Suspected infant trafficking victim fights to restore Taiwan nationality

Suspected infant trafficking victim fights to restore Taiwan nationality

2026-03-20

A Taiwan-born woman who was adopted by an Australian family has been rejected from restoring her Taiwanese nationality. Vanessa Miles was adopted as a baby 46 years ago as part of what she suspects was a transnational baby trafficking ring. She recently came to Taiwan to look for her biological mother, only to find that her Taiwanese identity had been revoked. Despite holding a Taiwanese passport and birth certificate, she has been unable to obtain official recognition from the Ministry of the Interior. Let’s hear from her.

Vanessa Miles
Looking for biological mother
But I am a daughter of Taiwan. I was born in Taiwan. I came to Taiwan and submitted my DNA for comparison. After returning to Australia empty-handed, I applied at the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Sydney to renew my passport. After several months of waiting, I was advised that the Minister of the Interior and the Minister of Foreign Affairs were unable to agree on processing and approving my application. Whether the information in my papers in real or not does not change the fact that I was born in Taiwan and exited Taiwan as a baby. I am a victim, sold to another country as a small baby, without any say in the matter and now the government has effectively erased my existence.

Liu Shyh-fang
Minister of the Interior
The relevant civil affairs and public health and welfare units are verifying whether the birth certificate and nationality documents provided by Vanessa are authentic. There is the concern of forgery, so if the documents can’t be confirmed conclusively, we may recommend DNA testing. That is to say, to match her up with her biological mother or father in Taiwan and establish her identity that way. If that verification is successful, restoring her ROC Taiwan nationality should not be a big problem.

There are several factors that are complicating Ms. Miles’ case, starting with the suspicions of human trafficking, the removal of her household registration by her grandfather and the fact that her original ID number is now being used by someone else. Though Ms. Miles holds a valid Taiwanese passport, she is not officially recognized as a Taiwanese national. According to the Nationality Act, if at least one parent holds ROC Taiwan nationality at the time of their child’s birth, the child would be considered a national based on bloodline. Amid all the contradictions and uncertainties, Ms. Miles has decided to speak up about her situation

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#nationality #baby #adoption #taiwan #vanessamiles #taiwan #australia

跨國販嬰受害者! 女申請回復國籍遭拒淚訴:我是台灣女兒

2026-03-20

澳洲籍台裔女子Vanessa Miles (王雯)，46年前被澳洲人收養，直到去年回台尋親，卻發現她的台灣身分已被註銷，即便擁有台灣護照以及台灣出生證明，都無法取得內政部的台灣身分核准，讓她不滿出面控訴。

[[澳洲籍台裔女子 Vanessa Miles]]
“我就是台灣女兒，我出生在台灣。我來台灣申請了我的DNA來做比對，回到澳洲後我向駐雪梨台北經濟文化辦事處，申請換發護照，經過數個月的等待，我被告知內政部和外交部，無法就處理和批准我的申請達成共識。不論我文件中的資訊是否屬實，都無法改變我出生於台灣，且在嬰兒時期離開台灣的事實。我是一個受害者，在還是個無法發聲的小嬰兒時，就被賣到了另一個國家，而現在政府實際上抹煞了我的存在。”

[[內政部長劉世芳]]
“第一個，Vanessa女士在台灣，她的出生證明跟國籍證明，現在我們的民政單位跟衛福單位，正在確認它是不是屬於真正的出生證明，因為會有偽造的問題，如果這些出生證明無法，做最後的確認的話，我們會建議是否採取用DNA的方式，也就是說讓她在台灣的生母或生父，用DNA確定的方式，那如果可以的話，回復我們台灣的中華民國國籍，就不會是太大的問題。”

當初疑似涉及人口販賣，加上遭到祖父除籍，以及原有身份證字號已有人使用，Vanessa即便擁有外交部認可的台灣護照，但依舊不被認定是台灣人，只是，根據國籍法規定，出生時父母其中一人為中華民國國民，孩子就理應適用血統原則，同樣具有國籍認可，因此讓Vanessa不滿，出面控訴。

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