Each year, following the release of the U.S. State Department's Human Trafficking in Persons Report, Taiwan's Ministry of the Interior's National Immigration Agency holds an "International Workshop on Combating Human Trafficking." This year, the workshop took place on September 6th at the Chang Yung-fa Foundation. The workshop invited representatives from various countries to come together and discuss human trafficking prevention. Through sharing and discussion, participants aimed to understand the situation of human trafficking prevention in different countries, explore response strategies and tactics, and consider collaborative efforts to combat human trafficking.
Before the workshop on combating human trafficking began, Rerum Novarum Center, along with partners who have long been concerned about forced labor and human trafficking among long-haul fishermen, held a press conference outside the venue. They called on the Taiwanese government to abolish the dual-track system for employing foreign fishermen, emphasizing that the Ministry of Labor should serve as the labor oversight agency for all foreign fishermen, rather than the Fisheries Agency. Additionally, they urged the government to address the underlying structural issues behind forced labor.
During the press conference, Supervisor Lee Jeng-Shin of Rerum Novarum Center brought three foreign fishermen to participate. These fishermen, who had unwittingly become accomplices in smuggling cases due to following their employers' instructions, sought assistance from the Taiwanese government through the press conference.
The fishermen had unwittingly become accomplices in smuggling seafood products, as the boat owners engaged in risky smuggling activities.
Indonesian fishermen complain: "We came here to work based on legal contracts, so we follow our employers' assignments. All the tasks assigned to us on the boat are our jobs. We have to do whatever our boss tells us to do. We truly don't know what the items we are carrying are. Our boss only tells us that they are seafood products.
The Taiwanese government is investigating our boss's illegal activities, but we are being labeled as accomplices. This is not the truth!
We genuinely had no idea that our boss was breaking the law. We were just following our boss's orders to move the items.
Please, Taiwanese government, help us and investigate the issue as clearly as possible to uncover the truth and clear our names."
Lee Jeng-Shin from Rerum Novarum Center stated:
Foreign fishermen follow their employers' orders as stipulated in their contracts.
Yesterday, we received a response from the Keelung Customs of the Ministry of Finance, which did not clarify the truth about the smuggling case. They were unwilling to change or repeal the fines imposed on foreign fishermen. As a result, these foreign fishermen now face fines totaling over 1.3 million Taiwanese dollars. They are suffering and have nowhere to turn for help.
In their response, it was explicitly stated that foreign fishermen should have had the sensitivity to recognize that the goods were contraband and should have refused to assist in transporting them. However, the work environment on the fishing boats is characterized by a power imbalance, and fishermen must fulfill their job duties as specified in their contracts. There is no reason for them to reject work assignments. Additionally, since the goods are seafood products, and the fishermen themselves catch seafood as part of their job, it is challenging to clearly distinguish whether the products are contraband. The government has ignored the vulnerable position of foreign fishermen and has forcibly labeled them as accomplices. Such a handling of the case and its outcome should be carefully reviewed, as it may disregard the rights of foreign fishermen.
Therefore, Rerum Novarum Center has presented four major demands to the Taiwanese government:
- Government should acknowledge the vulnerability of foreign fishermen: The government should reevaluate the fairness of labor contracts and incorporate regulations that protect the rights of foreign fishermen, considering the unequal power dynamics in their work environment. This would help prevent employers from manipulating contract terms and inducing foreign fishermen, often unwittingly, to engage in illegal activities, making them unwitting accomplices. Furthermore, due to language and cultural differences, many rights and regulations are unclear to migrant workers. They often rely on intermediaries, putting them in vulnerable positions at high risk. When migrant workers unintentionally violate regulations, their employers or intermediaries may handle the situation poorly, leaving the workers with no recourse, ultimately leading to deportation or becoming "lost" workers with severely violated rights.
- Implementation of the right to information for foreign fishermen: Foreign fishermen face limitations in receiving information due to the methods of information dissemination, the content of expression, and their ability to interpret. Currently, only documents provided by the Ministry of Labor and the National Immigration Agency have substantial bilingual content. Other agencies still rely on intermediaries for translation and communication of information. When intermediary translations are inaccurate or lack diligence, it can lead to violations of migrant workers' rights. The government should strengthen the delivery of information, provide content expressed in the native languages of the workers, and ensure accurate information dissemination.
- Ensure opportunities for legal appeals for foreign fishermen: Administrative agencies, administrative courts, and the judiciary issue decisions and rulings related to foreign fishermen in Chinese, which is highly unfair to them. They are unable to read these official documents, hindering their opportunities for legal appeals. The government should follow the example of central regulations that have foreign language versions and include the delivery of official documents in the native languages of foreign fishermen when issuing Chinese decisions and rulings, to ensure their opportunities for legal appeals.
- Increase channels for legal assistance for foreign fishermen: Foreign fishermen, when facing legal issues, rely on others due to their lack of familiarity with local laws. Currently, this assistance often comes from intermediaries or NGOs, as they are less capable of handling these matters independently. The government should establish more channels for legal assistance, proactively provide legal support for migrant workers, and allow foreign fishermen to have more autonomous options when facing legal problems, safeguarding their legal rights.
For a long time, fishermen have been a group neglected by the outside world. Since 2017, Rerum Novarum Center has been reaching out to these brothers on the sea, providing not only care but also practical solutions to their difficulties, including regulations, wages, workplace accidents, medical care, changing employers, human trafficking, and more. We have gone deep into 24 fishing ports to resolve the challenges faced by foreign migrant fishermen. We have seen that due to language barriers, most fishermen are unaware of their rights and don't know how to seek help. They endure harsh working conditions, hard work, meager income, and are an unprotected group of people. We hope for your donation to deeply accompany them, allowing our service to take root and become guardians of foreign migrant fishermen. Please click (“I want to donate") or call (02) 2397-1933 #122. Thank you for your response and concern!