Taiwan abuses foreign workers ― a serious problem
|
human rights Corruption in Taiwan Freedom of speech Death penalty Women's rights WatchYou creative industries WorldGames BBC int'l human rights |
|
<USA Country Reports on Human Rights
practices> ( issued
April
11, 2011 ) comments one of
Taiwanese major human rights problems is
abuses of foreign/international labor/workers,
Taiwan
government's foreign labor policy and
systems exploit int'l workers' rights to
resist, hence, abuses of
international workers happened again and
again.
|
|
|
comments by international media : |
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.).
★ <Taipei Times> Taiwan, Dec. 10, 2010
Illegal
labor 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 labor/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-labor 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.
★ USA Country Reports on Human Rights practices, issued Mar 11, 2010
Human Rights Reports : Taiwan
NGOs reported that labor 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
◎ Many foreign workers remain vulnerable to trafficking because legal protections, oversight by authorities and enforcement efforts are inadequate.
News stories regarding foreign labor 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 labor/workers.
All above are the tip of a big iceberg .....
★ <United daily News> Taiwan, May 13, 2010
Taiwan nice to white people, but despises int'l labor
Taiwan's labor 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 .....
The "PM" of Taiwan stated foreign labor/workers don't have basic/min wage ― they have at most NT8000 - 9000 per month. 【written by 陳文哲】
★ Several illegal foreign labor/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
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 labor 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 |
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-labor 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 labor 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.
For precise meanings pls refer to Chinese language version article ...
|
|
ps: abstract from major media article & reports |
|
