Bringing Laura Home: The Complex Repatriation of Expat Killed in Tainan Traffic Accident

“As parents, we feel very dismayed, we were left speechless and unable to face this hard blow,” said Mr. Ovidio García, father of 27-year-old Laura Beatriz García Córdova who lost her life in a traffic accident on May 7 in Tainan city.

A death of a family member overseas is invariably complex. In this case, the lack of diplomatic ties between Taiwan and Laura’s home country El Salvador, which were broken off in 2018, and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic compounded the situation leaving Laura’s loved ones faced with challenges to arrange repatriation and raises questions of how her family’s legal rights may be ensured as the case makes its way through the legal system in Taiwan.

Laura’s family representation has been given to the company in which she was employed, and to her boyfriend through two different powers of attorney. Thanks to this, they have been working together to handle the repatriation procedures and all legal aspects.

Ketagalan Media spoke to Mr. García in an online interview on June 1 from Cuscatancingo, El Salvador and to Raunak Joshi, Laura’s boyfriend, by call from Tainan on June 5.

Laura, who was an only child, came to Taiwan in 2012 when she was 17 years old after she won a Taiwanese government scholarship to pursue a bachelor’s degree in Ming Chuan University. She subsequently obtained a Master’s in business administration from that same institution. During that period, she dedicated herself to studying Chinese and often participated in different cultural events and festivals.

Laura loved Taiwan. She started working at a company that manufactures car parts in Tainan in 2018 and decided to stay in the country after El Salvador broke diplomatic relations later that same year.

“My daughter excelled in all her academic studies and in her professional life, she was very responsible with so many values that we inculcated in her during her upbringing, it hurts us a lot having lost her overnight,” said Mr. García.

Mr. Joshi says Laura came to Taiwan looking for an international opportunity to go abroad and study, learn a new language and meet new people. “She was very smart, so she could get a scholarship to study in Taiwan with a lot of benefits.” He also mentioned that Laura “was quite a multilingual person, she could speak a couple of languages and her Chinese was actually very good, I mean she could read and write up to an extent so she was amazingly good with languages.”

The accident took place while Laura was driving a scooter after work, in the early evening of May 7. A video released by the Tainan police force shows a cement truck changing lanes without proper notice, giving her no time to react. She was knocked off her scooter and died from her injuries.

According to media reports, the driver of the truck was not under the influence at the time of the accident and was released shortly after the interrogation by prosecutors, but the lack of diplomatic representation has made it hard for her family to receive updates about the pending investigation.

“The one who is taking care of everything is Raunak, my baby’s boyfriend,” said Mr. García, “and other people who are helping him, but with the (COVID-19) conditions that our country is in, we do not want to put anyone at risk for this situation.”

Laura and her boyfriend, Raunak (Courtesy of Raunak Joshi)

Complex repatriation without full diplomatic services 

The process of repatriation has been long and complicated, said Laura’s boyfriend when speaking about the challenges of handling this procedure during the pandemic. “First, her family members were not in Taiwan. Second, no one could travel because of these travel restrictions and the quarantine. Then there is no diplomatic relationship between Taiwan and El Salvador, so these things just added more to the problem and it was very hard for us to understand.”

His lack of legal knowledge complicated matters, but thanks to the help and guidance of the Embassy of the Republic of El Salvador in South Korea, and to the help of the Taiwanese police he was able to get clarity about the process and start following the steps required for the repatriation to be completed.

The updates about the repatriation process that her family is receiving come through her boyfriend and the Minister Counselor and Economy Attaché at the El Salvador Embassy in South Korea, Jaime José Lopez Badía, who was previously posted in Taiwan and who met Laura thanks to her participation in many cultural activities organized during his tenure in this country.

According to Mr. Joshi, the lack of diplomatic representation has made completing the repatriation process more complicated than it would be were diplomatic ties still in place.

“Because there is no diplomatic relationship, there have been many steps (to follow), first it had to go through Guatemala and then through their Ministry of Foreign Affairs, then the Embassy of El Salvador in Guatemala and then Embassy of Guatemala in El Salvador, and then the papers were sent here to Taiwan (through) their Ministry of Foreign Affairs”, said Mr. Joshi, adding that “if there were diplomatic relationships, things could have been directly (handled) from El Salvador to Taiwan, but since there are not, we had to do all the processes through a third party.”

The repatriation efforts were assisted by a crowdfunding campaign that has helped the family to cover the elevated costs of this process, to that effect, Laura’s father expressed his gratitude for “all the support they have received from the El Salvador’s Embassy in South Korea, from her boyfriend, her friends, and all the foreign and Taiwanese community that have shown us their love, we really appreciate all of their help.”

It was thanks to their support that the required funds were raised in just four days. With the help of Laura’s company handling the legal procedures, the repatriation requirements have been completed and Laura is scheduled to return home on June 11, giving Laura’s parents a final opportunity to say goodbye to their beloved daughter.

Fatal accidents all too common in Taiwan

Fatal traffic accidents are not uncommon in Taiwan, according to government statistics, 8 people were killed in traffic accidents in Taiwan every day in 2019. Data from the National Road Traffic Safety Commission shows that in Tainan city from January to March this year 83 people died in traffic accidents.

What happened to Laura is a terrible tragedy, and it is to be hoped that the Taiwanese system ensures according laws are enforced. As Laura’s company has the power of attorney Ketagalan Media understands that they will be notified of how the legal proceedings develop. With all efforts focused on repatriating Laura the family have yet to appoint a lawyer to deal with the case, which may be slowed down by Taiwan’s current Level 3 pandemic regulations.

Even though Taiwan and El Salvador are no longer diplomatic allies, there is still a community of around 50 Salvadorans that decided to stay and make this country their new home. According to Douglas Alfaro, captain of the El Salvador soccer team, most of them have stayed for work, for the quality of life, and several of them to pursue a career in football. The passion for this sport was also shared by Laura, who was set to be the captain of the El Salvador women’s team this next September in Copa America Taiwan 2021.

The El Salvador Women’s Team in Copa America Taiwan. Laura is fifth from the left. (Laura’s Instagram Account, used with permission)

Remembering Laura

I personally met Laura thanks to my involvement in football tournaments, and for all her family and friends, she will always be remembered as an energetic, sweet, and kind person that loved to dance more than anything in the world. Her memory will never be forgotten by the Latin American community in Taiwan.

We all know that there is nothing that will bring Laura back into this world, but the least that we expect is that the country that gave her so much, and to which she wholeheartedly gave so much to in return, brings her the peace that she deserves by ensuring that her case is dealt with to the full extent of the law and according to her family’s wishes.

(Feature photo courtesy of Laura’s family)