Taiwan ambassador John Chen press briefing in Nairobi.
BY SAM ALFAN
The government of Taiwan wants Kenya to follow international practice in deporting it’s countrymen.
The five Taiwanese were arrested along Chinese nationals in Runda estate with telecomunications gadgets whose source is also under investigation.
Ambassador, John Chen, said that the five accused are likely to be sentenced on June 6 and may be slapped with a deportation order like the one issued in April that saw some other Taiwan nationals wrapped up in an aircraft to China.
‘We recall that in April, despite a Kenyan court order requesting the police to return the Taiwanese nationals back, and regardless of numerous attempts and pleas to stop the illegal deportation, two groups of Taiwanese were forcibly deported from Kenya to China on April 8,” the ambassador said at a press briefing in Nairobi.
“We regard this as an extra -legal deportation to China”, Mr Chen said.
He also said two critical legal issues were lost in the event, firstly that a court order that require the police to return the Taiwanse was ignored and that “under international human rights law, governments have an obligation not to deport individuals without first giving them an opportunity to contest their removal before a competent authority.”
‘We urge the Kenyan authorities, when dealing with the Taiwan nationals to follow international practice and principles and not repeat the error of the past,” the ambassador said.
He also said that while “fully” respecting the outcome of the case and the verdict to be delivered on June 6 “what Taiwan is deeply concerned about what actions the law enforcement authorities might take out of court.”
The ambassador further requested that upon completion of the judicial procedures, that the will and opinion of the 5 Taiwanese be duly respected as regards the destination of their choice and that they be sent back to their own county, Taiwan.
