Destinations known | The case of Taiwan’s missing Vietnamese tourists: honest error or human trafficking?
- Only a few of the visitors from Vietnam who slipped away from their tour groups have been located
Taiwan likes tourists. In fact, the self-ruled island likes them so much that, over the past few years, it has made it easier for travellers to cross its borders, introducing eVisas for certain passport holders and exempting others altogether from the sometimes painful process of acquiring travel permits. But some locals were left wondering whether there might be inadequacies in the system after 152 visitors went missing over the festive period.
On December 25, Taiwan’s Tourism Bureau confirmed that 152 Vietnamese nationals had been reported missing. The following day the Taipei Times reported that the absent travellers had all arrived on tours arranged by Vietnam-based International Holidays Trading Travel Co (IHTT) and hosted by Taiwan travel company ETholiday, the website of which proudly proclaims, “We Are Your Best Friend in Taiwan.” Probably not any more.
Of the 153 travellers that were greeted by ETholiday in the southern city of Kaohsiung on December 21 and 23, only one followed the fixed itinerary. According to conflicting reports by Vietnamese online newspaper VnExpress, that lonely, obedient soul was either a 17-year-old boy or a tour group leader.
For the remaining 152, perhaps the reality of group travel proved too much, and they skipped off to heed the call of solo adventures and indulge a new-found spirit of spontaneity.
Or perhaps not. Taiwan media seemed certain they intended to work illegally. “It is clear that human trafficking rings are involved in this case,” fumed Roget Hsu, of the Taiwan International Tourist Aid Association, to the island’s Central News Agency.
All had entered the island courtesy of the New Southbound Policy, which was established to foster closer ties between Taiwan and Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam. Under the scheme, launched in November 2015, nationals from these six countries can take advantage of simplified visa procedures, as long as they apply through Tourism Bureau-designated “quality travel agencies”. Needless to say, IHTT is no longer considered “quality”.
