Taiwan finds 74 Vietnamese missing after two weeks

Taiwan's National Immigration Agency Director General Qiu Feng-guang said 74 Vietnamese have turned themselves in or been arrested, accounting for half of the number of tourists who have disappeared since December 2018. This is the result of a search by members of the task force over the past two weeks.

To expand the investigation, in addition to the cooperation between the Immigration Department and the Police Department, the task force also received assistance from the Taiwanese diplomatic agency, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Vietnam and the Vietnamese Embassy in Taiwan.

Previously, Taiwan’s National Immigration Agency announced a reward for whistleblowers. Those who provide information to help find the group of runaway tourists will be rewarded NT$4,000 (US$130). The reward has helped increase the number of Vietnamese tourists found from 35 on January 4 to 74. Of these, four cases were reported by the public, helping investigators find six tourists.

Taiwan’s National Immigration Agency has urged all missing tourists to come forward immediately for leniency. Anyone who illegally harbors foreigners, whether paid or not, will be fined between NT$150,000 and NT$750,000 (nearly US$5,000 and US$24,000).

Previously, a group of 153 Vietnamese tourists entered Taiwan on a tour, but by December 25, 2018, 152 people had disappeared. One person later kept in touch, three people flew back to Vietnam on their own, so the number of missing guests was determined to be 148 people.

Mr. Khu affirmed that the investigation agency will make every effort to find all the remaining tourists.