Taipei, April 11 (CNA) The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) on Monday demanded an immediate repatriation of eight Taiwan nationals sent to China from Kenya after they had been acquitted of phone fraud in Nairobi earlier this month.
In announcing the news of the deportation, which occurred on April 8, the ministry expressed its “serious protest” against the “uncivilized act of extrajudicial abduction” which represents a “gross violation of basic human rights.”
The eight persons were put on a Chinese airliner in Nairobi and flown to China despite a court order that they be handed back to the Kenyan police authorities pending a further hearing.
They were among 23 Taiwanese accused of being members of a fraud ring which was busted toward the end of last year. A total of 77 Chinese and Taiwanese were arrested and charged with illegal entry and telecommunications fraud, according to MOFA.
The 23 Taiwan nationals, along with 14 Chinese, were acquitted on April 5 and ordered to leave the country in three weeks, MOFA said.
They went to a local police station later that day to retrieve their passports, which had been seized earlier, but were detained and put on a plane three days later, MOFA said.
Efforts by Taiwan’s representative office in South Africa and lawyers of those involved in the case failed to prevent the Taiwan nationals from being deported to China. Taiwan has no diplomatic personnel in Kenya.
MOFA accused Chinese personnel of “technical obstructions,” including delaying the court injunction that would have kept the Taiwanese in Kenya and barring an official from Taiwan’s representative office in South Africa from reaching the Taiwanese before they were deported via a flight operated by China Southern Airlines.
In a statement, MOFA demanded the immediate return of the eight Taiwan nationals and urged the Kenyan police, in accordance with the court ruling, to immediately release the 15 other Taiwanese who have been acquitted.
(By Tai Ya-chen and Jay Chen)
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