It was with great dismay and shame that I read your article ("Despite hardships, foreign workers stay on in Taiwan,'" Jan 16, page 2) on foreign workers. What a tale of greed, incompetence and corruption. Unscrupulous and greedy people, or rather vultures, prey upon helpless guest workers. The corruption is endemic and systemic.
The situation in which these workers find themselves is something out of a Dickens novel. They are treated like indentured servants at best or forced labor prisoners at worst. These people come from countries mired in poverty with little or no opportunities.
Honest, diligent and hard working, these men and women are prepared to sacrifice years of their lives, and separation from friends and family in order to be able to send back the pittance they are able to save. They come to Taiwan, a modern, free, democratic country, with rule of law, to take those jobs that locals would never accept -- the dirty, backbreaking work that sustains the nation's prosperity. What do these migrant workers find upon arrival?
They quickly discover that they are exploited, mistreated, robbed and deprived of all right to legal redress. Seventy hour weeks are not uncommon for virtual slave labor, with a tiny fraction of overtime pay. Salary? NT$15,000 per month (up to NT$20,000 with incredible amounts of overtime) or less than half the local salary (if and when they are paid), even if locals would take such work.
These workers have to deal with brokers who take NT$1,500 to NT$1,800 per month, an amount "set by law" to handle workers documents, taxes, etc, but frequently take more and offer few if any benefits. In other words these positions have become licenses to steal. Where are the government, courts, human-rights organizations?
Now that these workers have been overworked and bled fairly dry, they face inflated service charges for bedding, meals, etc. After a month of these conditions, they can add up what is left and send funds back home to desperate families.
When workers rioted in Kaohsiung over these very conditions, the so-called ringleaders were quickly hustled out of the country, as they had no legal rights, and their employers were hardly eager to have their despicable activities placed under public scrutiny.
They had been cheated and remained unpaid for months, while their letter of grievance sat in some official's desk drawer. It seems that those at the Council of Labor Affairs, the police and the courts have no trouble living with these conditions. Is this due to incompetence, corruption or simply heartlessness?
So guest workers, welcome to Taiwan, a democratic nation of laws, but apparently little justice. One can't help but wonder who is next. Perhaps we could import the starving who would be willing to work for rice!
Chaim Melamed
Pingtung
The US Department of Defense recently released this year’s “Report on Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China.” This annual report provides a comprehensive overview of China’s military capabilities, strategic objectives and evolving global ambitions. Taiwan features prominently in this year’s report, as capturing the nation remains central to Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) vision of the “great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation,” a goal he has set for 2049. The report underscores Taiwan’s critical role in China’s long-term strategy, highlighting its significance as a geopolitical flashpoint and a key target in China’s quest to assert dominance
The National Development Council (NDC) on Wednesday last week launched a six-month “digital nomad visitor visa” program, the Central News Agency (CNA) reported on Monday. The new visa is for foreign nationals from Taiwan’s list of visa-exempt countries who meet financial eligibility criteria and provide proof of work contracts, but it is not clear how it differs from other visitor visas for nationals of those countries, CNA wrote. The NDC last year said that it hoped to attract 100,000 “digital nomads,” according to the report. Interest in working remotely from abroad has significantly increased in recent years following improvements in
The Legislative Yuan passed legislation on Tuesday aimed at supporting the middle-aged generation — defined as people aged 55 or older willing and able to work — in a law initially proposed by Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Legislator Wu Chun-cheng (吳春城) to help the nation transition from an aged society to a super-aged society. The law’s passage was celebrated by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the TPP. The brief show of unity was welcome news, especially after 10 months of political fighting and unconstitutional amendments that are damaging democracy and the constitutional order, eliciting concern
Following a series of suspected sabotage attacks by Chinese vessels on undersea cables in the Baltic Sea last year, which impacted Europe’s communications and energy infrastructure, an international undersea cable off the coast of Yehliu (野柳) near Keelung was on Friday last week cut by a Chinese freighter. Four cores of the international submarine communication cable connecting Taiwan and the US were damaged. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) dispatched a ship to the site after receiving a report from Chunghwa Telecom and located the Shunxin-39, a Cameroon-flagged cargo ship operated by a Hong Kong-registered company and owned by a Chinese
RSS