You can put my whole family on that list. We were deported when I was ten years old. My fathers company had a business dispute with the local manufacturer and the LOC didn’t come through. That was in 1982 but the policy remains the same to this day.
I doubt that the government here deports people over a business dispute innvolving an LOC. Many people have had problems with LOC’s or shipping. That’s not a deportble offence afaik.
The HKSB once sent one of my payment to London instead of Australia by mistake as my banks address is London Circuit in Canberra. The staff made an error which cost ten days of monies being delayed.
Update:
First off, thanks to everyone who have posted something on this topic. Also, a very big thanks to all the people who have contacted me at AppealinTaiwan@yahoo.com. We have created enough awareness to get the Taipei Times write a story on Foreign English Teachers deportations (coming soon).
As for me, I submitted my appeal to the Labour Bureau and the Executive Yuan yesterday. It was impossible for me to meet any officials to discuss my case. They repeated many times that it would take AT LEAST 2 months to get a verdict and as much as 3 months. I will be leaving the country on Friday in hope of returning here soon.
Please keep sending letters to the newspapers and expat magazines. This issue concerns ALL teachers in Taiwan, no matter if they sub or not.
One more time, I kindly ask all recent or soon-to-be deportees to contact me immediately at AppealinTaiwan@yahoo.com.
[quote]I doubt that the government here deports people over a business dispute innvolving an LOC. Many people have had problems with LOC’s or shipping. That’s not a deportble offence afaik.
The HKSB once sent one of my payment to London instead of Australia by mistake as my banks address is London Circuit in Canberra. The staff made an error which cost ten days of monies being delayed.[/quote]
You obviously didn’t live here in the early 80"s.
During the martial law period, if you got deported you were one of the lucky ones. My family was grateful to be allowed to leave.
Today “non judicial punishment” of “foreigners” is one of the last vestiges of martial law in Taiwan.
With the recent crackdown on press freedom, human rights may be taking a turn for the worst.
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[quote=“Eric W. Lier”]You obviously didn’t live here in the early 80"s.
During the martial law period, if you got deported you were one of the lucky ones. My family was grateful to be allowed to leave.
Today non judicial punishment of “foreigners” is one of the last vestiges of martial law in Taiwan. With the recent crackdown on press freedom, human rights may be taking a turn for the worst.[/quote]
First you say you were deported now you were allowed to leave. 2 different things imho.
Well not the early 80’s, only started living in 1988 but came here several times before that.
[quote]That was in 1982 but the policy remains the same to this day. [/quote] So now you are claiming people are still deported over mere business disputes as well… bollocks. I’ve had a few business disputes and sued the locals in court, and won my cases for non payment. I didn’t even have an ARC for some of that time either.
What crack down on press freedom?
Humans rights… hmmm not sure what you’re refering too. You foreigners just don’t understand Taiwan culture… 
Non judicial punishment of foreigners occurs in western democracies too.
You’re right. I don’t understand all the intricacies of Taiwanese culture, but I think I understand your’s quite well.
In professional militaries “non judicial punishement” it is quite common, but even in the military, people have the right to a trial. The courts over-rule the command.
Not the case for “foreigners” in Taiwan.
Yeah, well please tell those detainees at Gitmo, or is it that US military is just not professional at the game.
PHILLIPE - tell your adoring fans, what’s the good word???
Do they pay the airfair if they deport you?
If so I would welcome it.
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I just want to express that the people here, Taiwanese or not, citizens or not, are indeed our friends, friends of Taiwan. Why my country is out to deport you is honestly beyond me, we could be spending our time on things like cracking down on corruption or curbing the influx of illegal immigrants.
For some reason I feel embarrassed as a result, and for what its worth, I apologize for the state of my country.
No, I am afraid that the few people who could help you, will not because you are a “foreigner” and in the eyes of the Taiwan governing authorities, guilty from the time you were born.
What you can do is make it much more difficult for these types of human rights abuses to continue.
We must make it much more painful for the people issuing these deportation orders.
Check your PM or call me.
Eric
0938428681
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Actually, let’s hope this case breaks the mold. Put history behind us and try to think positively! To the original poster: any progress with your appeal, or how Taiwan-based lawyers have helped you, would be incredibly helpful to the rest of us denizens of this fine little island …
hi
which is your nationality? where are you from? 
Hey there,
An update on my case. My colleagues in Taipei received a letter from the government 10 days ago indicating that I had lost my appeal and that I was officially prohibited from re-entering Taiwan for the next 5 years. However, as many of you are eager to know, I have not given up on this decision and will pursue this matter until I get proper closure. We have fought this case tirelessly since the beginning and I have no intentions on letting the Government and the FAP walk all over me and the other deportees. I urge all the other deportees to write letters, to spread the word around and fight for justice. As Eric stressed several times already, many other teachers will encounter the same obstacles as us over the years and it is our responsibility to force changes in the laws and help the teachers avoid our mistakes.
To answer the question from Marusera, I have dual citizenships: Canadian / American.
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[quote=“Philippe”]Hi, I receive a letter from the government a few days ago asking me to leave the country within 14 days or else be deported.
Things started getting messy when I was asked to sign Chinese documents without being informed of their content. The staff, once again, reassured me that this would not hurt me in any way and that everything was under control.
As naive as this may look like now, I collaborated and wrote that statement which I regret to this very day.[/quote]
Sorry to hear you will be leaving. Unfortunately you have signed documents stating you were substituting a class and the FAP will say you’ve breached your visa.
Hindsight not withstanding, do you often write false statements and sign them? The schools are not going to help you and why they asked you to sign beats me. They could have said you were just visiting or waiting for a friend as it seems you wee not in a classroom at the time.
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I can’t believe you are even insinuating that Philippe did anything wrong here.
He was new in a foreign country and everyone around him told him to just write up a brief statement and sign it.
Very few people would do anything differently.
Yes, we all have learned from this example not to sign anything the police tell us to. But, this wasn’t the case when this happened to Philippe.
This whole situation is just a waste and a shame. As many of us have said, this is counter productive to any changes the government would like to make in the local teaching market.
To reply to your statement cable guy:
Every teacher at the school had to hand their ARC to the FAP. I will remind you that I had no idea at the time of who they were or for what reasons they were at the school. The management at the school asked me to collaborate with them and hand them my ARC. When the FAP officers handed the ARCs back to the teachers but withheld mine, I knew something was wrong. That’s when I turned over to the school and gave them all my trust. I was confused and no clear answers were being given to me.
I was taken to a classroom by the school’s management and asked to write a statement that would “save me from any problems”. I trusted them and followed their advice. And here I am today, thousands of miles away from the land I use to call home. In hindsight, of course I would’ve never signed any Chinese documents or written a statement that would eventually cost me a 5 year ban.
And as Taiwaner mentionned, I just so happened to be a 1 month old teacher in Taiwan. I was clueless regarding the laws and did what felt right at the time.
I truly hope new and future teachers will learn from my experience since it still haunts me today. An endless nightmare to say the least.
Here’s a tip for the FAP: Have your documents written in Chinese and English. You are, afterall, dealing with foreigners on a daily basis with a very small proportion of them capable of reading Chinese.
As for the school in question, I believe they were not ready for such a crackdown. Plain and simple. Unfortunately, this lead to an unfair deportation and caused me plenty of emotional burden.
Neither was I. Never trust anybody… when it comes to the there will be no trouble if you’ll just sign this… :loco: :loco: :help: :help:
The first thing is that if Philippe was just visting and the FAP didnt see him teaching then there was no need to sign anything. It’s quite normal that one teacher maybe visitng a friend who is a teacher in another school. Happens quite regularly.
He’s been put in a difficult position because of somebody elses supidity.
You mean someone who lies to goverment officials, signs paper that he deosn’t understand, because he was asked to and then feels he’s got his human right violated? Hmm hmm don’t know any.
Now, that is a joke! :loco: You seriously can’t see any wrongdoing from your part in your situation?
Now, don’t get me wrong man, it’s too bad what happened, but you really handed this to them on a silver platter. I don’t thing the fact that you were brand new in Taiwan at the time changes anything, there’s just some basic common sence here.
Anyway, I sure hope you win your appeal, but most importantly, I hope you learn your lesson.
Cheers.
The fact of the matter is, the FAP quickly realized that the school where I was did not appear on my ARC. They assumed I was teaching there (visiting a friend at another school probably seemed illogical to them), and probably threatened the school. The management freaked out, maybe were they inexperienced in handling such delicate situations?! Not me to judge that one.
In all this chaos, I gave my trust to the school. Maybe it was :loco: in your opinion. Say what you want to say. Was it a mistake? Yes it was. But like Taiwaner said: Most new foreign English teacher would have done the same thing. And you know what? I would not blame them for doing so.
There was a lack of communication on both ends, and it resulted in the worst case possible. The English was very poor, but to me, the school was trying their best to get me out of there in a safely manner with no repercussions.
My friend whom I was visiting that day also made an appeal and tried explaining the circumstances. The Executive Yuan did not buy her statement. She now feels very responsible for the outcome of this incident.