Demonstration to request more commitment from Taiwanese Government in the fight against human right abuse. (Photo: EJF)

NGOs stage protest claiming further action against fishing workers' abuse

TAIWAN
Wednesday, July 25, 2018, 23:30 (GMT + 9)

NGO coalition Human Rights for Migrant Fishers deems the Taiwanese Government is not doing enough to eradicate human rights abuses and human trafficking in the fishing industry so it staged a protest in Taipei on Wednesday.

The demonstration was held at the same time as the “2018 International Workshop on Strategies for Combating Human Trafficking” to protest against some of the Goverment's policies, which the coalition consider may even pave the way for such abuse.

The workshop, hosted by the Taiwan Immigration Agency, is attended by experts from all over the world to discuss how to abolish human trafficking.

The coalition recognises there has been some progressive action but insists the country does not do nearly enough to combat exploitation and inhumane working and living conditions for the most vulnerable migrant workers, especially those on Taiwanese fishing vessels, and the distant water fishing fleet.

The NGOs point to the latest US Trafficking in Persons Report, which highlighted recent cases such as the 81 migrant fishers who were locked in a cramped basement while their vessel was in port, and the behaviour of Taiwanese company Giant Oceans, which trafficked Cambodian fishers without being sanctioned.

These non-government organisations recall that just this month, the International Labour Organization (ILO) reported that a Taiwanese ship was the first to be detained in South Africa for violating its basic standards of decent work in the fishing industry, which highlights the lack of the fit-for-purpose legal regime needed to truly eradicate these abuses on the Taiwanese fleet.

“The Government has been claiming that it has largely enhanced the protection for the migrant workers. However, ironically, the first vessel detained for violating the Work in Fishing Convention since the end of 2017 after it came into force was a Taiwanese vessel,” pointed out the Deputy Secretary General of Taiwan Association for Human Rights Shih Yi- Hsiang.

For her part, Greenpeace’s Oceans project lead Jodie Lee stressed that tackling human trafficking in migrant fishers is gaining increased attention on the international stage and the Taiwanese government must take it seriously.

“Workers on board distant water fishing vessels are especially vulnerable to such abuse and the vast size of Taiwan’s distant water fishing fleet means it has a particularly great responsibility,” Lee stressed.

Deputy Director of the Environmental Justice Foundation (EFJ) Max Schmid added: “There is still a significant gap between Taiwan’s regulations and international standards. Currently Taiwan’s systems cannot effectively protect migrant fishers from trafficking.”

The leader stated that the Taiwan government must urgently ratify international conventions, including the Work in Fishing Convention, and robustly implement laws to address both human rights abuses and the related problem of illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.

Meanwhile, the Secretary General of the Taiwan International Workers Association Chen Hsiulien highlighted the current regulations cannot stop the human rights abuse and offered as an example the case of the migrant workers that are not allowed to freely change jobs because it is considered that legally they have to have permission from their current boss or the government.

“The Fishery Agency also allows brokers to charge migrant fishers a fee before they start work – creating the ideal conditions for debt bondage,” stated Director of Serve the People Association Lennon Wong.

“In addition, many migrant workers’ identity documents are held by the brokers or employers – they are powerless,” Wong added.

Secretary General of the Yilan Migrant Fishermen Union Allison Lee said that although the US Trafficking in Persons Report has given Taiwan a tier 1 ranking, the highest there is, for the last nine years, it has also emphasised the human rights abuse in Taiwan’s distant water fisheries in every single year’s report, which in his view shows that the problem has always been there, but the government only tries to cover it up instead of really dealing with it.

Related articles:

- Fishing vessel detained under ILO convention
- NGOs urge Taiwanese govt to boost migrant fishers’ conditions
 
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