《TAIPEI TIMES 焦點》 Tibetans in exile living as international orphans

TIBETANS IN TAIWAN: For stateless Tibetans, Taiwan had been a safe haven until an immigration policy sun-set clause came into effect and has again left them lost

By Alison Hsiao / Staff reporter

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The sunset clause of the Immigration Act （入出國及移民法） has made Tibetans in exile international orphans, the Taiwan Association for Human Rights （TAHR） said during a protest that included a group of Tibetans outside the National Immigration Agency （NIA） yesterday.

The association said Tibetans in exile have been coming to Taiwan since 2000 and that the government had once amended the Immigration Act for those “stateless people from India and Nepal,” who entered Taiwan before Dec. 31, 2008 “and cannot be repatriated [to] be allowed to reside in Taiwan by the NIA if their status has been identified by the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission.”

“But the sunset provision means Tibetans who entered Taiwan after 2008 are again international orphans,” association secretary-general Chiu Ee-ling （邱伊翎）said.

Fifteen Tibetans living in exile in Taiwan who have not been able to obtain legal status petitioned outside the NIA accompanied by the TAHR.

Khando came to Taiwan in 2008 with another 89 Tibetans in exile and applied for legal residency with the Green Book — the official document issued by the Tibetan Government in Exile.

She was determined by the commission as non-Tibetan, as she did not meet the commission’s criteria for identifying as Tibetan, which is someone who “speaks Tibetan, is able to sing the Tibetan national anthem or understands Tibetan culture and history.”

Khando was born in and grew up in Nepal’s Tibetan community after her parents escaped from Tibet, the association said, criticizing the commission’s criteria as inappropriate and failing to take into account the differences of each individual’s exile history.

Tenzin Choengor, who came to Taiwan in 2009 with his wife — also a Tibetan in exile who has been granted a Republic of China （ROC） identity card — could only secure a two-month dependent visa and has to apply for extensions. As he is not able to obtain residency status, he cannot work. His wife has since left him, according to the association.

“I was asked to bring my wife with me to [extend] my resident permit, but I could not find [her]. I could not [go through the process] by myself and could not find a job. It’s difficult,” said Thupten Nangyal, another Tibetan living in Taiwan, whose wife had an ROC identity card, but has left him and is now in a similar predicament to Tenzin.

Norbu Wangyal came to Taiwan from Nepal after hearing that the Taiwanese government accepts Tibetans, but had his official documentation taken by a travel agency and it was not returned.

The association said they all came to Taiwan for different reasons, but all now have no legal status and cannot get a job or receive medical assistance.

“The amendment to the Immigration Act had offered help to Tibetans with similar backgrounds in the form of a special case, but the humanitarian assistance stopped in 2008. A ‘refugee act’ is still nowhere in sight due to the controversy over [Taiwan’s relationship with China],” said the association, which wants the NIA to handle the issue as a special case with the help of the commission.

The NIA said that every case is different and further evaluation of how agency assistance is provided is needed.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES