Taipei, July 18 (CNA) The increase of new immigrants, most of whom come to Taiwan through international marriages, is a new phenomenon and a social issue, not a "problem, " academics said at a forum Wednesday, encouraging the people and government of Taiwan to accept new immigrants with open arms.
The number of marriage migrants to Taiwan has surpassed 390,000, including 140,000 coming from Southeast Asian countries and 250,000 from China, making new immigrants a "fifth ethnic group" that Taiwan's government and society cannot afford to overlook, said Michael Hsiao, a researcher at Academia Sinica.
The 390,000 new immigrants, who are often called "foreign spouses, " and 330,000 foreign workers add up to 720,000 persons, Hsiao said. That number exceeds the number of Taiwan's indigenous peoples, one of the so-called "four ethnic groups" in addition to the Hoklo, Hakka, and mainlanders.
Immigration is a global phenomenon, with an all-time high record of 200 million people worldwide now living in foreign lands, Hsiao pointed out, saying that "Taiwan is not alone."
In Taiwan, Hsiao said, the phenomenon to emerge in the early 1990s as more and more immigrants, mostly Vietnamese, relocated to Taiwan through cross-border marriages. But this should be seen as an issue, and a "new chapter" in Taiwanese society instead of a problem, he stressed.
"Who knows? In 20 or 30 years, we may elect a president whose mother is Vietnamese. And believe it or not, new immigrants will make huge impact to future elections in Taiwan as a focus group," he said.
There are still many stigmas to be eliminated in Taiwan about new immigrants, for instance that most children with "foreign mothers" have learning difficulties -- a false concept that has been proven incorrect by numerous surveys, said Hsiao.
As the most experienced Asian country in dealing with immigrant issues, Taiwan still has a large room of improvement, he said. The government and non-government organizations (NGOs) should be offering counselling to whole families rather than individuals, and communities and neighborhood should play supportive roles.
"I would say that Taiwan's government has been trying to tackle the issue head-on. However, it has sometimes rushed to find solutions. What it should do, I think, is relax and seek to understand the issue before acting, " Hsiao said.