Help support the rights of HIV+ individuals in Taiwan

Please help end Taiwan's travel and immigration restrictions against HIV+ foreign nationals. Under the principle of non-discrimination, persons living with HIV/AIDS (PWHAs) should be recognized as having the same dignity and rights as those without HIV.

Under the principle of non-discrimination, persons living with HIV/AIDS (PWHAs) should be recognized as having the same dignity and rights as those without HIV. While each nation retains sovereignty over its own borders, summarily barring entry to individuals on the basis of HIV alone violates the principle of non-discrimination. The global community, including the UN and the WHO, is strongly against any such regulations, and many nations have successfully developed regulations that take into account both human rights and public health concerns.

In Taiwan, a nation that prides itself on its respect for human rights, the principle of non-discrimination is not applied to the cases of HIV+ foreigners, who are not only denied entry into the country, but also have no viable means of appealing their expulsions.

Foreigners and HIV in Taiwan
In 1984, the first HIV infection in Taiwan was recorded among a foreigner in transit. Since that time, 365 foreign nationals from over 30 countries have tested positive for HIV. Most discovered their infection when applying for a work or residence permit, as applicants must undergo a HIV test. (However, known HIV+ individuals have been denied short-term visitor visas.) According to Taiwanese law, HIV+ foreigners must leave the country within 3 months of learning their results. Some have been forcibly deported within days of discovering their condition. The names of these people are placed on a blacklist, and none of them are allowed to re-enter the country for any reason.


In July of 2000, Taiwan�s Center for Disease Control (CDC) implemented an appeals process so that HIV+ foreigners expelled from Taiwan could make their case for re-entry. These appeals are possible under Section 14 and 14.1 of the Law on the Prevention and Control of AIDS. Section 14 states that foreign individuals who test positive for HIV can appeal their deportation after leaving the country, while Section 14.1 states that any foreign national who can prove that he or she contracted HIV from a Taiwanese national in Taiwan is entitled to remain in the country and receive medical treatment. Theoretically, HIV+ individuals with extenuating circumstances, such as family obligations, should be able to remain in Taiwan. In practice, the appeals board is of little use, as few persons are aware of it, and its deliberations are not open to the public. The CDC is even unwilling to disclose the names of the people who sit on this committee. To this date, only one case has gone through the appeals process.

The case of Mr. and Mrs. Chang
Mrs. Chang, a Taiwanese national, married Mr. Chang, a Malaysian national, in 1997, and Mr. Chang applied for a Taiwanese residence permit. After a mandatory medical exam, he was found to be HIV+, and voluntarily left the country so as not to be forcibly deported. When Mr. Chang attempted to re-enter Taiwan with a visitor visa to see his wife in the year 2000, he was turned away at the airport due solely to his HIV status. Mrs. Chang is unable to immigrate to Malaysia to be with him because she is also HIV+, and therefore ineligible under Malaysian immigration guidelines.

Mr. and Mrs. Chang brought their case to the appeals board of the CDC, hoping that Mr. Chang would be granted a six-month visitor visa to see his wife. Their first three appeals were turned down due to what the CDC perceived to be administrative errors in preparing the case, such as including an English document from Malaysia that had not been translated into Chinese. The fourth time Mr. and Mrs. Chang tried to appeal the decision, the committee rejected the case, citing as their reason a clause in Taiwan�s AIDS Control Act. Five years after their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Chang are unable to live as husband and wife.

Please help!
Since their attempts to appeal the deportation decision through official channels have been futile, Mr. and Mrs. Chang hope that the CDC will respond to pressure from the international community. We would appreciate it if you and your organization would consider signing on to the following statement of support, which we will then present to the CDC and its appeals board. Your support will not only help Mr. and Mrs. Chang, but also other PWHAs who are separated from their families in Taiwan.

Statement of Support
We, the undersigned, ask that Taiwan�s government allow Mr. Chang to re-enter the country to visit his Taiwanese wife. In addition, we ask that the government reform its appeals process to allow for a fair and transparent evaluation of each case on its own merits, rather than rejecting appeals without clear cause. Completely barring known HIV+ individuals from entering Taiwan is unacceptable, as policies restricting the movement of people with HIV are a violation of human rights. We believe that Taiwan should change its law so that HIV status alone is not used as a reason for denial of entry.