Human traffickers threw 22 Chinese women into the sea yesterday to escape pursuing Coast Guard Administration boats, leaving six drowned and four missing.
Despite some women's protests that they could not swim, the smugglers ordered them into the sea near Tunghsiao on the west coast, before escaping in speed boats.
The survivors swam ashore or were rescued from the sea. They will be deported to China after questioning, officials said.
Xu Zhengzheng (
"So they brought us in two speed boats to Taiwan free of charge," she said.
For three days and three nights, the smugglers did not give them any food or water. At about 4am yesterday, coast guard boats found the smugglers' boats and gave chase.
In related news, the authorities will launch a nationwide campaign to hunt down runaway and illegal foreign workers next month.
"Beginning Sept. 1, the Council of Labor Affairs and the National Police Administration will join forces with city and county governments in search of runaway foreign laborers," an anonymous source said.
Government tallies show there are some 300,000 workers from Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam in Taiwan to fill construction, domestic and other low-skill jobs.
But more than 10,000 have fled their jobs and are unaccounted for. Runaways who are caught will be deported. The runaway rate is highest among Vietnamese workers, followed by Indonesians and Filipinos, according to the figures.
Authorities have urged people to report runaway foreign workers.
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