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Taiwan abuses foreign workers ― a serious problem! The entry or reentry "international workers" are "foreign laborers", mostly
★ this site's world No. 1
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2016,
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Taiwan |
Taiwan |
abuses foreign workers for years |
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★ US Country Reports on Human
Rights Practices
released at 2022-4-12
(state.gov/reports/2021-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/taiwan/):
★ The Guardian, 2022-5-9: Taiwan is now dealing with an “Omicron tsunami”. In factories, migrant workers have once again been discriminated against with unequal rule enforcement and eased restrictions (theguardian.com/world/2022/may/09/once-a-zero-covid-poster-child-taiwan-learns-to-live-with-the-virus)
★ The New York Times, 2021-6-18 (nytimes.com/2021/06/18/world/asia/taiwan-migrant-labor-covid.html): ... In Taiwan, some foreign tech workers are confined indoors to tackle an outbreak; Activists say that the measures discriminate against migrant laborers. Some workers expressed concern that the conditions in the cramped dormitories, ... at quarantine centers. In some of those facilities, activists say that workers were served spoiled food or had no running water. Migrant-labor advocates have criticized the Miaoli government for provoking further fear and stigmatization of foreign workers.
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RT
TV news (Russia), United Daily (Taiwan, udn.com/news/story/121707/6057053),
2022-1-24: Two Indonesian
migrant laborers got
penalty fine in the amount of NY$100,000 (about USD 3,300) for stepping out of
their CovID-19 quarantine hotel room for about one minute. Another
migrant laborer from Philippine were fined same amount USD
3,300 for leaving his quarantine hotel room for 8 seconds.
★ Financial Times (UK), 2021-6-
22: Taiwan accused of locking up migrant workers / “It has now become extremely common for employers to lock their migrant workers up... ”Electronics groups including Japan’s Canon and Innolux, an affiliate of Apple supplier Foxconn, have been accused of locking up migrant workers in Taiwan as an outbreak of Covid-19 hits the country ... A survey found that 60 per cent of migrant workers are forbidden from going out in their free time, ... “Discrimination of migrant workers in Taiwan is systemic, but the pandemic has made it a lot worse,”... even warned them against chatting. No central government official has spoken up against the restrictions on foreign workers. Some employers are resorting to scare tactics (your family will not even be able to see your body, etc). ft.com/content/4269650e-7660-4b80-b294-f81b4368784c◎
★ Heritage Org. heritage.org/index/ , 2021 Index of Economic Freedom
In "Labor Freedom" index, Taiwan ranks No. 91 worldwide, compared with other Asian countries - No.1 Singapore, No.4 New Zealand, No.8 Australia, 10. UAE, 14. Japan, 2.8 Mongolia, No.30 Malaysia, 47. Bangladesh, 60. Qatar, 63. China, 67. Thailand, 71. Saudi Arabia, 73. Cambodia, 74. Vietnam, 112. Korea.
★ The Guardian (UK), 2021-5-16 (theguardian.com/world/2021/may/16/lockdowns-and-panic-buying-in-taiwan-as-covid-cases-rise): ... the district of Wanhua, where a cluster of at least 100 CovID-19 cases so far has centred on hosted bars and teahouses connected to the sex work industry. Many foreign laborers from Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, entered Taiwan by the name of care-taker but actually illegally worked in these porn parlors in Taipei's Wanhua district, now many have escaped to their 'boss' places in middle and southern Taiwan to avoid corona-virus test, which is a very serious situation, Taipei city-councilor 鍾小平 said, according Next TV news, Formosa TV, 2021-5-18, etc.
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★ Brookings, 2021-6-25, brookings.edu/blog/order-from-chaos/2021/06/25/taiwans-vitality/ : the harsh lockdowns in crowded dormitories of mostly Southeast Asian workers at some technology manufacturing companies have underscored the discrimination that has long been present in Taiwan against peoples of certain nationalities, especially when coupled with low socioeconomic status. The temporary stay granted to these workers, as well as those who work in elder care and other critical jobs, is rarely a permanent welcome.
★ Equal Times org., 2021-7-30 (equaltimes.org/taiwan-s-foreign-factory-workers?lang=en#.YQSC6i7iu70)
brief : Taiwan’s foreign
factory workers face rights violations amid latest Covid outbreak.
“We feel like prisoners. It’s like the company controls every aspect of our
lives !" The company confined migrant workers at its Miaoli
plant to their dormitories when off duty and imposed epidemiologically
questionable quarantine methods. a worker at KYEC, says she was put into
quarantine in early June in a room where co-workers infected with Covid-19 had
stayed right before she and her other colleagues moved in. “The rooms were
dirty and not properly disinfected"...when workers need help with improving
their living conditions or defending their rights at work, the brokers are often
absent. “It is a real system of control. Even though the government
denies targeting lockdown measures towards migrant workers, it did not stop the
authorities and companies that did from doing so.
★
Business Insider, 2021-5-20:
Taiwan ...
double standards and stigma still found their way. Notably, in late 2020, a
migrant worker from the Philippines was fined
100,000 Taiwan dollars ($3,500) for breaking the mandatory 14-day quarantine
for just eight seconds, whereas four visiting DJs were each fined
just NT$10,000 ($350) for leaving quarantine to dine and rehearse together.
businessinsider.com/taiwan-covid-19-paradise-health-politics-policy-cdc-2021-5
★ International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, 2021 Global State of Democracy
(idea.int/gsod/sites/default/files/2021-11/spotlight-on-taiwan-gsod2021.pdf)
SPOTLIGHT ON TAIWAN
Taiwan’s human rights victories soar no higher than the abhorrent labor
conditions—and a bipartisan disinterest in improving them— endemic in Taiwan’s
fishing, manufacturing and caregiving sectors.
Stung by recurring criticism, notably from Taiwan’s ombudsman body that the
authorities continued to show scant regard for the migrant labour force...
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★ US Country Reports on Human Rights Practices released at 2021-3-30 : Forced labor occurred primarily in sectors reliant on migrant workers including domestic services, fishing, farming, manufacturing, meat processing, and construction. 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. Migrant fishermen reported senior crewmembers employ coercive tactics such as threats of physical violence, beatings, withholding of food and water, retention of identity documents, wage deductions, and noncontractual compulsory sharing of vessel operational costs to retain their labor. These abuses were particularly prevalent in Taiwan’s large distant-waters fishing fleet, which operated without adequate oversight.
Foreign workers were often reluctant to report employer abuses for fear the employer would terminate their contract, subjecting them to possible deportation and leaving them unable to pay off their debt to recruiters. Foreign workers generally faced exploitation and incurred significant debt burdens during the recruitment process due to excessive brokerage fees, guarantee deposits, and higher charges for flights and accommodations. Brokerage agencies often required 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. NGOs suggested the authorities should seek further international cooperation with labor-sending countries, particularly on oversight of transnational labor brokers. Foreign fishermen were commonly subjected to mistreatment and poor working conditions. Domestic labor laws only apply to fishermen working on vessels operating within Taiwan’s territorial waters. Fishermen working on Taiwan-flagged vessels operating beyond Taiwan’s territorial waters (Taiwan’s distant-waters fishing fleet) were not afforded the same labor rights, wages, insurance, and pensions as those recruited to work within Taiwan’s territorial waters. For example, regulations only require a minimum monthly wage of $450 for these foreign fishermen in the distant water fleet, significantly below the domestic minimum wage. NGOs reported that foreign fishing crews in Taiwan’s distant-waters fishing fleet generally received wages below the required $450 per month because of dubious deductions for administrative fees and deposits. ... estimated 35,000 migrant workers are employed in Taiwan’s distant-waters fishing fleet. The majority of these fishermen are recruited overseas, mostly from Indonesia and the Philippines. The results suggested that 24 percent of foreign fishermen suffered violent physical abuse; 92 percent experienced unlawful wage withholding; 82 percent worked overtime excessively. There were also reports fishing crew members could face hunger and dehydration and have been prevented from leaving their vessels or terminating their employment contracts.
★ National Geographic, 11-25-2020 : Wildlife crimes and human rights abuses plague Taiwanese fishing vessels ...illegal dolphin catching, shark finning, and physical and verbal abuse ... The assaults, Indonesian worker Supri says, included his being locked in a freezer when he was still wet from having taken a shower, and being beaten, sprayed in the face with a hose, and shocked with an electric stun gun. In a recent report, the EJF said that abuse of crew members—along with illegal fishing for sharks and dolphins, among other species—is common in Taiwan’s distant-water fishing fleet, one of the world’s largest with more than a thousand vessels. China and Taiwan represent nearly 60 percent of the world’s distant-water fishing vessels. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2020/11/taiwan-fishing-vessels-perpetuate-illegal-fishing-human-rights-abuses/
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