TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Uganda confiscated the passport of a Taiwanese resident at the airport and sent another tourist back home, refusing him entry into the country, reports said Saturday.
Both incidents occurred at the East African country’s Entebbe Airport earlier this month, per UDN. Immigration officials cited a “new policy” as the reason for the treatment of the Taiwanese.
The Taiwanese man who had his passport confiscated, had been working in Uganda with a valid work permit, Liberty Times reported. The confiscation happened as he arrived at Entebbe on a domestic flight. His passport has still not been returned, the report said.
The incidents led to travel agencies in Taiwan postponing trips scheduled for September to at least April next year, per UDN. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it had contacted the Taiwan office in Somaliland and the association of Taiwanese business people in Uganda to provide assistance.
On June 2, Taiwan started implementing entry restrictions for visitors from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda due to an outbreak of the Ebola virus in the country. The measures were valid for 90 days. There was no immediate statement about any link between the incidents at Entebbe Airport and the Ebola measures or pressure from China.
Uganda is the second African country making travel difficult for Taiwanese, after Morocco announced in July it would no longer process visa applications from Taiwanese travelers at its embassy in Japan. Taiwan responded by suspending most visa requests by Moroccan nationals from July 30.
