The biggest problem for Indonesian workers in Taiwan are the “exorbitant” brokerage fees, which are unacceptable, Agency for the Placement and Protection of Indonesian Workers official Agusdin Sabiantoro said on Friday.
Sabiantoro said that a major problem for his nation’s migrant workers has been the excessively high fees manpower brokers charge them to work in Taiwan.
An Indonesian worker arriving in Taiwan has to pay brokers about NT$60,000 (US$1,906) in related expenses, Agusdin said, after his nation warned again on Wednesday that it was planning to stop sending domestic workers to Taiwan in 2017.
The payments represent a heavy burden for Indonesian workers and are unacceptable according to International Labor Organization regulations, he said.
Sabiantoro said Indonesian workers have had to go along with Taiwanese regulations in the past, but Indonesia plans to begin working with Taiwan on rules and other concerns related to the welfare of these migrant workers.
As of the end of January last year, Indonesia had the biggest contingent of foreign nationals working in Taiwan, accounting for 41.6 percent, or 231,489, of the 556,412 foreign workers in the nation, Ministry of Labor statistics showed.
Of the 221,709 foreign workers involved in human health and social work activities, mostly serving as full-time caregivers for elderly Taiwanese, 176,117 are from Indonesia, the figures showed.
With Taiwan’s population aging rapidly, demand for these caregivers is likely to grow, but Indonesia says that it will cut off the supply of such workers to the rest of the world in the next few years.
Agency of Placement and Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers head Nusron Wahi on Wednesday said that his nation would stop sending domestic workers to the Middle East starting this year as the first step in the pullback.
It will then gradually reduce the number of domestic workers sent to Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Macau and other countries and territories in the Asia-Pacific region, beginning in 2017, he said during an interview with Indonesian media Web site Liputan6.com.
Rather than sending domestic workers overseas, Indonesia plans to begin exporting trained and skilled workers, he said, adding that the Indonesian government is preparing to provide training programs.
EXPANSIONIST: China deploys an average of 40 to 50 warships and coast guard vessels daily in the South China Sea, despite pledges not to militarize the region, an official said China is attempting to expand its influence across the First Island Chain and increase pressure on Japan by sending coast guard vessels into waters off of Taiwan under the pretext of maritime negotiations with Japan and the Philippines, a national security official said yesterday. China’s recent actions in the waters east of Taiwan and Japan and the Philippines’ exclusive economic zones (EEZ) are attempts to establish dominance in First Island Chain waters, said the official who declined to be named, adding that this is “expansion disguised as law enforcement.” Framing China’s actions solely as a cross-strait issue is a serious misjudgment that
Through analyzing fossil evidence, a research team at National Taiwan University (NTU) discovered the largest endemic bird to have lived in Taiwan, naming it Pavo miejue, or extinct peafowl (滅絕孔雀). The Mikado pheasant, which is printed on the back of the NT$1,000 bank note, was previously believed to be the biggest endemic bird to Taiwan. The research team’s findings suggest that Pavo miejue lived during the Pleistocene epoch tens of thousands of years ago. It is the first endemic extinct bird species discovered and formally named in Taiwan. The study was coauthored by NTU Institute of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology professor Tsai Cheng-hsiu (蔡政修),
Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport is to suspend its automated Skytrain service connecting Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 starting on July 1 to facilitate connection works for the upcoming Terminal 3, the airport operator said today. Passengers and staff who need to travel between the two terminals after the suspension can instead use the Taoyuan MRT or the airport's 24-hour shuttle bus service, Taoyuan International Airport Corp said. The Taoyuan MRT Airport Line directly links the two terminals, while the shuttle buses are to operate around the clock, the company added. The Skytrain provides free transportation between the airport’s two terminals for travelers and
Taiwan ranked 42nd in terms of peacefulness among 163 countries, down five places from last year, according to this year’s Global Peace Index. With an overall score of 1.751, Taiwan dropped from 37th last year, the report published by the global Institute for Economics and Peace showed. The overall score measures a country’s level of peacefulness using 23 quantitative and qualitative indicators across three domains — ongoing domestic and international conflict, societal safety and security, and militarization. While Taiwan ranked 42nd worldwide, it was listed in ninth place among the 19 Asian-Pacific countries in the report, after New Zealand, Singapore, Japan, Malaysia,
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