6. Labor Trafficking Cases in Taiwan
6.2 Labor Trafficking Victims in Taiwan
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立 政 治 大 學
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6.2 Labor Trafficking Victims in Taiwan
(1) Vague distinctions exist between labor trafficking and pay disputes.
For contract foreign laborers, if they are exploited or underpayed by employers, such conditions conform to the circumstances of labor trafficking. Nevertheless, if they are identified as trafficking victims, they are obliged to participate in judicial procedures. Though they are entitled to work during the period of being placed, they have to appear in court. This requirement will affect work management, so they are not favored by employers. Furthermore, they have to exit Taiwan once the judicial process is finished, as much as half a year or a year later. Considering they may be exploited and placed for 6 months upon entering Taiwan, the total working period will be shorter than the expected 3 years. Thus it is harmful to foreign laborers’ rights and interests. Instead, by changing of employers, they are allowed to work in Taiwan for 3 years at most. Hence, as long as the employers intend to return the wages owed, foreign laborers will not sue their employers. To protect the interests and rights of foreign laborers, such cases should not be handled as human trafficking cases. S2 expressed that,
Foreign laborers would suffer if they had to face the court because people usually had a bad impression of appearing in court, whether you are plaintiff or defendant. We certainly wish the case is simplified, since this would be beneficial to foreign laborers. Just offering foreign laborers what they deserved and returning what they were owed. Unless the employers were very bad, tortured them, and refused to pay back (their wages) …
(2) Foreign laborers’ mental states and experiences vary country by country.
As aforementioned, the percentage of Indonesian contract foreign laborers was higher than that of other nations. In addition to the unreasonable salary deduction by brokers, the reasons might also be related to Indonesia’s traditional culture. Due to Indonesian’s work ethic and kindness, they are more favored by Taiwanese employers, especially foreign laborers in the social-welfare category. According to statistics from April 30, 2010, released by the CLA, 70.5% of social-welfare foreign laborers were Indonesian. Speaking of Indonesian foreign laborers’ characteristics, S1 pointed out that,
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In the traditional culture in Indonesia, Indonesians respected Chinese and were accustomed to being domestic helpers of Chinese. They obeyed Taiwanese employers because they were used to being under the control of the Chinese.
S3 said that,
Indonesian foreign laborers did not have the tendency to run away and were obedient unless they could not stand it anymore … because of the environment, culture and lack of cognition. Some Indonesian foreign laborers had only an elementary school level of education or could only sign their names. They were required to have certain educational requirements by the the government of Taiwan, but the documents were counterfeited, some with changed ages and some with altered names. Contract foreign laborers did so, not to mention irregular foreign laborers.
Six million Philippine citizens work overseas, so the overseas employment administration is set up to protect them. Since their average level of education was comparative high, they realized their interests and rights better. S3 indicated that,
The brokerage fee Filipino foreign laborers had to pay was the least, NT$ 90,000, and the government intervened, so the payment was almost the same. Furthermore, brokers had to compensate if 2 years of work was not guaranteed.
Non-government organizations in Cambodia have engaged in widespread information campaigns well in the past few years, so foreign laborers are also aware of their interests and rights. The Thailand Trade and Economic Office started to pay attention to their foreign laborers in Taiwan after the Kauhsiung MRT incident.
Moreover, the wages in Thailand are catching up to those in Taiwan gradually, especially the wage level of skilled laborers. Therefore, the government of Thailand tends to discourage people from working as foreign laborers in Taiwan unless they have less than a junior high school education and cannot find employment in Thailand.
S3 pointed out that the Thai government even paid for foreign laborers’ technology skills training in Taiwan. Those who passed the training would obtain a junior high school graduation certificate. Thai trafficking victims could also be subsidized with
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NT$200 a day by the Thailand Trade and Economic Office. Because of the positive actions taken by that government, there were fewer human trafficking cases involving Thai people.
Concerning the government of Vietnam, S3 noted that,
The Vietnam government was the broker itself. It employed local brokers to recruit laborers and provided insufficient information. Foreign laborers even had to pay national tax…the Vietnam Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei was not willing to protect their citizens in Taiwan. Instead, it meant the government of Taiwan had done a good job.
With regard to the high flight rate of Vietnamese foreign laborers, S3 noted that,
The possibility was that since Vietnam had been at war for years, the Vietnamese were used to leading a vagrant life. … They were calculating, so if they were ordered to take care of the disabled as well as do domestic chores, they were unwilling…
According to the cross-tabulation analysis between nation and the fees foreign laborers were required to pay after arriving in Taiwan, 39.4% of Indonesians expressed that the amount was not the same as what they were told in the their home countries. For Vietnamese and Thais, the numbers were 33.3% and 20%, respectively.
There was no extra charge for Filipino foreign laborers.
Table 6.3 Cross-tabulation between nation * whether the fee foreign laborers were required to pay after arriving in Taiwan was the same as the amount they were told in their homelands
Vietnam Indonesia Thailand Philippine Others
Yes 16
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Based on the cross-tabulation analysis between nation and the actual wage foreign laborers obtained in Taiwan, only 48.5% of Indonesian foreign laborers indicated that the amount matched what they were told before entry. For Thais and Vietnamese, the amounts were 50% and 57%, respectively. In contrast, 88.9% Filipino foreign laborers obtained the same wage as they were told in Philippine.
Table 6.4 Cross-tabulation between nation * whether the actual wage foreign laborers obtain in Taiwan matched the amount they were told before entry
Vietnam Indonesia Thailand Philippine Others
Yes 17
(3) Foreign laborers work hard or receive occupational training during the period of being sheltered.
According to the Human Trafficking Prevention Act, trafficking victims were allowed to apply for work permits during the period of being sheltered. Their purpose in coming to Taiwan was to make money. During this period, no money would be deducted from the wages, and they worked in an eased mental state. As a result, they generally felt satisfied during the sheltered period and even hoped to remain sheltered longer. S2 described their situation thus:
Salary was about NT$20,000 and they were supplied board and lodging. One worried whether one was supposed to leave and whether one could sign on to stay longer?
The case of S3 handled was thus:
Her weight increased 4 kilograms in the first month of being sheltered. Her father told her that her fate was already good! NT$1,000 a month was provided, and it was unnecessary to pay for meals and living…free activity was allowed and they paid only a little to see doctors.
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S7 also expressed that victims cherished the employment opportunities during the period of being sheltered, so they worked extraordinarily hard to make money,since they would have to return home once the judicial investigation was completed.
However, it was not necessarily easy to find a job near the location of the shelter.
In some places, there were many employment opportunities, while in other places, there were few. Because the type of job was not limited to the scope regulated by the Employment Services Act, and the shelter center helped them to find jobs, the process of finding jobs was comparatively smoother than when they were illegal. S3 said that,
Their wages were based on the Labor Standards Law and they were ready to work overtime. Moreover, employers did not have to apply for foreign laborers employment permission, so they would rather hire trafficking victims and pick them up.
However, shelters would stand up for victims’ working rights and coordinate the employment issues, which sometimes annoyed employers. S7 encountered such a situation:
The boss of the factory noticed that we assisted the victim with employment, so he refused to hire her.
Besides assisting in the arrangement of jobs, shelters also provided language and computer training to teach them with skills which would enable them to find jobs easily. In addition, there were classes, such as psychology, music, Labor Standards Law instruction, and trafficking case sharing, to familiarize them with relevant regulations.
Because victims lived in poverty in their homelands, if there were chances for them to come to Taiwan again, most of them would like to return. Once they had a better understanding of their interests and rights, they might escape being trafficked once more, and they could spread the information as well. S3 said,
Victims were like seeds sown; when more and more people knew how to protect themselves, they were less scared.
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