Three Control Yuan members on Monday said that they would investigate regulations on applications for hiring migrant fishers after a broker in Yilan allegedly contravened human trafficking laws.
The investigation was launched after last week’s arrest of a broker surnamed Huang, Control Yuan members Wang Mei-yu (王美玉), Wang Yu-ling (王幼玲) and Chi Hui-jung (紀惠容) said in a statement.
Huang applied for migrant workers through legal processes, but then allegedly directed them to the lucrative illegal labor market.
“The act has seriously violated the country’s human rights protection policy,” the statement said.
The Control Yuan is the government body responsible for investigating and censuring improper behavior by public officials or public agencies.
In this case, the three members said the laws regulating applications for hiring migrant workers need to be investigated to see if they can be improved, the statement said.
Government agencies responsible for managing brokers for migrant workers might not have a proper management mechanism in place, the statement said, adding that central and local authorities might not be effectively sharing their responsibilities.
Huang applied for migrant workers to serve on fishing boats, but then sent the workers to illegal jobs, the Yilan District Prosecutors’ Office said on Tuesday last week.
He would also apply for more workers than were needed, and channel the extra workers into illegal labor, prosecutors said.
Huang avoided detection by having the migrants work on boats and fish farms outside of Yilan, the prosecutors said.
However, after a tip-off, police and immigration officials found evidence such as account books and summoned 11 suspects, including Huang, for questioning, they said.
Huang was on Wednesday last week arrested and charged with fraud, as well as for breaches of the Employment Service Act (就業服務法) and the Human Trafficking Prevention Act (人口販運防制法), they added.
In related news, a mobile exhibition in Taipei is hoping to spread awareness of the hardships and abuses that migrant fishers face on deep-sea fishing vessels and spur the government to enforce existing labor standards.
The exhibition, organized by Greenpeace, immerses visitors in the harsh environment experienced every day by the 22,000 migrants working on Taiwanese vessels, Greenpeace campaigner Chen Pei-yu (陳珮瑜) said on Monday.
Visitors entering the venue find themselves stepping on a chalk outline — hinting at foul play — inside an installation of cramped sleeping quarters on a fishing vessel.
The crime scene features a message on a white board that reads: “I was killed by the company,” and copies of a crew member’s contract that involves debt bondage.
The legal minimum wage for crew members aboard deep-water vessels is US$450 per month, but some only receive US$50 after fees for placement, guaranteed deposit and other expenses have been deducted, Chen said.
The exhibition has a multimedia room where videos are screened of migrant fishers’ experiences on Taiwanese vessels and abuse victims’ interviews.
More than 2,300 people have visited the exhibition since it opened on Friday at Huashan 1914 Creative Park in Taipei.
The exhibition runs at the park until run until Sunday, before running from Sept. 19 to Sept. 27 at the Pier-2 Art Center in Kaohsiung.
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