Cabinet approves draft amendments on Indigenous status recognition

Taipei, Sept. 28 (CNA) Taiwan's Cabinet on Thursday approved an amendment relaxing regulations on recognition of Indigenous status for Indigenous people who lost their Indigenous status after taking their non-Indigenous parent's surname.

Under the existing law, people with one Indigenous parent forfeit their Indigenous status if they take their non-Indigenous parent's surname, in either their original or adoptive family.

The amendment to the Status Act For Indigenous Peoples stipulates that Indigenous people who exclusively use Han Chinese names and those adopted by non-Indigenous people can now acquire Indigenous status.

According to the Council of Indigenous Peoples, children of marriages between Indigenous peoples and non-Indigenous peoples who have taken the non-Indigenous parent's surname can acquire indigenous status if they apply to have their name in the Indigenous parent's language listed along with their Han Chinese name on their ID card.

Indigenous people adopted by non-Indigenous people can also acquire Indigenous status if they have their name written in their Indigenous birth parent's language along with their Han Chinese name on their ID card, the Council added.

Indigenous status comes with certain advantages including preferential treatment for college enrollment.

The amendment will now be sent to the Legislative Yuan for review and once approved recognition of indigenous status will be more objective and consistent, the council said.

Meanwhile, the Cabinet has also approved amendments to the Indigenous Peoples Employment Rights Protection Act, which included extending the minimum percentage of Indigenous employees required by law at public institutions, including government agencies and public schools in designated Indigenous administrative areas.

This has also been sent to to the Legislative Yuan for review.

(Yang Shu-min, Lai Yu-chen and Bernadette Hsiao)Enditem/AW