Taiwan National Detained in Australia for Intimidation|赴澳打工留學 台灣青年遭無限期拘留

A Taiwanese national surnamed Wu has been detained indefinitely in Australia. He had been released after getting involved in an intimidation case, but was then detained again by the immigration department without informing his family or our government. Wu's mother is worried. The case also received national attention as Australia is a very popular destination, attracting more than 10,000 working holiday makers from Taiwan a year.


He has been detained indefinitely even though prosecutors haven't yet charged him with anything.

Wu Ze-jun's mother cries as she thinks about her son. Last year, Wu traveled to Australia on a working holiday. He was subsequently arrested for intimidation. He was released after posting bail, but was immediately taken to a detention center for foreigners in Brisbane. In March, he was transferred to the Christmas Island Immigration Detention Centre. Under Australian law, perpetrators of violent crimes don't need to be charged or sentenced to be detained or to have their visas canceled. Some lawyers criticize this measure as illegal custody. Between 2015 and 2016, 60,000 people had their visas canceled. The Australian government did not notify the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Australia or Wu's family during the entire process of his arrest, interrogation and detention. Wu's family says even though the office wasn't notified until after the detention, it has taken a passive approach since it found out.

It didn't help family members at all, such as lodging a protest with the Department of Immigration and Border Protection or negotiating. It also failed to do anything when he was transferred from Brisbane to Christmas Island.

Our colleagues in Brisbane will do all they can to guarantee Mr. Wu receives fair treatment during his detention and trial under the precondition of respecting Australian law. If the circumstances allow it, they will also send personnel to visit him.
Wu's family members say Taiwan's detention centers have a maximum detention period and insisted that the Australian government also set a maximum number of detention days. They also demanded that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs accompany them to visit Wu to ensure the conditions of his detention conform to international human rights standards.