Taiwan Bans Vietnam Workers Due To High Runaway

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SUBJECT: Taiwan Bans Vietnam Workers Due To High Runaway
Rate


1. Summary: Taiwan has banned foreign workers from
Vietnam since January 2005. The official reason is the high
percentage of Vietnamese workers that run away from their
employers once they enter Taiwan. NGOs claim that, many
workers flee as a means to escape abuse because the
Vietnamese trade office is known not to assist abused
workers. Taiwan officials believe a high percentage of
runaways were trying to avoid paying high brokerage fees,
which the Vietnamese Government is unwilling to address.
End Summary.

Vietnamese Workers at large in Taiwan
--------------


2. In January 2005, Taiwan imposed a ban on hiring new
foreign workers from Vietnam because approximately 10% of
Vietnamese workers in Taiwan either overstay their visas or
run away from their employers. According to the Council on
Labor Affairs (CLA),as of June 2005, of the 102,445
Vietnamese workers in Taiwan, 10,583 workers are unaccounted
for. There are currently more Vietnamese runaways in Taiwan
than the total number of runaways from all other countries
combined. The other countries that send workers to Taiwan
are the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia and Mongolia.
(reftel)

High Broker Fees Contribute to High Runaway Rate
-------------- ---


3. Officials at Taiwan's CLA believe that the primary
reason workers run away is to escape from the debt they owe
the labor brokers that arranged their job contract. AIT has
learned that Vietnamese workers typically have the highest
broker fees of all foreign workers that come to Taiwan.
"The lowest fee I ever saw was NT$140,000 (US$4,000). That
is only for the Vietnam broker and does not include the
Taiwan broker fee. The fees in Vietnam are often twice as
high as the fees charged to Filipino workers." said Joyce
Shiau, Director of Taiwan CLA's Foreign Worker's Counseling
Center, a government office responsible for the welfare of
foreign workers in Taipei. Vietnamese families sometimes
pool their resources to take out a loan to send one family
member, usually a female, to Taiwan. Eighty percent of them
will work as domestic servants taking care of the elderly.
As a result of the loan, the worker arrives in Taiwan in
debt. He or she will work for the first year or two, out of
a three-year contract, just to pay off the debt.


4. The high broker fees create a host of problems for the
Vietnamese workers. While workers from other countries can
expect to save US$4,000 - $6,000 after a three year stint,
Vietnamese workers find that they will not be able to save
nearly that much money. In addition, Vietnamese workers are
sometimes unwilling to seek help because of the risks of
getting sent back to Vietnam. A worker deported within the
first two years of the contract would likely still be
indebted to the broker.

Vietnam Government Involved in Setting High Broker Fees
-------------- --------------


5. Stephanie Wei, Director of Rerum Novarum, a Catholic
welfare organization in Taiwan explained to AIT the
differences between brokers in Vietnam and brokers in other
countries. She said that in many countries, the government
views the broker as a necessary evil because they provide an
essential service. By comparison, she explained that in
Vietnam "the Vietnamese government is the broker." Joyce
Shiau said "The Vietnamese government is quite good at
exploiting the foreign workers that come to Taiwan." She
explained that the government, which receives a portion of
the brokerage fees when workers leave Vietnam, also collects
income taxes when they return. Most Vietnamese workers will
pay almost NT$60,000 (US$2,000) in back taxes when they
return to Vietnam.


6. A telling example which supports Shiau's assertion,
occurred in early January 2005 when Taiwan authorities
announced they were banning Vietnamese workers from Taiwan.
In response, the Vietnam Economic and Cultural Office in
Taiwan announced that, as a measure of goodwill, the office
would round up 2,000 illegal Vietnamese workers in Taiwan by
the end of the month. In the end, the office was only able
to turn over 800 illegal Vietnamese workers. AIT ECONOFF
asked Nguyen Ba Hai, head of Labor Administration, Vietnam
Economic and Cultural Office in Taiwan, how the Vietnamese
government was able to organize an island-wide effort to
track down illegal Vietnamese workers. Nguyen Ba Hai said
that the Vietnam government had sent labor brokers to Taiwan
to assist the authorities in tracking down illegal workers.

Vietnam Government silent on labor trafficking
-------------- -


7. The Vietnam government's involvement in lucrative broker
fees may have translated into lax efforts to combat labor
trafficking in Taiwan. NGOs report that a number of
dishonest brokers use bait-and-switch tactics to illegally
hire Vietnamese workers. NGOs claim that before they are
hired, workers are frequently told they will be employed as
domestic caretakers in Taiwan. However, once they arrive,
the workers are sent to factories or farms and are paid a
fraction of the prevailing wage. These NGOs claim that
employers are willing to risk hiring illegal foreign workers
because, compared to hiring Taiwan workers, they can be paid
lower wages, will work long hours, cannot change jobs, and
rarely know their rights. Joyce Shiau confirmed that "60%
of all labor trafficking cases involve Vietnamese workers."
Peter Nguyen Van Hung, head of the Vietnamese Migrant
Worker's Office, an NGO in Taiwan, described some of the
tragic consequences of labor trafficking. He said there
were many cases of domestic caretakers, poorly trained in
using factory machines, losing fingers and hands while
working in factories.


8. Nguyen Luong Trao, of the Vietnam Economic and Cultural
Office in Taiwan told AIT that labor trafficking was a
common complaint they received from Vietnamese workers.
When AIT ECONOFF asked them what the office did about these
complaints, he explained that they encouraged them work with
their broker. When asked about the exact number and type of
complaints they receive, he said "we don't keep statistics."

Taiwan, NGOs bemoan lack of cooperation from Vietnam
-------------- --------------


9. The Vietnam government's lack of progress on these
issues has frustrated Taiwan officials. Yang Guo-shen,
Specialist with the Council of Labor Affair's Foreign
Workers Division, said that Taiwan has been warning Vietnam
since May 2004 to control the high runaway rate. In response
to questions about the high broker fees, he said his office
has seen many cases where high broker fees are disguised as
loan agreements and the workers claim they have never seen
the loan agreement. He also added "these loan agreements
have the official seal of the Vietnamese government so
somebody is stamping these documents as legitimate."


10. NGOs also report similar stories of the Vietnamese
government's unwillingness to help Vietnamese citizens.
Stephanie Wei, director of Rerum Novarum told AIT "If a
Filipino worker has a problem, the first place they go to is
MECO (Manila Economic and Cultural Office). But the
Vietnamese office does nothing to help their foreign
workers."


11. Nguyen Luong Trao told AIT that Vietnam is cracking
down on the high run away rate by passing a law to punish
Vietnamese workers that runaway from their employers. When
AIT ECONOFF asked whether this would not simply result in
discouraging runaways from returning to Vietnam. Nguyen
Luong Trao replied, "Eventually they have to return and,
when they do, they will be punished."


12. Comment: Although the Taiwan government is responsible
for the welfare of all foreign workers, Vietnamese workers
have faced particularly harsh conditions. Lack of support
from the Vietnam government and the close cooperation
between the Vietnam government and labor brokers appear to
be contributing factors to the higher runaway rate among
Vietnamese laborers in Taiwan. End Comment.