The Control Yuan has said it would investigate reports that some Taiwanese were imprisoned, tortured, sexually assaulted and threatened with organ harvesting after accepting part-time jobs in Cambodia and Myanmar.
Control Yuan members Yeh Ta-hua (葉大華) and Chi Hui-jung (紀惠容) said Taiwanese might be being trafficked in the two countries.
Local media have over the past few months reported that trafficking rings and human resources agencies have been placing job advertisements on social media for positions such as customer service workers or casino staff in Southeast Asian countries, Yeh said.
Photo: Yao Chieh-hsiu, Taipei Times
However, once there, Taiwanese have had their personal documents seized and been forced to work for gangs, she said.
Some have been tortured with electric shocks, while others have been sexually assaulted and threatened to have their organs harvested, she added.
The Control Yuan has received a petition saying that young people from social welfare institutions have been defrauded after accepting work in Cambodia and some have disappeared, with families unable to confirm if they are safe, she said.
Yeh and Chi questioned whether authorities know how many Taiwanese are working abroad under such conditions.
They also asked whether the government can provide aid and if strategies to help such victims have been drafted.
Separately, the Aviation Police Bureau said it has been interviewing young people checking in for flights to Cambodia and providing information about the suspected trafficking rings to prevent Taiwanese falling victim to fraudulent job offers.
However, some criminal rings started to ask jobseekers to travel to Cambodia via Thailand to evade the bureau’s efforts, it said.
As a result, the bureau assigned officers to check-in desks and boarding gates for flights to Bangkok, it added.
The bureau’s Security and Patrol Brigade on Friday dissuaded a person surnamed Chen (陳) from traveling to Cambodia via Thailand for work, the bureau said.
Police have since July 20 stopped 23 people from boarding planes at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport to work overseas, it said, adding that people must research the employers before accepting jobs abroad.
Lu Chiu-yuan (呂秋遠), a lawyer who specializes in similar cases, on Sunday said on Facebook that 10 trafficking victims have asked for his help.
Among those who have sought help are a couple who said their mobile phones and passports were confiscated upon landing in Cambodia last month.
The woman said she was sexually assaulted and was told she would be beaten up and her organs removed if they sought help, Lu said.
Many victims have been forced into prostitution or working in mines, he said.
Local police often collude with the syndicates and victims who seek help from police are often returned to the criminals for punishment, he said.
Taiwan does not have a representative office in Cambodia, so the safest way out of such situations is to pay a ransom, which requires family members to fly there, Lu said.
The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Vietnam might help connect families with trustworthy police officials in Cambodia to help handle such matters, he added.
CLASH OF WORDS: While China’s foreign minister insisted the US play a constructive role with China, Rubio stressed Washington’s commitment to its allies in the region The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday affirmed and welcomed US Secretary of State Marco Rubio statements expressing the US’ “serious concern over China’s coercive actions against Taiwan” and aggressive behavior in the South China Sea, in a telephone call with his Chinese counterpart. The ministry in a news release yesterday also said that the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs had stated many fallacies about Taiwan in the call. “We solemnly emphasize again that our country and the People’s Republic of China are not subordinate to each other, and it has been an objective fact for a long time, as well as
‘CHARM OFFENSIVE’: Beijing has been sending senior Chinese officials to Okinawa as part of efforts to influence public opinion against the US, the ‘Telegraph’ reported Beijing is believed to be sowing divisions in Japan’s Okinawa Prefecture to better facilitate an invasion of Taiwan, British newspaper the Telegraph reported on Saturday. Less than 750km from Taiwan, Okinawa hosts nearly 30,000 US troops who would likely “play a pivotal role should Beijing order the invasion of Taiwan,” it wrote. To prevent US intervention in an invasion, China is carrying out a “silent invasion” of Okinawa by stoking the flames of discontent among locals toward the US presence in the prefecture, it said. Beijing is also allegedly funding separatists in the region, including Chosuke Yara, the head of the Ryukyu Independence
‘ARMED GROUP’: Two defendants used Chinese funds to form the ‘Republic of China Taiwan Military Government,’ posing a threat to national security, prosecutors said A retired lieutenant general has been charged after using funds from China to recruit military personnel for an “armed” group that would assist invading Chinese forces, prosecutors said yesterday. The retired officer, Kao An-kuo (高安國), was among six people indicted for contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法), the High Prosecutors’ Office said in a statement. The group visited China multiple times, separately and together, from 2018 to last year, where they met Chinese military intelligence personnel for instructions and funding “to initiate and develop organizations for China,” prosecutors said. Their actions posed a “serious threat” to “national security and social stability,” the statement
‘VERY SHALLOW’: The center of Saturday’s quake in Tainan’s Dongshan District hit at a depth of 7.7km, while yesterday’s in Nansai was at a depth of 8.1km, the CWA said Two magnitude 5.7 earthquakes that struck on Saturday night and yesterday morning were aftershocks triggered by a magnitude 6.4 quake on Tuesday last week, a seismologist said, adding that the epicenters of the aftershocks are moving westward. Saturday and yesterday’s earthquakes occurred as people were preparing for the Lunar New Year holiday this week. As of 10am yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) recorded 110 aftershocks from last week’s main earthquake, including six magnitude 5 to 6 quakes and 32 magnitude 4 to 5 tremors. Seventy-one of the earthquakes were smaller than magnitude 4. Thirty-one of the aftershocks were felt nationwide, while 79