Trafficking of 'tourists' must be handled: PM

The Government Office has recently sent letters to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Public Security, Ministry of Culture, Sport and Tourism, and people’s committees of centrally-run provinces and cities about the incident of 152 Vietnamese tourists going missing in Taiwan late last year.

In the letter, the PM asked the Ministry of Public Security to work with relevant offices to handle those who were using tourism routes to illegally send Vietnamese abroad.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs plans to ask Taiwan to restart the Kuan Hung Pilot Project - an electronic visa programme for Vietnamese travel businesses, especially those that have been booking services in Taiwan and applying for Kuan Hung visas for tourists traveling during the Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday.

The PM also requested the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA) to step up communications on the risks and consequences of illegally working abroad.

In December last year, a group of 152 Vietnamese tourists disappeared from their tour group after entering Taiwan through Kaohsiung on the special tourism visa.

The 152 Vietnamese tourists, divided into four groups, were passengers referred to HCM City-based International Holidays Travel Company Limited by two Hanoi-based tourist companies: Twin Bright Company Limited and Golden Travel Trade and Tourism Company Limited.

Taiwan’s National Immigration Agency (NIA) announced its specialised operations brigade in Kaohsiung had set up a team to work with local police to track down the missing tourists.

Three days later, 11 of the 152 runaway tourists were temporarily detained for further investigation.

Three were detained by police and accused of violating Taiwan’s anti-human trafficking and immigration laws, as well as its labour code.

Taiwan suspended the issuance of “Kuan Hung” visas for groups of Vietnamese tourists after the incident.