The National Immigration Agency (NIA) yesterday welcomed news that Taiwan remains a Tier 2 country on the US State Department’s 2009 Trafficking in Persons report released on Tuesday.
The report recommended Taiwan extend labor protection to all categories of workers, including domestic workers and caregivers, to prevent labor trafficking.
The report stated that to a lesser extent, Taiwan is a source of women trafficked to Japan, Australia, the UK and the US for sexual exploitation and forced labor, as well as a transit area for Chinese nationals seeking to enter the US illegally.
“Most trafficking victims are workers from rural areas of Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines, employed through recruitment agencies and brokers to perform low-skilled work … many of these workers fall victim to labor trafficking by unscrupulous brokers and employers,” the report said.
The report said that some women and girls from China and other Southeast Asian countries are trafficked into Taiwan through fraudulent marriages or deceptive job offices.
The women come to Taiwan under the impression they would work at a factory and instead are forced to work in brothels.
The report said that many non-governmental organizations are reporting an increase in the number of boys rescued from prostitution.
It said although Taiwanese authorities do not fully comply with the minimum standards for elimination of trafficking, “they are making significant efforts to do so,” such as passing a new anti-trafficking law in January and appropriating US$14.8 million for a plan for victim protection measures.
Last year, Taiwanese authorities banned for-profit marriage broker agencies and the Ministry of Justice reported prosecuting 481 individuals for suspected trafficking from April to December.
A total of 234 people have been convicted of trafficking-related offenses since April last year until January, the report said, but urged Taiwan to implement the new law more effectively to improve the country’s victim and witness protection programs so that trafficked individuals would not be penalized for acts committed as a direct result of being trafficked.
The report also recommended Taiwan bolster police efforts to investigate trafficking and to identify trafficking victims, and encourage victims to voluntarily assist in the prosecution of traffickers.
Taiwan has been on Tier 2 since 2007. In 2006, Taiwan was placed on the Tier 2 watch list. China has remained on the watch list since 2005.
The NIA said in an effort to combat human trafficking, the Human Trafficking Prevention Act (人口販運防制法) was implemented on June 1. The law increases the punishment for traffickers.
The country has also agreed to provide safe shelter and grant temporary work rights for victims in Taiwan for assisting in prosecuting their traffickers, the NIA said.
A vessel owned by Taiwan’s cargo container shipping company Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp caught fire after an explosion occurred in a container on board while the ship was at the busy Port of Ningbo-Zhoushan in eastern China on Friday. Yang Ming Marine confirmed the incident and said a preliminary investigation found that the explosion occurred in a container on its vessel, the YM Mobility, which reportedly arrived in Ningbo early on Friday morning after its last call in Shanghai. “Immediate fire control measures were taken, and the situation is now under control,” Yang Ming Marine said in a statement. “All crew
‘UNITING TAIWAN’: While the boxer’s home town is offering free train and sports center access, stores around the nation are offering discounts to celebrate her victory New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) yesterday declared Aug. 12 “Lin Yu-ting Day” after the Taiwanese boxer won a gold medal in the women’s 57kg category at the Paris Olympics. Lin’s hometown is in the city’s Yingge District (鶯歌). The final between Lin and Poland’s Julia Szeremeta was broadcast live at the city hall early yesterday morning, where Hou, Lin’s mother and more than 200 people rooted for her. Thunderous roars and applause erupted at the city hall when the referee lifted Lin’s hand to show she had won. To celebrate Lin’s hard-won victory, Aug. 12 would be designated Lin
The number of foreign students attending Taiwanese universities last year dropped 9.46 percent from 2019, mainly due to a marked decline in the number of Chinese students, the National Audit Office said in a report. Last year, there were 116,038 foreign students — 67,299 degree students and 48,739 non-degree students — a decrease of 12,119, or 9.46 percent, from 128,157 in 2019, the report said. China in 2020 stopped allowing Chinese students to study in Taiwan, saying that COVID-19 pandemic controls and “the cross-strait situation” were the reasons for the change. Chinese who had already come to Taiwan were allowed finish their
HUGE UPGRADE: Once Terminal 3 is completed, the airport’s passenger service capacity would expand to 82 million travelers per year from 37 million, an official said The north concourse of Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport’s Terminal 3 is scheduled to begin operations in the middle of next year, Taoyuan International Airport Corp (TIAC) said yesterday. The Terminal 3 project was launched as the number of air travelers accessing the nation’s largest international airport each year has already exceeded the combined capacity of terminals 1 and 2. The two existing terminals were designed to be accessed by 37 million air travelers per year. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, about 48.36 million accessed the airport in 2019. The airport operator yesterday organized a field trip for reporters to see Terminal 3 construction