wfn.org | Foreign workers abused by Taiwanese employers

["Taiwan Church News" <enews@pctpress.org>]

>      Taiwan Church News

>3009 Edition

>October 26~November 1, 2009

>Foreign workers abused by Taiwanese employers

>Reported by Chiou Kuo-rong

>Written by Lydia Ma

What kind of a job would require foreign workers to work 365 days  a year, more than 16 hours

a day, forbid employees from visiting a doctor when ill, on top of  withholding rightfully earned

income? Are jobs such as these another form of slavery?

Legal Aid Foundation received a call for help recently from five  Vietnamese personal nurses

working at a nursing home. With assistance of social workers from  a Catholic organization,

these Vietnamese workers were able to flee ghastly working  conditions and find help. The

case brought attention to a darker side within Taiwanese society  peppered with human rights

>abuses.

Legal Aid Foundation, Vietnamese Foreign Workers’ Office and  other related social services

organizations held a press conference on October 19 on the subject  of foreign workers who

come to Taiwan as nurses hired to care for sick, elderly people in  Taiwan. During the press

conference, the five nurses who were rescued revealed some nursing  homes not only abused

foreign workers, but also failed to provide adequate care to its  customers.

According to Ah-hui*, she was required to work 365 days a year  without any days off and she

also had to work more than 16 hours every day. She had to care for  12 seniors by day and

more than 40 seniors by night. Besides caring for seniors, she was  also responsible for

>keeping the facilities clean every day.

Ah-hui testified that whenever there weren’t enough nurses  available to care for seniors, her

supervisors would ask them to use ropes to tie some seniors to  their beds. If the ropes weren’t

tight enough, the nurses would be severely reproved.

Ah-Shen* said she had been working in Taiwan for three years but  had yet to receive even half

of her hard-earned salary. Not only had her employer confiscated  her passport, she was also

forbidden to see a doctor when she was ill. Furthermore, she  wasn’t allowed to use a cell

phone and didn’t even have a private bedroom. She said she  would have to find an empty bed

>next to a patient to sleep every night.

These testimonies are almost 21st century versions of Gulags. Most  importantly, when foreign

workers’ rights are abused, we can almost be certain the  rights and benefits of seniors under

their care will also suffer. According to Legal Aid Foundation  Taipei District Office’s Chairman

and Chi-Nan Presbyterian Church member Joseph Lin, it is a crime  for employers to

confiscate their employees’ passports. However, what is  baffling about this case is that Taipei

County Labor Affairs Bureau would bury a case that could amount to  human trafficking by

stating at first that it was merely a dispute about wages. The  Bureau’s attitude makes Lin

wonder about the efficiency of anti-human trafficking regulations  in Taiwan.

During the press conference, social organizations involved in  rescuing these victims made

four demands. First, the rights and benefits of foreign workers  must be protected, including

on-time payment, no more confiscation of personal documents, and  restoration of personal

freedom of movement. Second, government agencies must strictly  enforce anti-human

trafficking regulations passed on June 1st. Third, local Labor  Affairs Bureaus must actively

look into inadequate workplaces within their jurisdictions and  come up with solutions so that

laws on trafficking can truly be enforced and have the desired  effects. Finally, government

social service agencies must be more attentive to the rights and  care of seniors living in

>nursing homes.

According to the Council of Labor Affairs, it ordered Taipei  County Labor Affairs Bureau to

launch an investigation as soon as it received a complaint notice  on September 28. The

Bureau will now conduct investigations which may lead to revoking  licenses from nursing

homes, uncovering cases of human trafficking, and laying criminal  charges against employers.

>*names have been changed to protect identity.

>********************

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