Some 600 Thai, Vietnamese, Filipino and Indonesian migrant workers took to the streets on December 28 to demand for fair treatment and respect for their basic human rights. The participants marched peacefully from the 228 Peace Park to Ketagalan Avenue in front of the Presidential Building. The protestors are asking the Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) to re-include foreign workers under the protection of the Labor Standard Law and to institute the direct employment system in place of the current employment agency system. In addition, they want the CLA to issue regulations setting a fixed time off for workers, and to grant workers the right to freely change employers.
Premier Yu Shyi-kun said that the Cabinet-level task force called “Hunting Snake," which was launched last month to combat irregular migration, is targeting to catch 1,000 to 1,200 irregular immigrants within the next six months. The task force is offering cash rewards for any information leading to the arrest of irregular migrants.
The National Police Administration wants the government to impose stricter security measures in scrutinizing visa applications from certain foreign nationals that have the potential to cause social problems in the country. According to police investigations, male foreigners from certain countries, particularly Africa and the Middle East, have used falsified documents to enter Taiwan and upon arrival, try to marry Taiwanese women to gain citizenship and legitimize their stay. Such scheme has become particularly suspect after the September 11 terrorist attacks in the US and findings that terrorists often try to gain citizenship in a foreign country they plan to attack.
The Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) justified its decision to allow the hiring of migrant construction workers for the expansion project of the Formosa Plastics Group, saying that the move will create more jobs for locals. Under the CLA’s new policy, companies that invest more than NT$10 billion in an infrastructure project is allowed to hire foreign construction workers. However, for each migrant worker hired, the company has to hire two local workers.
Lawmakers approved the draft revisions of the labor insurance regulations intended to ease the premium payments of workers and employers. The draft regulations have separated the insurance premium categories into old age insurance, accidents and occupational hazards. Foreign workers need not pay premiums for old age insurance since they only stay for a two-year period.
The Ministry of Education announced that it has designed a long-term teaching program for foreign spouses of Taiwanese nationals. The ministry has started offering subsidies to local governments for the opening of 391 Chinese-language classes for foreign spouses and by next April, will publish teaching materials for basic education classes and a manual for Chinese-Vietnamese language teachers. In addition, the ministry is also considering the use of television and the Internet as additional teaching media.
According to Tseng Yen-fen, sociology professor at the National Taiwan University, the country’s immigration policy focuses too much on population control and less on ways to integrate immigrants into society. He suggested putting up bilingual schools and formulating educational programs in both Mandarin and other Southeast Asian languages to facilitate the integration of immigrants.
The Foreign Ministry has issued a new directive to the Education Office to strictly review the economic status and motives of foreign students for learning Chinese after two years’ stay in the country and to monitor if the student has not been working illegally. David Wei-Yang Dai, director of the Center for Chinese Language and Culture at the National Taiwan Normal University, has criticized the latest regulation as a deterrent to attracting more foreign students to Taiwan. It also puts greater pressure on language institutes to monitor not just the academic but also the economic activity of its foreign students.
Taiwan’s health authorities are trying to track down five foreign passengers, three US nationals, a Japanese and a Singaporean, of a China Airlines flight from Singapore to Taipei on December 10 who sat near a man later diagnosed to be suffering from SARS.
The 13 other Taiwanese passengers on the same flight had been instructed to monitor themselves for any signs of fever. This is Taiwan’s first confirmed SARS case in five months.
Sources: Jimmy Chuang, “Certain foreigners scrutinized," Taipei Times, 16 December 2003; Amber Wang, “Migrant workers to demonstrate for fair treatment, employment rights," The China Post, 19 December 2003; AFP, “Taiwan hunts five foreign passengers on SARS flight," Borneo Bulletin, 19 December 2003; CNA, “MOE increasing education programs for foreign spouses," Taipei Times, 19 December 2003; “New labor insurance rules to cut financial burden on workers," The China Post, 23 December 2003; Karyn Hsiao, “Foreign students discouraged by increased visa scrutiny," The China Post, 26 December 2003; Fiona Lu, “Hunting snake wants 1,000 illegal immigrants," Taipei Times, 27 December 2003; Amber Wang, “Labor groups battle new CLA guidelines," The China Post, 27 December 2003; Amber Wang, “Migrants mark to seek protection of rights," The China Post, 29 December 2003; Cody Yiu, “Foreign workers protest for better rights," Taipei Times, 29 December 2003; “Foreign workers call for more rights," Taiwan headlines, 29 December 2003; Joy Su, “Taiwan’s Bureau of Immigration like a police station, academics say," Taipei Times, 30 December 2003