Caregivers working toward brighter future

"A law will be of little use if the workers are not able to take collective action in pursuit of their interests," Cheng said.

Liao Wei-ren (廖為仁), director of the CLA's Division of Foreign Worker Affairs, said that a number of regulations to clarify the employment of foreign caregivers need to be put in place, but how to effectively implement the law is a problem.

"Foreign workers live in Taiwanese employers' houses for 24 hours a day. It's very difficult for us to find out what really happens inside," Liao said.

Kung, however, said that employers have to be educated to respect foreign workers as human beings.

"Before the Labor Standards Law (勞動基準法) was implemented in 1984, Taiwanese had no notion of workers' rights," Kung said.

Dewa, Sisilia and Wady have filed a lawsuit against their employer to claim their salaries in NT dollars.

Wady now plans to return to Indonesia, but Dewa and Sisilia are seeking new employers in Taiwan as soon as possible.

"We want to make money in Taiwan. We don't think that all employers can be that terrible," they said.