Indonesian migrant worker with HIV found in Taoyuan

Taipei, July 12 (CNA) Immigration authorities have found an Indonesian migrant worker whose whereabouts had been unknown since she was recently diagnosed with HIV.

The 38-year-old pregnant woman was found in Pingzhen District in Taoyuan by members of a specialized unit of the National Immigration Agency (NIA) early Sunday, according to immigration agents.

After being questioned by Taoyuan police, she is expected to be transferred to the Miaoli District Prosecutors Office to follow up on allegations she committed fraud by assuming the identity of someone she was not, the agents said.

Ching Shao-an (荊少安), head of the NIA's specialized operation squad in Taoyuan, said the Indonesian arrived in Taiwan to work as a caregiver in July 2019 but absconded from the job in December to be with her Indonesian boyfriend, also an absconded migrant worker, who lives in Yunlin County.

In June the woman sensed she was pregnant and decided to have an abortion, Ching said.

When seeking an abortion at a Yunlin clinic on June 8, she allegedly identified herself using copies of an Alien Resident Certificate and a national health insurance card borrowed from an Indonesian acquaintance on the pretext of helping her apply for a SIM card, according to the NIA's Yunlin County Service Center.

Her abortion request was refused by the doctor on the grounds that she was already six months pregnant, the NIA said.

After the results of a blood test showed the woman to be HIV positive, the clinic notified Yunlin County's Public Health Bureau, the NIA said.

The health bureau said, however, that when it tried to contact the woman about the test results, it instead reached the acquaintance whose identity documents she had stolen. The acquaintance then explained to them what had happened.

An investigation into the woman found that she had four Taiwanese boyfriends, bureau officials said, and they said were concerned that the HIV virus could be spread given the difficulties authorities were having in identifying the men.