Taiwan was criticized once again by a US Department of State report for failing to legally guarantee a weekly rest day for the nation’s 216,000 domestic service workers and caretakers.
It is the only black mark against Taiwan in its latest annual International Religious Freedom Report, which covers nearly 200 nations.
“There were no reports of significant societal actions affecting religious freedom,” the report covering last year said, although it noted that domestic service workers and caretakers are not covered by the Labor Standards Law (勞基法).
“Due to this exclusion, many domestic workers are effectively prevented from attending religious services,” the report said.
According to the report, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) meets regularly with authorities, religious leaders and representatives of faith-based social service organizations in an effort to persuade the government to expand labor law rights.
The largest group of migrant workers in Taiwan is from Indonesia and is largely Muslim, while migrant workers from the Philippines are predominately Roman Catholic.
The latest report, as was the case for those for 2013 and 2012, mentions the issue of days off for domestic workers that might be used for religious purposes in the executive summary for its Taiwan section and mentions AIT consulted with officials, academics and lawmakers about the issue.
The 2012 report also mentioned a bill on domestic services that would allow days off for migrant workers to fulfill their religious duties, while the 2011 report simply said the “Council of Labor Relations is working to address this issue.”
“No nation can fulfill its potential if its people are denied the right to practice, to hold, to modify, to openly profess their innermost beliefs,” US Secretary of State John Kerry said in Washington on Wednesday as he released the report.
“Our primary goal is to help governments everywhere recognize that their societies will do better with religious liberty than without it,” he said. “By issuing this report, we hope to give governments an added incentive to honor the rights and the dignity of their citizens.”
Taiwan’s record of religious liberty stands in stark contrast to that of China, as the report notes that Beijing “tortured, physically abused, detained, arrested, sentenced to prison or harassed a number of religious adherents for activities related to their religious beliefs and practices” over the previous year.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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