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If the children of Chinese marriage migrants are not issued a long-term residential permit before turning 20, they will need to stop their studies and leave Taiwan. Spokesperson of the New Immigrants Labor Rights Association says this not only torture for the children to be separated from their parents, but also a threat to cross-strait families.
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On November 17, about 200 Chinese marriage migrants gathered in front of the Ministry of Education to protest that their children who came to Taiwan with them and are studying in Taiwan cannot get identity cards and tuition remissions.
Moreover, once these children turn 20, they will be repatriated back to China and forced to quit university after studying for one or two years.
The Ministry of Education’s Department of International and Cross-Strait Education (DICSE) says that currently they are planning to loosen the restrictions on Chinese citizens who study in Taiwan and expect to postpone the repatriation until after the students graduate from college. However, the proposal concerns many different governmental departments and still needs negotiating.
UDN reports, New Immigrants Labor Rights Association’s spokesperson Xiao Xiao-cui says that a few years ago, the Chinese marriage migrants had to be separated from their children in China before they moved to Taiwan. It was only in August 2009 that the Mainland Affairs Council and the Immigration Agency started allowing the children of Chinese marriage migrants who were under 18 to stay in Taiwan, and the age was changed to 20 in November 2009.
However, some children continue to study in universities in Taiwan, but are repatriated once they turn 20, which make it impossible for them to finish their studies.
China Times reports, Xiao says that if the Chinese marriage migrants’ children are not issued a long-term residential permit before turning 20, they will need to stop their studies and leave Taiwan. Xiao says this not only torture for the children to be separated from their parents, but also a threat to cross-strait families.
In this regard, CNA reports that the DISCE’s Assistant Director-General Liu Zhi-min says according to current regulations, if these children haven’t received a residential permit before they are 20, the universities normally let them suspend their studies and come back after the permits are issued. He says most people are waiting in line to get a residential permit.
Liu also says that the government wishes to relax the age limit until they finish college, and after they turn 20, they will follow the same regulations for other Chinese students. However, the age limit cannot be extended to after they obtain a master’s or PhD. This is due to concerns of allowing the children of Chinese marriage migrants to stay in Taiwan after they become legal adults.
Liberty Times reports, as for the Chinese marriage migrants’ children who study in vocational schools and cannot take examinations for certifications due to not having Taiwanese nationality, the Ministry of Education will discuss with the Ministry of Labor to decide if the government should relax related restrictions.
Translated by Vic Chiang
Edited by Olivia Yang
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