AIT VISITS SANHSIA IMMIGRATION DETENTION FACILITY:

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TAIPEI 001912 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR G/TIP, G, INL, DRL, PRM E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: OMIG KCRM PHUM KWMN ELAB SMIG ASEC KFRD PREF PGOV, CH, TW SUBJECT: AIT VISITS SANHSIA IMMIGRATION DETENTION FACILITY: ROOM TO IMPROVE ¶1. Summary: Most detainees at the Sanhsia detention facility initially came to Taiwan on legal work visas, but became illegal workers after seeking higher wages with unauthorized employers, or by staying to work after their visas had expired. Detainees arrive at Sanhsia after their arrest by police, immigration, or coast guard authorities. They remain there until a county prosecutor decides to prosecute or deport them. Most detainees stay no more than 40 days, though six detainees have been at Sanhsia in excess of nine months, awaiting prosecutors' decisions. Detainees live in sanitary, if slightly cramped conditions, are provided decent meals and access to medical care and exercise. AIT observed detention center staff and detainees treating each other with courtesy and respect. The Director of the Sanhsia facility insisted his responsibility is to provide humane treatment to detainees, not to determine if they are victims of trafficking; therefore, Sanhsia officers rarely refer suspected trafficking victims to superiors at the National Immigration Agency (NIA) for reclassification as victims, rather than illegal immigrants. Sanhsia's Director admitted to AIT that, under Taiwan's existing immigration system, trafficking victims can still too easily fall through the cracks. End Summary. ¶2. On August 15, AIT Human Rights Officer visited the National Immigration Agency (NIA) detention center for non-PRC nationals, located in Sanhsia Township, Taipei County. AIT accompanied two social workers and two nuns affiliated with Hope Workers' Center (HWC),located in Taoyuan. According to Director Lin Ching-lung, the Sanhsia facility currently houses 256 individuals, including 132 men and 124 women. This is near its monthly average of 250 detainees. According to Lin, ninety percent of the detainees at Sanhsia entered Taiwan legally to work, but decided to flee their assigned employers to seek better pay, or continued to work illegally after their work visas expired. The remaining ten percent used visitors' visas or were smuggled into Taiwan to work illegally. ¶3. Men and women are housed on different floors of the detention facility. Muslims, mostly from Indonesia, are housed separately from non-Muslims (mostly Filipinos, Malaysians, Thais and Vietnamese),to honor their special dietary restrictions and daily worship regimen. Detainees are kept behind bars in groups of 50-70. They sleep in bunk beds and share a large common room for eating and watching television. Bathroom facilities are concealed from the guards' view. Detainees are permitted to keep toiletries and a small amount of clothing with them in detention. Their luggage and other personal effects are stored in a separate locked room. AIT observed one female detainee with a newborn infant. A guard advised that both mother and child would be relocated to an NGO shelter within the next few days. According to Director Lin's deputy, Commander Lin Chun-liang, detainees receive three meals per day. At lunch on the day AIT visited, the detainees were offered chicken legs, fish balls, rice, vegetables, and whole fruit. One of the HWC nuns who visits the detention facility regularly remarked to AIT that the meal was slightly better than usual, in that detainees typically are given only one type of protein per meal, and fruit only a few times per week. ¶4. Commander Lin told AIT that a doctor visits the facility three days each week, and that emergency medical care is available 24 hours a day. Detainees are permitted to exercise outside two days each week. Telephone calls are permitted on Tuesday, Thursday, and weekends. Most detainees purchase long-distance calling cards to call relatives outside Taiwan. NGOs, including Hope Workers' Center, often provide calling cards to those detainees who cannot afford to buy them. One of the nuns told AIT that guards customarily treated detainees with courtesy and respect; AIT observed this to be the case during our visit. Commander Lin told AIT that problematic detainees are sometimes separated from the rest of the group and held in a small detention cell for 24-48 hours, to discourage them from further misconduct. AIT inquired about two worn wooden batons seen hanging near a guard station. Commander Lin said physical force is rarely TAIPEI 00001912 002 OF 002 used against detainees. A nun from HWC told AIT that, as little as two years ago, guards regularly punished detainees by forcing them to maintain strenuous physical positions. This practice was stopped after NGOs began to visit the facility regularly 18 months ago, she added. ¶5. Director Lin told AIT that detainees are sent to Sanhsia after their arrest by local police, immigration police, or coast guard authorities. According to current guidelines, Lin said, the arresting officer should determine whether the individual is a trafficking victim or not, and report his or her findings to the local prosecutor's office. The prosecutor should then review the arresting officer's report, and if necessary, conduct further investigation to determine whether the individual is a trafficking victim or an illegal immigrant. Those deemed to be illegal immigrants are sent to one of three NIA detention centers for holding, until the prosecutor decides to file charges or to repatriate the arrestee to his or her home country. ¶6. Director Lin acknowledged to AIT that the current system relies too heavily on the arresting officer's initial report. If the arresting officer is unsympathetic or does not understand the definition of a trafficking victim, Lin added, he might improperly classify someone as an immigration violator, instead of a trafficking victim. Lin conceded that if the prosecutor is overworked and doesn't investigate further, it is possible for some trafficking victims to fall through the cracks. He emphasized that his responsibility is not to investigate individual cases, but to provide humane treatment to the detainees while they await a prosecutor's decision to charge or repatriate them. Nonetheless, he continued, NIA officers at Sanhsia interview all incoming detainees, and will on rare occasions contact the NIA central office to report potential trafficking victims. The NIA will then contact the relevant prosecutor's office to suggest reconsideration of a particular individual's case. According to Commander Lin, four Vietnamese women assigned to Sanhsia for holding are currently being reconsidered for NGO shelter care, following a recommendation by Sanhsia officers. ¶7. Commander Lin told AIT that most detainees spend no more than 30-40 days in detention before they are either prosecuted or repatriated. However, AIT encountered one Indonesian fisherman who had been detained at Sanhsia for nearly ten months. When asked about this case, Director Lin said the responsible prosecutor in Nantou County had not yet decided to charge or deport this man, despite repeated prodding from Lin and his seniors at NIA. In reviewing the detention center's records, Director Lin also identified to AIT five other Indonesians detained in excess of nine months. He complained that if these men are criminals, they should be charged, convicted, and placed in jail. The NIA does not have the budget or appropriate facilities for long-term detention, he added, and the Justice Ministry should not be permitted to shift the burden of prisoner care from the criminal justice system to the NIA. What is worse, an HWC nun added, is that if these Indonesians are ultimately tried and convicted of immigration or other violations, under Taiwan law they will not receive credit for the time already served in detention. AIT intends to raise these cases with the Taipei High Court Prosecutors Office. ¶8. Comment: Some trafficking victims probably do end up at Sanhsia, but, because detention center officials do not see themselves as charged with detecting victims, this error is likely to go uncorrected. In rare cases where trafficking victims are identified at Sanhsia, there is no procedure in place for Sanhsia officials to directly contact the prosecutor in charge of the case, causing weeks or months to go by before victims are relocated to shelters. The current detention process is often unfair to illegal immigrants too, since there is no limit on how long detainees can be held before trial or deportation, and no credit is given for time served in detention. AIT will continue to address these and other concerns with Taiwan's NIA and Justice Ministry. End Comment. YOUNG