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U.K. not treating AWOL officer's case as political asylum: envoy

ROC Central News Agency

2013/12/23 13:25:14

Taipei, Dec. 23 (CNA) The case of a Taiwanese military intelligence officer who fled to the United Kingdom to avoid military service is simply an issue of a visa overstay and has nothing to do with seeking asylum, Taiwan's representative to the U.K. said Monday.

'We hope to simplify the case,' said Shen Lyushun when answering questions by lawmakers on the case of Lt. Emily Yeh during a hearing in the Legislature's Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee.

Although the 33-year-old officer at the Military Intelligence Bureau claimed that she had applied for political asylum in the U.K. last year upon her arrival there, the U.K. government is not treating the case as one of political asylum, according to Shen.

Yeh is currently being held at a detention center in the U.K. where she is awaiting deportation for staying in the country illegally, Shen said.

The issue of her case is simple: she overstayed in the U.K. and her passport had been invalidated by the Taiwan government, he said.

'We have been making this point clearly to the U.K. government,' Shen said, adding that Taiwan's representative office in the U.K. has been in close touch with the government there over the issue.

'We hope that she will be deported to Taiwan soon,' he said. But he added that it may take more time before the issue can be resolved, due to the ongoing Christmas holidays in the U.K.

Yeh applied to go abroad on vacation June 17-24, 2012 but failed to return, according to the Military Intelligence Bureau.

She is believed to have deserted from the military, because in her words, she was 'not fit' for military life, the bureau said.

Shen said Taiwan's representative office officials have visited the facility in Bedford, east England where Yeh is being held, but she refused to meet them.

Yeh is believed to have entered the U.K. under that country's visa-exempt program and to have stayed illegally after the period of six months permitted under the program expired.

(By Elaine Hou)
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