Taipei (The China Post/ANN) – Isabel, a Taiwanese woman who allegedly worked as a domestic slave in the U.S., yesterday returned to her birthplace in the eastern county of Taitung for a family union. The woman, who was later identified as Ho Hsiao-feng, of the indigenous Paiwan tribe, was greeted by Taitung Magistrate Huang Chien-ting upon her arrival at the Taitung airport from Taipei. Huang gave Ho some books, aboriginal beads and other ornaments as souvenirs. She then traveled to Tawu, her place of birth, to reunite with her biological family. Escorted by five security guards and staff of the Council of Indigenous Peoples, Ho entered a permanent house built after a powerful typhoon in 2008 to meet her mother and sisters. Ho and her mother tearfully held each other tightly, and she considerately wiped her mother's tears. Ho spoke English and her mother spoke her native Paiwan language, but they smoothly chatted for four hours under the assistance of translators. The mother prepared simple traditional Paiwan foods to welcome the return of her daughter; They had been separated for over 20 years. Ho finally invited her mother and sisters to a Taitung hotel, where she hosted a grand dinner for her close family members. Today they will go to a tribal temple to worship their ancestors. Ho arrived in Taipei from Los Angeles late the previous day in the company of a U.S. social worker, a lawyer and her friends. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) and the Council of Indigenous Peoples have helped arrange Ho's itinerary. In addition to spending the Lunar New Year Festival with her family, Ho will also attend her younger sister Ho Hsiao-ying's wedding on Jan. 24. Foreign Minister Timothy Yang will host a banquet at the MOFA on Jan. 21 for Ho and representatives of social welfare organizations, at which he will speak on the government's human rights stance and its efforts to prevent human trafficking, the MOFA said. Ho was adopted by a family in Taipei 26 years ago when she was 8 years old. She immigrated to the U.S. with the family in 2002. Last November, CNN reported that she had been abused by her adoptive parents after she was taken to the U.S. and that she had managed to flee the family with the help of friends. She has since been assisted by a U.S. social welfare organization. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/R4UuQ Tags: Ho Hsiao-feng, Slave, Taiwan, United States Section: East Asia, Human Rights, North America, Women
