*title taken from the 2007 TIP Report
Hi all. First off, apologies all around! It's Wed evening and my fist two weeks here in Taiwan have been hectic and filled with adventures!! Sincerest apologies all around for not updating in the first few days but I got caught up with work and traveling with Father Hung. I'll try to backtrack and fill you guys in. I'm not going to be able to update you guys every single day but I will try weekly since I'm on a regular schedule now. I promise this long, overdue update is well worth the time - so please please enjoy the read!
Sept 11 - Arrival after a long flight
I landed in Taiwan on September 11 at precisely 6am, randomly went to a carwash with Cha Hung, ate lots of oatmeal with the women at the shelter, and by 9am I was acclimated to the office. I had a wonderful pho lunch with all the women and men, and by 2pm, I was on my way out the door with Cha Hung and Cha Cuong to the Taoyuan Railway Station. We are taking an over-night trip to Su-ao in Yilan County as a stop-over before we visit the Yilan Detention Center. Here, we will meet with the local Catholic Priest, Cha Chin. He played host and took us to the Su-ao's fish habor, one of Taiwan's major ports. Su-ao is a cute, grubby, smelly little town with an amazing fish market at the end of the harbor. The town is particularly known for its availability of fresh seafood, especially yellowfin tuna, octopus, crabs, squids, hammerhead sharks just lying along the street.
Of particular interest: About three years ago, Su-ao and other ports along TW's coast was the site of massive exploitation of foreign fishermen. Many who sought well-paying fishing jobs (especially those from Mainland China, Viet Nam, the Philippines, Thailand) were subjected to beatings, food deprivation, on top of terrible working conditions. Recruited from poor communities, these men and sometimes-even children were exploited for up to four years. With their passports confiscated, physically and emotional abused, these men often times found it hard to escape as the boat served as a perfect prison and many were left without official passports or travel documents. Highly disposable, these men often died on the seas. Fortunately, three years, the Taiwanese government banned Vietnamese fishermen; but just in taking a brief tour of the harbor, I saw many Indonesians and Thai fishermen. It’s a bit daunting to think that they might also be exploited….
Sept. 12 - Yilan Detention Center
Taiwan's National Immigration Agency operates 5 Detention Centers in Yilan, Matsu, Hsinchu, Sansia, and Kinmen. The NIA is a fairly new development for TW's government; just last year, illegal migrant workers who were picked up by the authorities would be crammed into local police stations until they were repatriated back to their countries. Along with Fathers Chin, Cuong, and Hung, chi My-Nga, VMWBO's director of policy and planning, we went to visit the Yilan Detention Center in Luodong. The Director himself escorted us to the Yilan Detention Center; he has much to prove because of recent outbreaks from the detention center. Read more here! It's a really interesting string of events. About seven women escaped the center using only a smoldering iron! Being spoiled by American standards, I am still surprised by the lack of attention women receive upon official introductions. Taiwan, being socially more advanced than mainland China, is still primarily a patriarchal society and thus fairly often disregards women in an official setting.
First Impressions of the Yilan Det. Center
What a quick way to get my feet wet! In just my second day in Taiwan, I was able to get a first hand account of the conditions of the detention centers. When the police arrest illegal migrant workers, most will spend their time in these detention centers until they can be repatriated back to their home country. In the eyes of the Taiwanese governments the many who have left their employers (many due to abuse – explained below) are criminals. For those who came to Taiwan under a legal work permit, they find themselves working unreasonable hours, physically and physiologically abused by their employers, confined, withheld wages, have their passports and travel documents confiscated, or threatened with repatriation. These migrant workers are victims of exploitative practices. It is no wonder many flee their abusive environment to find a better working and living situation. Now illegal and undocumented, these migrant workers work petty jobs and are labeled as criminal groups by government officials. For the many who do bring their complaints to the brokers or employers, they are rebuffed and threatened of deportation back to their home countries.
The UN TIP (Trafficking In Persons) Protocol supports the victim-centered approach at the core of the international community's anti-trafficking efforts. To this end, there is a human rights principle that victims and survivors of trafficking, debt bondage, forced-labor, and slave-like practices be provided with services and be protected from further trauma. In just my first day of observation, I am saddened to say that the men and women are not receiving these services. It is still too early to make a definite statement about the conditions of the shelter but there obvious concerns. These detainees are treated like criminals, wearing prison garb, not allowed phone calls. Some are obvious victims of physical abuse, whether it is from their employer or further abuse from center's guards. The concern is whether or not the Taiwanese government is offering any services to address such issues or would they allow NGOs and other organizations to come in and assist victims of trafficking.
The women’s center has no women guards and it is scary to think that for those who have been sexually or psychologically abuse, they are further traumatized. The look on these women faces is unforgettable. Many of the women began to cry when Cha Hung described the work that the office does. It is hard to look out into the crowd and not see my mother or eldest sister, or perhaps my many, many aunts and cousins still in Viet Nam - many of whom wish to leave to find better jobs. Many of the men that we met also shed tears when we left. Wearing prison garb, looking thin, scarred, and scared, these men and women left a burning image.......
Also of concern are the Vietnamese brides. Those who come to marry local men (either for fake marriages to work or for real matches) often find themselves in abusive situations. Read more.
There are some in Yilan who fit this category.
While looking at improving the conditions in these centers, I hope to focus particularly on the reasons why these people were forced to leave their legal employers. Labor trafficking happens when there is a blatant abuse of contracts (longer working hours than stated, employer abuse, confinement, etc) and local laws as well as a cruel cycle of debt bondage placed on these workers. For those who had to borrow money or pay a “privilege fee” to work in Taiwan (this is illegal by international standards), they have to work to pay back their initial debt and through initial threats, physical abuse, etc they are forced into continued service. To protect migrant workers from labor exploitation, there has to be a bilateral effort between Vietnam and Taiwan. Source countries such as Vietnam must take the responsibility to protect its workers by demanding that labor agencies and brokers abroad are prosecuted.
Vietnam should support direct hiring services (instead of brokerages), and require rights of these workers be protected. The Taiwan government has to actively investigate employee’s complaints and use a victim-centered approach for the victims of labor trafficking in the detention centers. Of course, this is all talk from me. What is theoretical does not always translate to daily realities of what is happening here in Taiwan. In the next couple of months, VMWBO hopes to have widespread policy changes in the National Immigration Agency to further protect migrant workers and victims of human trafficking. What is reality are the cases of abused migrant workers and trafficked victims that seek shelter at Cha Hung’s office and other NGOs. And of course, I am only talking specifically of the Vietnamese people here in Taiwan. If I were to talk and observe the Filipinos, Thai, or Indonesian workers, no doubt that I will also find these same issues and concerns.
Sept. 17 - Coalition Meeting, the Holy See, and Wipha! Another exciting day as Typhoon Wipha makes its way towards the island. Cha Hung, Chi My-Nga and I go to a meeting with Hope Workers' Center, and TIWA to the Migrant Empowerment Network of Taiwan (MENT) coalition meeting. Gathered in a small office, this collation of labor rights’ groups and anti-trafficking NGOs works together to. I’ll be working with several people to address the conditions in the detention center…..
Sept. 18 - TYPHOON, day of rest! Being a true Texan, I was highly prepared and a little bit curious about my first ever typhoon ...what with tornadoes, hailing storms, and mass flooding a common incidence for me. With such urgency last night amongst the local, I was surprised to wake up to mild winds and rain. Schools and government buildings are closed, so my scheduled anti-trafficking meeting at the NIA is cancelled; no complaints here as I get my first day of rest……to take a look at case files.
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Three weeks into my stay in Taiwan and already there are so many issues and topics to be addressed!! Of particular concern is the detainees in all the detention center. I’ll be focusing particularly on this issue, as well as the relationship between debt and forced labor in taiwan and of course, daily life at the shelter. I have much to learn from the men and women here.
Until next time! :-p Trinh Nguyen
