Migrant workers would be prioritized for entry based on a points system that accounts for vaccine status, country of origin and accommodation as part of a plan to reopen to migrants by the end of the month, the Ministry of Labor (MOL) said yesterday.
Officials shared the plan while being questioned by members of the legislature’s Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee, who pressed the ministry on easing border restrictions for foreign workers amid a worsening labor shortage.
The point-based system, intended to reduce the strain on quarantine facilities, has already been submitted to the Central Epidemic Command Center for approval, Workforce Development Agency Director-General Tsai Meng-liang (蔡孟良) told reporters on the sidelines of the meeting.
Photo: CNA
Migrant workers seeking entry to Taiwan would be rated based on their vaccine status, the COVID-19 situation in their country of origin and the type of accommodation they would have after arriving, Tsai said.
Priority would be given to applicants with high scores who are therefore considered at low risk of spreading the virus, he added.
The number of vaccine doses an applicant had received would factor in the score, with a single dose still counting for a relatively high number of points, he said, adding that acceptable brands would be determined by the center.
High-scoring accommodations would be those in which the occupant has their own bathroom facilities and at most one roommate, while dorms with many shared facilities would receive fewer points, Tsai said.
The number of quarantine beds available each week would determine how many people would be allowed to enter the country, he said.
For instance, if there are 200 beds, the top 200 scorers would be allowed in that week, he said, but added that not many beds would be available at the start.
If two people have the same score, whoever turned in their application first would receive priority, Tsai said.
The measures are strict because many migrant workers come from countries facing severe COVID-19 outbreaks, Minister of Labor Hsu Ming-chun (許銘春) said.
Indonesia, for example, has been recording about 1,000 cases per day, while Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam are reporting thousands of cases daily, Hsu said.
The ministry does not want the policy to become a weak spot in the nation’s defenses against COVID-19, Hsu added.
Additional reporting by Chen Tzu-wen
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique