老外看台灣／長期旅台老外飛回桃機被拒絕入境 飛峇里島暫待台灣解除禁令

【看英文中國郵報學英文】隨著武漢肺炎疫情在全球升溫，防疫充分和醫療健全的台灣成了全球居民眼中的聖地，一名24歲的英國人Tom長期旅居於台灣，在2週前飛往馬爾地夫與當地飯店合作進行攝影工作，沒想到在18日收到台灣即將關閉國門的消息，當下飛回台灣，卻已過了19日的凌晨，被擋在台灣國門外。

A 24-year-old British man, Tom, was blindsided on Thursday when he was denied entry back in Taiwan, following the Central Epidemic Command Center’s (CECC, 中央流行疫情中心) announcement a day earlier that starting at midnight on March 18, all foreigners will be barred from entering Taiwan.

This came as a nasty surprise for Tom, who had left 2 weeks prior to the announcement to do some photography work for a hotel in the Maldives.

Tom告訴記者自己非常想回台灣，「1年多前會來台灣居住是因為喜愛在台灣的生活，我在台灣租了一個公寓，裡面有我所有的私人物品、醫療用品甚至我家人的物品。」

Tom told The China Post and 4-Way Voice that he really wants to return to Taiwan.

“I came to this country a year ago because it looked amazing to me and decided to stay because I like life in Taiwan. I currently rent a small apartment in Taiwan and all my things are in there — medication, and even my family’s belongings, too,” Tom said.

從馬爾地夫轉機到杜拜再飛台北，抵達台灣桃園機場時已過了凌晨12點，Tom被拒絕入境，因此只能先飛到當時尚未全面封關的印尼峇里島等待台灣解除禁令。「我明白防疫需要如此，但我有租長期公寓，現在不能使用還是要付房租；另外我的私人物品能否取回也是一個問題。」

Tom took a connecting flight through Dubai to come back to Taiwan, only to realize that his plane landed just after the midnight deadline which prevented his entry back into the country.

He quickly chose to fly to a close destination which has yet to close their borders — Bali, to wait out Taiwan’s entry ban on foreigners.

“I understand that certain measures must be taken to prevent the spread of the virus but I still need to pay my rent even though I can’t go home. Besides that, all my possessions, everything I own, are in Taiwan. How do I get them back? “

事實上，比起峇里島和台灣，Tom的故鄉英國更陷入嚴重的疫情之中，一時之間Tom無法回家鄉，又不能回台灣的「第二個家」，身上僅有5公斤行李箱的私人用品，十分手足無措。

In fact, compared to Bali or Taiwan, Tom’s hometown, the UK is in an even dire situation.

Tom said that he doesn’t want to go back home and risk getting infected, but is also denied entry by his “second home”.

With only a 5 kg suitcase and basic necessities, Tom is at a loss.

面對防疫全台動員，不僅外國人想入境台灣，許多原本在國外求學、工作的台灣人也紛紛想趕回國內，希望能在國內安全度過嚴峻的武漢肺炎疫情。採訪時Tom人已在前往峇里島的路上，對於遙遙無期的台灣解除封關，Tom目前只能等待好消息。

As countries begin to tighten virus-prevention measures, many foreigners as well as Taiwan nationals abroad, are scrambling to come back to Taiwan, in the hopes of waiting out the pandemic in the safety of its arms.

As Tom relayed his situation to us, he was also on his flight heading to Bali, hoping he can return to his home away from home soon.

更多 ChinaPost 新聞
Foreigners (with exceptions) barred from entering Taiwan
又8人中鏢武漢肺炎！7例從境外、1例本土｜Taiwan reports 8 new COVID-19 infections, bringing tally to 108
阿中貼圖教大家如何防疫 衛福部推出免費LINE貼圖 | Scan QR code to get adorable stickers of Chen Shih-chung