[news] Tibetans granted temporary residence
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Taipei, Jan. 9 (CNA) A total of 109 Tibetan people who have been
staying in Taiwan without legal status were granted temporary
alien resident certificates (ARC) Friday.
On behalf of the National Immigration Agency (NIA) , Kao Su-po,
minister of the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission,
presented the temporary ARCs to the Tibetans, most of whom came to
Taiwan between 1999 and 2008 on Indian or Nepalese passports.
The Tibetans, including three children born to Tibetan couples in
Taiwan recently, are expected to receive permanent residency after
an amendment to the Immigration Act is passed into law by the
Legislative Yuan.
"I believe that before long, the Tibetans will get their permanent
residency and will then be able to work legally in Taiwan and
obtain their own health insurance cards," Kao said.
Last month, they staged a sit-in at Liberty Square in Taipei,
pleading for the government to grant them legal status.
The Executive Yuan passed the amendment Thursday based on a
proposal by the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission, which
helped the overstaying Tibetans to complete the registration
process with the NIA for their temporary residence certificates.
The amendment stipulates that after the NIA interviews the
Tibetans, confirms their identities and finds that they have no
criminal records, the agency should grant them residency based on
humanitarian considerations.
Kao expressed appreciation to President Ma Ying-jeou and the
chiefs of relevant government agencies for their support for the
amendment leading to the acquisition of legal status in Taiwan for
the Tibetans.
According to Kao, most of them are now staying at disused
factories in an industrial zone in Gueishan, in the northern
county of Taoyuan, where they have the basic necessities needed to
live a normal life.
The Executive Yuan's passage of the amendment paves the way for
the Legislative Yuan to pass it into law, and both ruling
Kuomintang and the opposition Democratic Progressive Party
legislative caucuses reached agreement Thursday on revising the
Immigration Act.
The NIA previously granted similar temporary residence permits to
overstaying Thai and Myanmarese students from the Golden Triangle
who are descendants of former Kuomintang troops who fled there
after the Chinese civil war and who have not been given
citizenship of their respective countries of residence.
(By Deborah Kuo)
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