Migrant workers at the mercy of government

This strategy has several components, the most basic of which is that the individuals who are intent on pursuing overseas employment are required to attend vocational skills training courses, which they pay for themselves, before applying for an overseas job. This is seen as being foundational in securing the quality of the Vietnamese international migrant work force.

The approximate cost of the whole process, both in training and placement fees, is US$3,000. However, there are strict limitations placed on the individual after she or he has secured a job in Taiwan. First, there is a probation period of 45 days and if the employer is not satisfied with their performance they can be sent home. The worker will be the one to shoulder all costs, including the initial US$3,000.

Obviously such a critical decision is open to the abuse of power, based on the employer's whims and prejudices, with no apparent need for clear, provable evidence. This is more sharply brought into focus when considering that the average monthly income of the working class in Vietnam is US$40 to US$60. Clearly the "failure of duty" would condemn such individuals and their families to a lifetime of radical poverty; especially if the money was borrowed at a high interest rate.

Next, in order to guarantee submissiveness and obedience in their citizens who take employment in Taiwan, it appears that the government of Vietnam has adopted a policy of "naming and shaming," those who run away from their employment before the contract expired. This is done by making a public announcement aimed at ostracizing the worker in their home province or town. How deep will this ostracism go? Would the individual be refused employment opportunities in Vietnam once returned home? Would the other family members also be implicated?

Consider the ramifications for a Vietnamese woman who takes employment in Taiwan as a domestic worker or caregiver and is then exposed to an employer who subjects her to various levels of sexual harassment or physical or psychological abuse. Can it really be said that representatives from both the Taiwanese and Vietnamese governments lack the decency that is required to protect these unsophisticated Vietnamese migrant workers from such abuse?

Currently, Chen Chu (陳菊), the chairwoman of the Council of Labor Affairs (勞委會), is visiting Vietnam to negotiate further agreements between Taiwan and Vietnam. I am taking this opportunity to discuss these issues in hopes that the Taiwanese government will not take undue advantage of its position as a labor-importing country; an advantage which will perhaps further push the government of Vietnam to embark upon more ruthless competition strategies in bargaining for bigger quotas for the exporting of their citizens to work in Taiwan.

The author is a member of Sisters of Social Service and currently a PhD candidate at the University of Cambridge, UK.