Taiwan is considering lifting an entry ban on Indonesian migrant workers if demand for workers from the Southeast Asian country requires it, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC), said on Tuesday.
In December last year, an indefinite ban on the recruitment of Indonesian migrant workers was imposed, as the reliability of the country’s COVID-19 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests was questioned.
Indonesian officials have since discussed the matter with Taiwanese representatives in the country, and the representatives asked Indonesia to provide a list of certified PCR testing facilities there.
Indonesia has selected more than 80 certified testing institutions in the hope that more reliable COVID-19 testing could result in the ban being lifted, Chen said.
Taiwan would consider lifting the ban if there is strong demand for Indonesian migrant workers, and would make a decision based on negotiations between the Ministry of Labor and Indonesia, Chen said.
However, entry controls would initially be imposed on the total number of migrant workers from the country, he added.
Meanwhile, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥), who is also the CECC’s spokesman, said that the COVID-19 pandemic is still at its peak and further assessment would be required before Taiwan lifts the ban.
Indonesian authorities on Monday said they hoped that Taiwan would lift its ban and allow 6,000 Indonesian migrant workers affected by the freeze to enter the country.
Benny Rhamdani, head of the Agency for the Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers, said in a statement that about 6,000 workers have already prepared visas, employment documents and health checkups to work in Taiwan, and that once the nation lifts the ban, Indonesia would improve its oversight to prevent fake COVID-19 test results from being issued.
Taiwan’s representative office in Indonesia said that it would submit a report on the COVID-19 situation in Indonesia and the agency’s project to the CECC and other government agencies for evaluation before any decision is made.
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