Taiwan to allow return of all final year international students

ROC Central News Agency

07/22/2020 10:33 PM

Taipei, July 22 (CNA) Final year foreign students who have been stranded abroad due to Taiwan's border restrictions amid the COVID-19 pandemic will be permitted to return, with immediate effect, the Ministry of Education (MOE) said Wednesday.

The lifting of the entry ban will apply to all final year international students, including those from China, to allow them to complete their studies in Taiwan, the ministry said.

Upon entry, however, they will be required to remain in quarantine for 14 days, the MOE said.

The schools will make advance arrangements for their students to be quarantined on arrival, either on dorms, at a hotel, or at a designated facility, Deputy Education Minister Liu Meng-chi (劉孟奇) said.

The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) has provided 500 beds to help accommodate returning international students for the 14-day mandatory quarantine period, he said.

On March 19, Taiwan closed its borders to foreign nationals, with few exceptions, due to a surge in the number of imported COVID-19 coronavirus cases, but it relaxed the rules slightly on June 17 to allow the return of final year students from 19 countries and territories it classified as low-risk or low-to-moderate risk for COVID-19.

According to Liu, around 3,533 final year international students, including 3,041 from China, are waiting to return to Taiwan.

According to Liu, the CECC will make further announcements regarding the entry of new international students and those who are not in their final year.

(By Chang Ming-hsun, Chen Wei-ting, Cheng Chih-chung and Evelyn Kao)

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