Taiwan has asked Vietnam to join forces in investigating the disappearance of 152 Vietnamese people who arrived on tourist visas in the territory last week, according to the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Some female tourists among 152 Vietnamese people missing in Taiwan are present at a local police department in Taoyuan, a special municipality in northwestern Taiwan, on December 27

The ministry cited the Vietnam Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei as saying that 11 of the 152 missing Vietnamese tourists had been apprehended and interrogated, as of December 27.

They are accused of violating laws on anti-human trafficking, immigration and the labor code of Taiwan.

Based on information and recommendations from Taiwan, the Vietnamese ministries of Foreign Affairs and Public Security and the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) have been working with Taiwanese agencies to investigate and address the case.

The foreign ministry has instructed the Vietnam Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei to contact the local competent authorities to seek personal information on these tourists and visit the detainees.

The tourists were issued visas under an initiative launched three years ago to attract more visitors to Taiwan from 16 South and Southeast Asian countries, as well as Australia and New Zealand, to boost tourism.

They arrived in the southern city of Kaohsiung on December 21 and 23, and all but one absconded. According to Taiwan’s Immigration Agency, they are now facing deportation and a three- to five-year ban from the island.

On Wednesday, the HCMC Tourism Department started working with HCMC-based International Holidays Trading Travel Co., Ltd, which was involved in the case.

The company’s director, Phan Ngoc Hanh, remarked that his firm had offered visa services to 153 Vietnamese tourists, who were clients of Twin Bright JSC and Golden Travel JSC in Hanoi, based on the recommendation of Taiwanese travel agency ETholiday. To date, the Hanoi-based firms have yet to pay for the visa service fees of US$10 per tourist.

International Holidays failed to present any paperwork related to the visa service contracts. Therefore, the department temporarily suspended its international travel business license.

Nguyen Quy Phuong, head of the Travel Department at the VNAT, told said that Golden Travel has a business license for operating outbound tours. Meanwhile, Twin Bright brought tourists to Taiwan though it was not licensed to offer such a service, thereby violating the Law on Tourism.

The Vietnamese Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism noted that tourism activities and the eased visa policy for tourists in some countries and territories have been abused for the purpose of working abroad illegally. This does not rule out the possibility that some organizations and individuals have taken advantage of this policy to set up rings to illegally send Vietnamese overseas.

Such violations must be strictly punished in line with the law, the ministry said.

SGT