arranged for the family to be redirected to another country, with their consent, it said.
In that undisclosed country, the family would have a chance to obtain the safety they are seeking, the corps added.
Taiwan’s handling of the matter did not contravene the UN’s Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees or its principle of non-refoulement, the corp said.
Meanwhile, Deng posted on X about her family’s efforts to seek asylum, saying on Tuesday that they had landed safely in Taiwan.
In an X post, she apologized to the Taiwanese public for creating a difficult situation.
Deng said she and her family had decided to take their chances in Taiwan, although they were aware that its laws do not cover refugees seeking political asylum.
After the family fled China, they went to Thailand and then to Singapore, seeking asylum, but to no avail, Deng said, adding that they had no choice but to try Taiwan next.
Deng said she has been persecuted in China and was at risk of severe punishment, which could have collaterally involved her young son.
Deng on Thursday posted on X that before her family arrived in Taiwan, they had applied for political asylum in Canada.
However, even with the help of the Ireland-based human rights organization Front Line Defenders, the asylum process could take six months to a year, she added.
She also said Taiwan has no obligation to her family and urged her followers not to hold Taiwan “hostage emotionally.”
The case of the Deng family was the third attempt in the past year by Chinese to seek political asylum in Taiwan.
A Chinese dissident, Chen Siming (陳思明), in September last year refused to return to China after his flight from Thailand made a transit stop in Taiwan.
He spent almost two weeks living in the transit area of Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport before he was eventually granted political asylum in Canada.
In February, three Chinese asylum seekers, who arrived in Taiwan from Malaysia, were sent back, as they could not present proper travel documents, such as visas and permits.
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