◎
|

pic. :
The
sites group was ranked No.1 by "Foreign
laborers in Taiwan"
on US
Bing ,
11-28-2018
(in both English and Chinese
version)

pic. :
The
sites group was ranked No.1 by "Foreign
laborers in Taiwan"
on Yahoo
search engine ,
11-28-2018
( English version )

pic. :
The sites group was ranked
top 2 by "international workers in Taiwan"
on Google ,
11-28-2018
(in both English and Chinese version)

pic. :
The
sites group was ranked No.1 by "Foreign
laborers in Taiwan (評論台灣外勞)"
on Yahoo search engine ,
11-28-2018
( Chinese version)
|
|
|
● 2018
USA Country Reports on Human Rights
practices> ( released
at 4.20.2018 ) :
One of principal Taiwan's human
rights problems was
exploitation of foreign
workers, including forced labor.
● 2017
USA Country Reports on Human Rights
practices> ( released
at 3.13.2017 ) :
One of principal Taiwan's human
rights problems was
exploitation of foreign
workers, including foreign crewmembers on long-haul fishing vessels and
household caregivers.
● 2016
USA Country Reports on Human Rights
practices> ( released
at 4.13.2016 ) :
principal
human rights problems
were labor exploitation of migrant workers by
fishing companies, exploitation of domestic
workers by brokerage agencies, and official corruption.
● 2015
USA Country Reports on Human Rights
practices> ( released
at 6.26.2015 ) pointed out Taiwan's
principal human rights problems
includes labor exploitation of migrant
workers by fishing companies.
● 2014
USA Country Reports on Human Rights
practices> ( issued
2.27.2014 ) comments Taiwan still
suffers from the exploitation of migrant
workers and from corruption in high
places.
● 2013
<international human
rights review panel> visiting Taiwan
urged
improving rights for Taiwan's migrant
workers, indigenous people, women, gay,
etc.
● 2012 annual report by
<Amnesty International>
(London, UK) criticizes Migrant-workers
rights status in Taiwan.
●<2011
USA Country Reports on Human Rights
practices> ( issued
April
11, 2011 ) comments one of
Taiwanese major human rights problems is
: abuses of foreign/international laborers/workers,
Taiwan
government's foreign laborer policy and
systems exploit int'l workers' rights to
resist, hence, abuses of
international workers happened again and
again.
◎ |
comments
by international/local media :
|
◎ |
●
★
Apple Daily (蘋果日報), 11-15-2018,
Focus (深度專題報導) :
The
number of "hidden rape (性侵黑數)" is huge,
estimate 1 case happens per 4 days,
foreign laborers endured for money sake;
Taiwan government is very behind on
maintaining human rights of foreign
laborers in Taiwan.
★
★
United
Daily News (聯合報) 8-12-2018,
headlines
Run-away foreign laborers have been
hiding in hospitals as care givers,
illegally, and suspectedly - low-quality
services (失聯移工竄入醫院
違法當看護 照顧品質堪虞)
★
★
Apple Daily (蘋果日報), 12-19-2018,
special report : Taiwan was
involved in transnational human
trafficking (人口販運風暴)
Taiwan government failed to master the
hidden crewmembers ("幽靈漁工")
on long-haul fishing vessels,
the dark number is at least some
thousands ,Taiwanese
government was questioned being
failed to really guard and check the
human trafficking issue
,the head of Fisheries Admin.
expressed local government should do the
check, but, Kaohsiung city gov. said
they can not do anything about it
(brief)
★
★ The US Country Reports on Human Rights Practices
, released at
4-20-2018
One of principal Taiwan's human
rights problems was
exploitation of foreign
workers, including forced labor.
Labor laws do not cover domestic workers,
leaving them vulnerable to labor exploitation. Forced labor occurred in such
sectors as domestic services, fishing, farming, manufacturing, and construction.
Foreign workers were most susceptible to forced labor, especially when serving
as crew members on Taiwan-flagged fishing vessels. Some labor brokers charged
foreign workers exorbitant recruitment fees and used debts incurred from these
fees in the source country as tools of coercion to subject the workers to debt
bondage
Household caregivers and domestic workers
are not protected under the law and are not covered by a mandated minimum wage,
overtime pay, limits on the workday or workweek, minimum breaks, or vacation
regulations. Brokerage agencies often require workers to take out loans for
“training” and other fees at local branches of Taiwan banks in their home
countries at high interest rates, leaving them vulnerable to debt bondage......
foreign workers often were unwilling to report employer abuses for fear the
employer would terminate the contract and deport them, leaving them unable to
reimburse debt accrued during the recruitment process.
●
●
★
★ The US Country Reports on Human Rights Practices
, released at
3-3-2017
One of principal Taiwan's human
rights problems was
exploitation of foreign
workers, including foreign crewmembers on long-haul fishing vessels and
household caregivers. Types of
exploitation included migrant workers becoming victims of domestic violence and
official corruption. Human rights groups had long protested that the
law left migrant workers open to exploitation from third-party brokers.
●
★
<The China Times>, Taiwan, 9.19.2017
Taiwan's judicial system has not put enough efforts on
exploitation of foreign workers on fishing
vessels, therefore this kind of
case happened again and again.
●
★ The US Country Reports on Human Rights Practices
, released at 4-13-2016
Principal
human rights problems
were labor exploitation of migrant workers by
fishing companies, exploitation of domestic
workers by brokerage agencies, and official corruption.
Migrant workers, including those from
Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, and
Thailand, were vulnerable to exploitation. NGOs asserted that foreign workers often
were unwilling to report employer abuses for
fear the employer would terminate the
contract and deport them, leaving them
unable to reimburse debt accrued to brokers
or others.
●
★ The Reporter
& Indonesian 《Tempo Magazine》, 12-19-2016
Apple Daily News head-page (12-19-2016) :
Shame of Taiwan, the kingdom of long-distance fishing
- Taiwanese ocean-going vessels exploited 10
thousand foreign laborers every year. <The Reporter> (https://www.twreporter.org/a/far-sea-fishing-indonesia-fishermen-death)
looks into the case an Indonesian imported fisherman worker was suspicious of
being abused to death.
★★
★
<The United Daily>, Taiwan, 2.27.2017,
http://focustaiwan.tw/news/asoc/201702270013.aspx
Shocks ! The
number of social welfare immigrant workers grows 3 times.
Shocks !! How many immigrant workers were abused !
The unspoken secret - In Taiwan, foreign caregivers are
everywhere, people can see them
taking out the trash, cleaning
the garbage, accompanying the boss window-shopping, working as baby-sitter
...... but, according to the official files, there are only 2000- immigrant
workers are
housemaids ( home-helpers,
domestic workers ), hence it's within reason to suspect that many of them are
actually care-givers ? The government should look into this issue.
★★
★
<USA Country Reports on Human Rights
practices> ( released
at
6.26.2015 )
Taiwan's "principal human rights problems" includes "labor exploitation of
migrant workers by fishing companies"... and it mentions foreign laborers'
real wage is lower than the standard.
US report2015◎ |
"Regulations require intensified
inspection and oversight of foreign labor
brokerage companies. NGOs reported that some
labor brokers and employers regularly
collected high fees or loan payments from
foreign workers, using debts incurred in the
source country as a tool for involuntary
servitude. At the end of June, 517,187
documented migrants worked in Taiwan; of
these, 222,571 were from Indonesia, 100,203
from the Philippines, 59,806 from Thailand,
and 134,600 from Vietnam. At the end of May,
a total of 43,772 undocumented foreigners
were working in Taiwan, according to
National Immigration Agency statistics. NGOs
asserted that foreign workers often were
unwilling to report employer abuses for fear
the employer would terminate the contract
and deport them, leaving them unable to pay
back debt accrued to brokers or others.A June BBC report quoted migrant
fisherman and NGOs describing exploitative
conditions aboard Taiwan-owned fishing
vessels. According to this report, in April
a Cambodian court sentenced the manager of
the Taiwan fishing company Giant Ocean and
five associates to 10 years in prison and
ordered them to pay compensation to 150
victims. On August 14, Phnom Penh Municipal
Court Judge Kor Vandy affirmed the sentence
and ordered the offenders to pay
compensation to 180 victims.
An employer may deduct only labor
insurance fees, health insurance premiums,
income taxes, and meal and lodging fees from
the wages of a foreign worker. Violators
face fines of NT$60,000 to NT$300,000
($1,940 to $9,700) and loss of hiring
privileges. Critics, however, complained
that violations continued and that the
Ministry of Labor did not effectively
enforce statutes and regulations intended to
protect foreign laborers from unscrupulous
brokers and employers.
In addition to a Ministry of
Labor-operated Foreign Worker Direct-Hire
Service Center that allowed local employers
to rehire their foreign employees, the
ministry operated a direct-hire web platform
to allow local employers to hire foreign
workers online without having to go through
a broker. NGOs, however, asserted that
complicated procedures and restrictions on
use of both the Service Center and the
online service prevented widespread
implementation, and they advocated lifting
restrictions on transfers between employers.
The maximum time foreign workers were
allowed to stay in Taiwan was 12 years.
The service center also permitted the
direct rehiring of foreign workers engaged
in manufacturing, fisheries, construction,
and other industries."
|
◎
★
<Heritage Foundation> & <WallStreet
Journal>,
02-02- 2016 (2016 Index of
Economic Freedom)
The score of
Labor Freedom
(53.8) is down in this year's report,
The rigidity of the labor market
and lingering corruption continue to
hold back overall economic freedom...
★
<The Liberty Times>, Taiwan, 4.16.2015
Taipei city
council (4.15.2015), a
councilor/alderman(歐陽龍)
: "Using foreign laborers in improper or illegal way has already been a reality in our society...
everywhere in Taiwan".
◎
★
<The United Daily >, Taiwan, 12.14.2015
about 1000 foreign laborer demonstrators
in a parade demanded for no harms/injuries/wounded by each other and no exploitation of
both sides ― patients (the disabilities) and
laborers. Some laborers can't have one day off even they're wounded.
(brief)
<The China Times>, 12.14.2015
A Vietnamese laborer has not had one day off for 12 years.
◎
★
<United Daily News>, Taiwan, 1.12.2015
editorial column "the poison of hatred and revenge"
... During this global counterterrorism moment, we urge
Taiwanese should not maliciously treat Islam people particularly Indonesian
foreign laborers ...
◎
★
<USA Country Reports on Human Rights
practices, 2013> ( issued
2.27.2014 )
Foreign household caregivers and
domestic workers in Taiwan are unable to enjoy the same
rights enjoyed by their Taiwanese counterparts,
including a minimum wage and/or overtime pay, limits on
workdays and/or workweeks, break entitlements, as well
as vacations.
◎
★
CNA,
Taiwan, 11-23-2014
Indonesian Vice
President Jusuf Kalla announced Friday a plan to freeze female
labor exports in five years to protect Indonesian women.
... because ... many Indonesian
women are forced to travel overseas to seek better prospects,
but many end up victims of mental or physical abuse.
(ps)
◎
★
March 1, 2013 <international human
rights review panel> visiting Taiwan.
The members of the review panel includes Philip Alston, law professor at New
York University; Eibe Riedel, former member of the United Nations Committee on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; Jerome Cohen, law professor at New York
University; and Nisuke Ando, professor emeritus at Kyoto University.
The review panel urged improving rights for
Taiwan's migrant workers, indigenous people, women, gay and transgender people,
and people with disabilities.
◎
★
TOP TV , Taiwan (高點電視), Oct.
13/14, 2012
A TV informal discussion meeting/a
symposium/a forum (
participants including Taipei City Council's councilor namely 林瑞圖 ,
government official, famous people, etc) mentioned:
1) The number of runaway(escaped) foreign workers and home-care maids in Taiwan
is up to 30000~40000, Vietnamese ranked 1st, Indonesian 2nd, many workers're
ripped off by high-position officials/people
in power, e.g., city mayor,
County
Magistrate,
city/county councilors, legislators( sort like
senators/congressmen in the US), and so on.
2) They
took Vietnamese as example, those workers usually earned
only about NT 2000 (about USD65) per month in
their country (so they willing to be workers overseas),
but before coming to Taiwan they need to pay NT180000-240000
(about USD 5800-7800) to agencies, so
they are in bad situation.
◎
★
Aug. 13, 2013,
<the Liberty Times>, <the China Times>, <華視>,
<Youtube>, etc
Taiwan's legislators questioned that
Taiwanese government together with
Philippines government help the agency to exploit
migrant workers ― Filipinos
workers were forced
to sign some unnecessary document ( promissory notes for
overcharged agent-fee) so that the agency can request the court to (enforce)
deduct laborer's salary, hence some workers even can't have enough food and
clothing.
◎
★
2012 <Amnesty International>, London, UK, annual report The State of the
World's Human Rights 2012, May 24, 2012
Migrant workers were unable to freely change
employer. Domestic migrant workers and care-givers were often forced to work
without adequate rest. The media exposed abuse and exploitation of migrant
workers by government officials and celebrities.
◎
|

No. 1 on
US google by keyword "international
workers in Taiwan" ,
2-12-2018, 1.1.2017,
10-30-2017;
"foreign
laborers in Taiwan" ranks No.1 on Google,
2-12-2018,
10-30-2017

This page ranking No.1 on English google by the keyword "international
workers in Taiwan",
test at 1-7-2015,
10-28-2015,
Dec. 3, 2014
also ranking No. 1 on google by keyword "international laborers in Taiwan", test
at 10-29-2015
◎

No.1 on English Google by keyword "Taiwan foreign laborer" at July
7,
2014, 9-1-2017
No.1 on yahoo by keyword "foreign laborers in Taiwan", 10-29-2015
◎

No.1 on Yahoo by keyword "Taiwan foreign laborer" at July 7,
2014
◎

No.1 on Yahoo by keyword "international workers in Taiwan"
at
Jan. 7, 2015, Dec. 3, 2014, July 31,
2013
◎
|
◎
★
2011 human rights report <USA
Country Reports on Human Rights practices>
USA ,
issued
April 8, 2011
There were still problems with corruption, violence and
discrimination against women and children, as well as human trafficking, abuses
of foreign workers.
◎
★
<Amnesty International>,
London, UK, annual report The State of the
World's Human Rights 2011, May 13, 2011
Taiwan was criticized over issues to
do with the death
penalty, freedom of expression,
justice and migrants' rights (It also voiced concerns over the slow progress to enact a judges' act to
address corruption scandals involving high court judges and
over the working
conditions of migrant workers.).
◎
★ <the
China Times> editorial 2013.03.08
It's human
rights issue for Taiwanese old people & children having
better home-care by foreign maids, but It's still
too difficult for them (particularly Taiwanese old
people) legally apply for a foreign maid to take care of
them, Taiwan's government should modify the law
concerning this issue...
◎
★
<Liberty Times> Taiwan,
Sept. 17, 2012
Many foreign workers and group from Indonesia,
Philippines protest for a red line set up in central hall, Taipei main station,
they think it's a discrimination against them for stopping their gathering in
such a convenient location. A researcher said the protest also tried
to highlight foreign workers' long vacation, leisure issues, etc.
◎
★
<Taipei Times> Taiwan,
Dec. 10, 2010
Illegal
laborer brokers set to get tougher penalties .... Council statistics show
about 34000 runaway foreign workers in Taiwan ... Sept. 6 deaths of 6 runaway
foreign workers, ... illegally employed ... on the No. 6 freeway.
<Taiwan Post> : ...the
government believes brokers must take major responsibility for the problem of
runaways ...
◎
★
<China Times> Taiwan,
Oct. 2, 2010
Without
being treated as human beings, 35,000 foreign
workers run away.
(
total number of foreign laborer/workers: 372,146, Taiwan's population :
23,000,000 or so)
Sometimes international workers
earn less than NT3000 (US$ 90) per month.
◎
★ BBC website, the Straits Times (Singapore), Associated Press, AFP, ABS-CBN TV (Philippines),
India Times, and DailyMail of UK,
the Jakarta Post (May 14, 2010),
etc.
A Taiwanese
Co. employer
forced
three
Muslim
Indonesian women
to
eat pork
(this violates
Muslim religion) over a
seven-month
period.
Indonesian government condemns such action ( forcing foreign-laborer/workers to consume pork) as it was against appropriate values, calling
upon the Taiwanese government to pay “serious attention” to the case.
ps: <United daily News> May 13, 2010
reported a Taiwanese int'l labor union leader said that those workers accused salary problems,
instead of having pork.
◎
★ <三立新聞> TV morning news,
7:45am , 9/15/2012
'Indonesian
worker accused amid tears
for being abused - foreign home care workers became "Roustabout" '「Chinese
caption: 看護工變打雜工、 印勞泣訴遭虐」
A steak shop illegally used Indonesian worker, from 6 am early morning
till 12 am late night, and the boss gave expired
medicine to the foreign worker ......
◎
★
USA Country Reports on Human Rights practices, issued Mar 11, 2010
Human Rights Reports :
Taiwan
NGOs
reported that laborer brokers and employers regularly
collected high fees or loan payments from foreign
workers, frequently using debt as a tool for
involuntary servitude, and that foreign workers were
unwilling to report employer abuses for fear the
employer would terminate the contract and forcibly
deport them, leaving them unable to pay back debt
accrued to brokers or others.
◎
★ WikiPedia
Human trafficking in Taiwan
Sept. 2010
◎
Taiwan
is primarily a destination for men, women, and children
trafficked for
the purposes of
forced laborer and
sexual exploitation. It is also a source of women trafficked to
Japan,
Australia, the
United Kingdom, and the
United States. Women and girls from the
People’s Republic of China (P.R.C.) and Southeast Asian countries
are trafficked to Taiwan through
fraudulent marriages, deceptive employment offers, and illegal
smuggling for sexual exploitation and forced laborer.
◎ Many foreign workers remain vulnerable
to trafficking because legal protections, oversight by authorities and
enforcement efforts are inadequate.
◎ |

Ranking No.1 on Yahoo by keyword "Taiwan foreign workers", tests at July
31, 2013.
|
◎
★
<Dept. of Education>
Taiwan ROC government May 28, 2010
Human rights library
Human rights Education advisory and
resources center
Taiwan government assigns those works that
Taiwanese unwilling to do to foreign
laborer ... total number of international laborers
and "new immigrants" is nearly 700
thousands, which is more than that of
aboriginal (about 440 thousands)。
Quite a lot of Taiwanese employers
have
abused foreign laborer for a long run ― i.e.,
no vacation
permitted, no socialization permitted ( going
out alone not allowed ...), no home phone
calls permitted ... workers almost work for nothing
in the first 2 years, ..... ―
they treat foreign laborer as slaves.
News stories
regarding foreign laborer in main stream
media
almost are negative
― int'l workers run away, rob, steal
...... so as to strengthen Taiwanese
prejudices and fears to foreign
workers, therefore, Taiwanese people prefer
to keep a safe distance with
foreign laborer/workers.
In nature, there's no big difference between
Today's Taiwan and the US taking racial apartheid policy
before 1960
... (i.e., no eating
on the same table, no laundry together, etc)...
As for Taiwan's government,
discrimination control happened again and
again
―
workers need "too" many health
examinations, no blood donation permitted (assume
international workers are dirty, and being inferior to
Taiwanese), government acquiesced employers to
exploit those workers.
All above are the tip of a big iceberg
.....
(Chinese written by 王乾任)
◎
★
<United daily News> Taiwan,
May 13, 2010
Taiwan nice to white people, but despises int'l laborer
Taiwan's laborer system led to lots of abuses of international workers.
Taiwan is very friendly to or even has brown
nose (toady to, flatter) to white people, but looks down upon color people, .......
Taiwanese often feel they faced discrimination while overseas, but Taiwanese
also treat in similar way to other little countries' people .....
◎
★
<Taiwan News>
May 4, 2010 issue no. 397
Cheap laborers can save Taiwan's economy
?
The "PM" of
Taiwan stated foreign laborer/workers don't
have basic/min wage ―
they have at most NT8000 - 9000 per month. 【written
by 陳文哲】
◎
★
Several illegal foreign laborer/workers died in
an accident
―
sprawling network of scaffolding collapsed on a construction site of the
national freeway in Taiwan.
◎ <Taipei
Times> Oct. 3, 2010
Council statistics show that
...... the number of recorded
runaway foreign workers has
reached more than 90,000.
While about ......
more than 30,000
people (ps:
escaped/undocumented foreign
workers) still unaccounted for,
official tallies show.
According to figures from the
council’s Bureau of Employment
and Vocational Training, ...... the
372,146 migrant workers
in
Taiwan at that time.
◎ <CTS> Taiwan, evening news Oct. 1, 2010 7:10pm
"Police failed to find
those illegal foreign workers dying in a national freeway accident (a headline news
in Taiwan), we can see how serious Taiwan's int'l laborer problem is."(English
interpretation)
◎ <CTV> Taiwan, evening news Oct.
1, 2010
7:28pm
The number of
runaway illegal international workers in Taiwan is around
33,000 (ps Apple
Daily: 33510, China times: 35000)
◎
★
<TVBS> of Hong Kong in Taiwan, Oct. 7, 2010
6:55 pm evening news
Female
foreign workers feel uncomfortable, for dormitory video camera near wash-room
taking pictures on them (some persons pass some pictures within group).
◎
★
<Apple Daily News> Taiwan Oct. 20,
2009
5 Vietnamese workers (age 20+ yrs old) cried for being "slaves"
in Taiwan
―
working 16 hours per day, each
taking care 10+ old men, being forced to do medical
treatment/actions (i.e., pulls out the phlegm) ,
with salary only NT 2000 (about US$ 65), besides, their
boss often threatened them that the employer would terminate their
contracts and forcibly deport them, and locked them
together with old men inside the house without freedom ....
Some foreign worker was wounded by
cat paws bad-guys after a County Representative concerned this
issue. ( now already a courthouse case )
◎
According to UN's statistics, int'l Human trafficking relates at
least 4 million people, with money value US$ 7000 - 10000 million, and
has grown
with high speed each year.
◎
|

This page ranked No.1 in Google by Chinese keyword "Foreign workers
Taiwan", test at Feb. 14, 2011 & Dec. 16, 2010
|
◎★
TV news (2010-09-13 23:20)
mod.cht.com.tw
PTS
Int'l workers protest Taiwan police's strong law enforcements
regardless of human rights
A police "wrestled & touched down"
and straddled a female international workers, that is questioned as an
over-reaction law enforcement.
Today about 70-80 furious international workers
on protest at front of the <Chung-Cheng> police station declared that Taiwanese
police discriminated and didn't treat South-eastern
Asian workers as human beings, and asked
police to apology in public.
They also expressed that Taiwanese police like
to interrogate and examine them in the street, instead,
treat white people in totally different way.
★
<Apple
Daily News>
Taiwan, May 14, 2010
Is Taiwan still a civilized
society ? int'l workers' residence place ― like
"prison/concentration camp".
◎
★
KMT political Party official website, Sept 25, 2010
Who did
this?! exploit foreign workers' human rights, and don't care Taiwanese
workers' survival?
A riot protest by Thailand
workers in Aug.'05 shocks Taiwan by its dark sides behind
foreign-laborer exploitative systems.
◎
★ <United daily News> Taiwan,
Sept. 6, 2009
A Taiwanese high ranking official sexual assaulted a girl foreign worker
in office building.
◎
ps: Certainly
there're good and bad int'l workers, besides, part of the laborer system bad for Taiwanese
needs improvements too, i.e., a very old man may live alone for a long queue
(time) for a new worker
― because the previous worker
escaped for certain reason not employer's fault. Taiwan's Apple Daily News
(Sept. 15, 2012) reported a foreign worker went for happy shopping and left very
old person ( she should take care of ) alone in the street.
My
personal experience ... an
irresponsible
foreign laborer from Indonesia!
ps:
abstract from major media article &
reports
|
◎
◎