Taipei, Feb. 20 (CNA) New immigrant women whose husbands have died and those who have been abandoned or have suffered from domestic violence should be granted permanent residence, a human rights group said Monday in a press conference held to urge the Taiwan government to establish better protection for foreign spouses.
The Alliance on the Amendments of the Human Rights Protection Law (AAHRPL) also asked the National Police Administration (NPA) to clarify the administrative procedures used in considering whether to grant extended residence to foreign spouses.
"Most foreign spouses whose husbands have died have been having trouble trying to stay in Taiwan. Either the husband's family has refused to apply for extended residence for them or their applications have been rejected with no reason given by the foreign affairs police, " AAHRPL spokesman Hsia Hsiao-chuan said. Hsia is also a professor at Shih Hsin University.
Most families don't want to apply for extended residence for the foreign spouses out of fear that they may fight to inherit their late husband's assets, Hsia claimed.
A Vietnamese spouse surnamed Pham who attended the press conference said she doesn't want any money. "I just want to stay in Taiwan, my home, " she said. Pham was originally granted a one-month extension by the local police department, but the extension was later canceled for no apparent reason.
Chheang Navy, a foreign spouse from Cambodia, said: "Most people don't realize that new immigrant women, who preferred to be referred to as such instead of as 'foreign brides, ' are not here for money. This is our home. This is where we want to be." Navy is working for the TransAsia Sisters Association (TASA), an organization devoted to the rights of Southeast Asian women in Taiwan.
Another women, surnamed Le, said her family agreed to apply for extended residence for her, but the application procedures proved far too complicated for them to handle. In the end, they were exploited by an agency and, after waiting for over a year and a paying more than NT$26,000, the application has still not been approved.
TASA Secretary-General Shawn Wu cited Article 29 of the Immigration Act and Article 11 of the Regulations Governing Visiting, Residence and Permanent Residence of Aliens and said: "According to Taiwan law, foreign spouses who have lost their husband or who have children have the right to obtain residence, but local police departments have sometimes not enforced the law and bowed to pressure from the local people."
This is why the AAHRPL has urged the legislature to amend the Immigration Act as soon as possible, Wu said, adding it is hoped that the AAHRPL's ideas will be adopted in the amendment.