There are hundreds of reasons why the descendants of the lone soldiers became illegal households. Tang Huizhen: It’s so heart-wrenching that we can’t ignore it – News

After the second civil war between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, many Nationalist troops of the Republic of China retreated south from China, and finally took root in the border areas of Thailand and Myanmar. These lone soldiers and their descendants were regarded as stateless refugees by the local government. Since Taiwan has always been beckoning overseas Chinese with the policy of “returning overseas Chinese to further their education,” thousands of Thai and Burmese overseas students came to Taiwan, but became illegal after their residence permits expired. The government has launched the project three times in the past processing, but there are still fish that slip through the net. Legislator Tang Huizhen said that we have rarely encountered such a large number of petition cases in our lifetime. This group of people have lost their basic human rights and have been desperate for many years. We can no longer ignore them.

Descendants of soldiers who have been alone for many years kneel down holding their grandfather’s military uniform and ask for help

Legislator Tang Huizhen: “(Original sound) I am a civil servant. I have been a civil servant for 36 years before retiring. I have also been a representative of public opinion before. I was a representative of the National Congress. This time I am a legislator. In my lifetime, I feel that I have rarely encountered…Of course I have encountered cases of grievance, but the number of people was not that large, and I felt that it could be handled. This time, I did not expect that there were so many people, and each family’s The stories are all different, and hearing them will make people’s noses sore. 』

Legislator Tang Huizhen, who once served as the civil affairs director of the Taoyuan City Government, said that only after listening to the stories of six or seven stateless descendants of the Thai and Burmese soldiers at a chance meeting in June this year, she learned that there is such a group of people in Taiwanese society who have no nationality or household registration. , have no health insurance, cannot get sick, and cannot enjoy the welfare measures provided by the state to take care of the people, such as paying taxes and paying 6,000 yuan to the people. This group of people can only stare.

Tang Huizhen felt that this group of people had been desperate for so many years and could no longer be ignored. So, she asked Director Yu of the office to be the main window for the project. Her team cooperated with the Taoyuan City Golden Triangle Cultural Foundation. Starting from June, they made a special trip to Taoyuan every month to accept petitions. At each meeting, everyone was busy from morning to night. Due to limited processing capacity, approximately 100 cases are accepted each time.

Tang Huizhen said frankly that the most basic premise for the case is that Chen Qingren is a descendant of the lone army. However, some people are stuck at the first level and can only hold their grandfather’s military uniform and kneel down to beg Tang Huizhen for help. Tang Huizhen said: “(Original sound) We have a (Mr. Chen) who is a descendant of the Expeditionary Army. His grandfather was in the Expeditionary Army. At that time, many of the materials of the Expeditionary Army were destroyed, so he had to take the washed ones. The clothes my grandfather wore before the expeditionary force, and he came back with those clothes. You see, there is no way to prove who he is. He can only say, “Look, there is a name on it. That’s what my grandfather is called. Can you check it for me, my grandfather.” Is your information in the Ministry of National Defense?” If not, then we ask, “Have you studied in an overseas Chinese school?” “Yes!” “Okay, you can also give us the student status of that overseas Chinese school. Go check it out.” Just like this, we fought and fought one by one. 』

The national situation is chaotic and it is difficult to provide evidence and the legal provisions are unfriendly.

Tang Huizhen said that their work was like putting together a jigsaw puzzle, helping Mr. Chen piece together enough evidence to prove that they were descendants of the national army.

In addition to the Ministry of National Defense, the case handling also involves many agencies such as the Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission, the Immigration Administration, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Department of Household Affairs of the Ministry of the Interior. Tang Huizhen also pointed out that some agencies ask for birth certificates from Chen lovers in accordance with the law, but this is actually very difficult for people. For example, The situation in Myanmar is chaotic. Some people from Myanmar do not have birth certificates at all. Even if they do, many overseas Chinese in Myanmar have already discarded their identity documents to save their lives because they experienced the anti-Chinese incident in Myanmar.

Tang Huizhen further explained that in fact, there are still a group of people who cannot obtain status because they are stuck in legal provisions, and some are stuck in the Nationality Law. This is because when the public sector determines kinship, according to the law, it only looks at whether their parents are nationals of the Republic of China and whether their grandparents are citizens of the Republic of China. Those above the generation, such as grandfathers and uncles, cannot be recognized as lone soldiers. In addition, there are also many people who are stuck under the sunset clause of the Immigration and Immigration Act. She said: “(Original sound) Of course there are some obstacles in terms of regulations. For example, we saw a provision from the Immigration Department that from May 21, 1988 to December 31, 1997, students who came in at this time , or come for vocational training, but he must also be a descendant of the national army, and these conditions must be met before he can apply (for legal status). At that time, there was an open section, but those who came before and after did not count. . There are also people who come to Taiwan to study because they have no other way to make a living and have to work. They work for a long time and cannot continue studying. That’s too bad. This is inconsistent again (because) they don’t study. For example, if you need to apply for some documents and go back to your original place of residence, leaving Taiwan will not count. Therefore, for many unexpected reasons, (descendants of the Thai-Myanmar lone army) were rejected. 』

Tang Huizhen: If the practice of law is slow, we should try our best to help Chen lover break through the hurdles.

There are various reasons why the descendants of the Thai and Burmese soldiers do not have legal status. The most incredible thing is that some qualified applicants back then were actually ignored because the public department only opened a short two-day processing time. Once the time was up, the cases that could not be digested were simply ignored, resulting in The rights and interests of this group of people were sacrificed in this way. Tang Huizhen said: “(Original sound) Some are even funnier. At that time, all the conditions were met, but because of the queue, they (the government) asked him to queue at a household registration office in Zhongyong and Yonghe. In two days, he was given He queued up for two days, and there were many people queuing up early in the morning. The process lasted until 5 p.m. the next day, when the door was closed and there were a bunch of people queuing behind him. He pretended not to see them. This group of people was originally It is possible (to apply for legal status), but if you block it, it will be gone. 』

According to the investigation report of the Supervisory Yuan, in order to handle the “Thailand and Myanmar stranded in Taiwan case”, the Immigration Department accepted students to register and surrender at the Zhonghe District Office in New Taipei City on July 15 and 16, 2008. A total of 875 students were accepted. Time is tight, there are a large number of students, and the review of receipts is not complete.

Tang Huizhen said that the circumstances of each case are very different. Some can be solved as long as one or two ministries work together, while some have to pass five hurdles and kill six generals. The reasons for getting stuck can be said to be all kinds of strange. She believes that cultivating the law is certainly a way, but it will not solve the problem in a hurry. Therefore, she currently prefers to work together with her colleagues in the office to help Chen Chen pass through the obstacles one by one. Although it is thankless, once Chen Chen gets her identity, they will burst into tears. Laughing, rejoicing, and even cheering so loudly that the roof almost fell off. This touch made Tang Huizhen and his team even more convinced that this favor must be done to the end. Tang Huizhen said: “(Original sound) Now that we have started, we have heard many different cases. We are more confident about the same cases. We will work harder for different cases, so we can help people solve their problems in their lifetime. The most important thing is that I think it’s worth it. 』