Manila urged to deport 300 sick Taiwan detainees

MANILA — Taiwan is urging the Philippines to immediately deport nearly 300 Taiwanese arrested in an alleged online fraud after one died and others began falling ill in crowded makeshift detention facilities, officials said Sunday.

Philippine authorities arrested 380 suspected members of a fraud syndicate, including 291 Taiwanese, 86 Chinese and a New Zealander, in raids Aug. 23 on 20 houses in metropolitan Manila and nearby Rizal province.
It was the largest number of single-day arrests in a Philippine anti-crime operation in years.

Due to the large number, the suspects, including nearly 100 women, were detained in a gymnasium in a police training camp where one Taiwanese later died due to a stomach ailment after showing signs of dengue fever.

More than 100 other detainees have fallen ill, mostly with coughs and fevers, with some afflicted with diarrhea and dengue partly because the gym was not designed for prolonged detentions, according to a Philippine police report. — AP