The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) launched an emergency hotline in 2009, and has taken an enormous volume of calls 24 hours a day since. In 2024, a monthly average of over 4,000 calls were made to the hotline, of which over 270 were emergency cases. The hotline remains open over the Spring Festival holiday to continue serving the public in times of crisis.
According to MOFA’s 2024 data, there are 111 overseas missions equipped to handle government, economic, trade, and other affairs. These missions are also tasked with providing emergency assistance to overseas Taiwanese nationals. According to MOFA’s Bureau of Consular Affairs (BOCA), the ministry handled over 41,400 cases with 59,000 individuals from 2018 to 2024.
Regarding what kind of assistance the ministry provides, MOFA reported statistics based on their services from the past three years. The most common issue dealt with lost or stolen passports, accounting for 32% of cases. Around 10% of cases were related to illnesses, around 9% dealt with victims of theft and crime, slightly less than 5% were related to getting arrested or detained due to illegal activity, and other cases involved matters such as missing people, being denied entry or exit to a country, and more.
Their Taoyuan Airport Office is open 24 hours a day, MOFA reminds, with dedicated personnel who are equipped to help. MOFA Deputy Director General Chen Shang-yu (陳尚友) says there are two toll-free numbers people can call for free emergency service. The first is 0800-085-095, which can be called worldwide, and the other is 800-0885-0885, which can be called from anywhere in Europe, the United States, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, and several other countries. BOCA also notes that emergencies in China, Hong Kong, and Macau fall under the jurisdiction of the Mainland Affairs Council.
BOCA reminds the public not to use either of these hotlines for matters unrelated to overseas emergencies to maintain the quality of service that can be provided to those in need of immediate assistance.