Taiwan taken off Tier 2 Watch List

The report calls for victims to be granted formal protection, including access to justice in order to gain compensation, and the right to work while awaiting court cases.

The Council on Labor Affairs should "stop addressing acts of involuntary servitude with administrative penalties; instead these serious crimes should be referred to the appropriate law enforcement authorities for criminal investigation," it said.

The report described Taiwan as "primarily a destination for men, women and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation."

Women and girls from China and Southeast Asia are brought to Taiwan through fraudulent marriages, deceptive employment offers and smuggling for the sex trade and labor exploitation, it said.

Many foreign workers from Vietnam, Thailand and the Philippines, recruited legally by the construction, fishing and manufacturing industries or as domestic servants, are then pressed into forced labor or involuntary servitude, the report said.

Reaction

In Taiwan, Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄) yesterday pledged that the government would further step up its efforts to combat human trafficking.

Taiwan must not be complacent about its achievements, he said, adding that the Cabinet's goal in the coming year was to continue to work to have the nation's ranking upgraded to "Tier 1."

However, a spokesman for a non-governmental organization (NGO) reacted with concern.

Fran Gau (高小帆), one of two NGO representatives in the Cabinet's Cooperative Human Trafficking Prevention Task Force, which helps the government formulate top-down strategies to address trafficking, said the government had yet to adopt a "victim-centered" approach to helping trafficking victims, and was instead focusing on prosecution and "brothel raids."

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY MAX HIRSCH AND CNA

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US releases human trafficking blacklist