The repeated attempts by lawmakers to exclude foreign fishermen from the nation’s labor insurance and health insurance programs show how oblivious they are to the suffering of one of the most vulnerable groups of migrant workers, who are already subject to harsh working and living conditions.
On Thursday last week, several DPP lawmakers tried to pick up where they left off in May last year to have an amendment to Article 69-2 of the Fisheries Act (漁業法), countersigned by some Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers, clear the legislature. The proposal would have exempted foreign fishermen from the National Health Insurance and Labor Insurance systems, both of which are mandatory social insurance programs.
While the lawmakers backed off from the proposal in the end, they managed to push through another amendment initiated by two KMT lawmakers, absolving employers of foreign fishermen of any responsibility for failing to have their workers insured under the National Health Insurance program from January 2009 until the passage of the amendment.
The passage of the amendment is widely seen as a prelude to making the National Health Insurance program optional for foreign fishermen, as lawmakers stated their case for purchasing commercial insurance as a more viable alternative for employers of foreign fishermen. They have cited similar reasons for denying foreign marine workers access to the Labor Insurance system.
Legislators said that commercial insurers can provide more flexible policies that meet the changing needs of the maritime industry. They said that forcing foreign fishermen to enrol in the National Health Insurance program imposes an unnecessary financial burden on these workers because they do not get the healthcare they pay for given the long periods they spend at sea. They added that foreign fishermen would only end up with the short end of the stick under the Labor Insurance system given the short-term nature of their employment, and their young age disqualifies them from receiving a pension.
However, given that employers are not legally obliged to provide their employees with commercial insurance — even in cases where such a provision exists — and it is difficult for labor authorities to monitor whether the rule is being observed and to ensure that insurance coverage is provided at an affordable premium, the suggestion made by the lawmakers borders on the absurd.
The argument to exclude foreign fishermen from the National Health Insurance system is untenable and discriminatory against migrant workers. In the case of public servants deployed overseas, the government does not deprive them of the right to be covered by the program, but allows them, along with their dependents, to suspend paying premiums while they are abroad and resume coverage after they return to the country to meet their medical needs.
Just because migrant workers do not meet the Labor Insurance system’s eligibility criteria for a pension payout is not a reason to exclude them from the program. The system offers various types of benefits, such as hospitalization due to ordinary injury, illness or occupational accident. In a way, it also serves as a mechanism for supervising working conditions. Frequent applications for medical care or benefits by the insured may be an indication that workplace safety is a concern.
In its annual report on human trafficking last year, the US Department of State, citing estimates by non-governmental organizations, said that some of the 160,000 migrant workers onboard Taiwanese fishing vessels around the world have reported “non- or underpayment of wages, long working hours, physical abuse, lack of food and poor living conditions.”
News reports on these kinds of story are all too familiar to many, but for lawmakers, electoral interests still outweigh human rights concerns.
Saudi Arabian largesse is flooding Egypt’s cultural scene, but the reception is mixed. Some welcome new “cooperation” between two regional powerhouses, while others fear a hostile takeover by Riyadh. In Cairo, historically the cultural capital of the Arab world, Egyptian Minister of Culture Nevine al-Kilany recently hosted Saudi Arabian General Entertainment Authority chairman Turki al-Sheikh. The deep-pocketed al-Sheikh has emerged as a Medici-like patron for Egypt’s cultural elite, courted by Cairo’s top talent to produce a slew of forthcoming films. A new three-way agreement between al-Sheikh, Kilany and United Media Services — a multi-media conglomerate linked to state intelligence that owns much of
The US and other countries should take concrete steps to confront the threats from Beijing to avoid war, US Representative Mario Diaz-Balart said in an interview with Voice of America on March 13. The US should use “every diplomatic economic tool at our disposal to treat China as what it is... to avoid war,” Diaz-Balart said. Giving an example of what the US could do, he said that it has to be more aggressive in its military sales to Taiwan. Actions by cross-party US lawmakers in the past few years such as meeting with Taiwanese officials in Washington and Taipei, and
Denmark’s “one China” policy more and more resembles Beijing’s “one China” principle. At least, this is how things appear. In recent interactions with the Danish state, such as applying for residency permits, a Taiwanese’s nationality would be listed as “China.” That designation occurs for a Taiwanese student coming to Denmark or a Danish citizen arriving in Denmark with, for example, their Taiwanese partner. Details of this were published on Sunday in an article in the Danish daily Berlingske written by Alexander Sjoberg and Tobias Reinwald. The pretext for this new practice is that Denmark does not recognize Taiwan as a state under
The Republic of China (ROC) on Taiwan has no official diplomatic allies in the EU. With the exception of the Vatican, it has no official allies in Europe at all. This does not prevent the ROC — Taiwan — from having close relations with EU member states and other European countries. The exact nature of the relationship does bear revisiting, if only to clarify what is a very complicated and sensitive idea, the details of which leave considerable room for misunderstanding, misrepresentation and disagreement. Only this week, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) received members of the European Parliament’s Delegation for Relations