TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Taiwan's National Immigration Agency (NIA) dismissed on Monday (Oct. 30) recent media reports of a tripling growth in emigration businesses due to war fears sparking public concern.
The agency under the Ministry of Interior of the Republic of China responsible for immigration, entry and exit security, and statistics stressed that data from emigration companies do not reflect any increase in approved applications over the past five years.
From 2019 to 2022, the number emigration cases totaled 1,077, 874, 499, 469, and 704, respectively.
According to the agency, the overall migration level, currently at approximately 20,000 people, is likely to fluctuate if there are significant events such as pandemics or wars.
The NIA observed that the pandemic caused a surge in citizens unable to return to Taiwan within two years, which increased from 180,000 to 220,000 between 2021 and 2022. These individuals were already overseas and chose to stay abroad due to the pandemic, the NIA said.
It emphasized that immigration consultancy firms, offering only one channel of advisory services, do not represent the total number of emigrants and requested that the public avoid generalizations that could cause societal instability.
The NIA further pointed out exaggerated media portrayals of war-evading migration risk causing unnecessary social anxiety and unease, underscoring the idea that population mobility is part of the freedom of migration.
