http://www.etaiwannews.com/etn/news_content.php?id=833571&lang=eng_news&cate_img=49.jpg&cate_rss=news_Society Taipei, Jan. 9 (CNA) A total of 109 Tibetan people who have been staying in Taiwan without legal status were granted temporary alien resident certificates (ARC) Friday. On behalf of the National Immigration Agency (NIA) , Kao Su-po, minister of the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission, presented the temporary ARCs to the Tibetans, most of whom came to Taiwan between 1999 and 2008 on Indian or Nepalese passports. The Tibetans, including three children born to Tibetan couples in Taiwan recently, are expected to receive permanent residency after an amendment to the Immigration Act is passed into law by the Legislative Yuan. "I believe that before long, the Tibetans will get their permanent residency and will then be able to work legally in Taiwan and obtain their own health insurance cards," Kao said. Last month, they staged a sit-in at Liberty Square in Taipei, pleading for the government to grant them legal status. The Executive Yuan passed the amendment Thursday based on a proposal by the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission, which helped the overstaying Tibetans to complete the registration process with the NIA for their temporary residence certificates. The amendment stipulates that after the NIA interviews the Tibetans, confirms their identities and finds that they have no criminal records, the agency should grant them residency based on humanitarian considerations. Kao expressed appreciation to President Ma Ying-jeou and the chiefs of relevant government agencies for their support for the amendment leading to the acquisition of legal status in Taiwan for the Tibetans. According to Kao, most of them are now staying at disused factories in an industrial zone in Gueishan, in the northern county of Taoyuan, where they have the basic necessities needed to live a normal life. The Executive Yuan's passage of the amendment paves the way for the Legislative Yuan to pass it into law, and both ruling Kuomintang and the opposition Democratic Progressive Party legislative caucuses reached agreement Thursday on revising the Immigration Act. The NIA previously granted similar temporary residence permits to overstaying Thai and Myanmarese students from the Golden Triangle who are descendants of former Kuomintang troops who fled there after the Chinese civil war and who have not been given citizenship of their respective countries of residence. (By Deborah Kuo) --

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