Prosecutors on Monday formally charged 19 workers of several Kaohsiung-based fishing companies for exploiting 81 foreign fishermen who they forced to work long hours for low wages and held captive.
The Kaohsiung District Prosecutors’ Office charged the 19, including a manager surnamed Lin (林), with exploitation, human trafficking and offenses against personal liberty.
In the indictment, prosecutors said that the companies paid the foreign workers less than the minimum wage, had them work excessive overtime hours and housed them in small, windowless rooms without the freedom to leave.
The foreign fishermen were forced to work 10-hour days — in some cases up to 48 consecutive hours — while receiving a monthly salary of US$300 to US$500, the office said.
Aside from the charges filed against the individuals, the office has also confiscated a total of NT$3.68 million (US$122,109) — equivalent to the back pay owed to the foreign workers — from the companies, prosecutors said.
Kaohsiung authorities were first made aware of the situation by a letter written by a social worker on behalf of the foreign fishermen, which said that they were being detained and held captive after entering the nation through the Port of Kaohsiung.
Kaohsiung prosecutors then launched an investigation, which found evidence that the companies had been exploiting their workers since January 2014.
In May last year, prosecutors led a team to Kaohsiung’s Siaogang (小港) and Cianjhen (前鎮) districts, where they rescued 81 fishermen from Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia and Tanzania who were being held captive together.
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