The Control Yuan yesterday called on the Cabinet and several government agencies to address human rights violations on Taiwanese fishing vessels flying a flag of convenience (FOC).
The Control Yuan said that there have been several international reports about violence and exploitation of migrant crew members on Taiwanese FOC vessels.
These include Greenpeace reports and the US Department of State’s annual Trafficking in Persons Report, Control Yuan member Wang Mei-yu (王美玉) told a news conference.
Photo: CNA
The National Immigration Agency (NIA), Ocean Affairs Council (OAC) and the Fisheries Agency have all promised to address human rights violations on Taiwanese FOC boats but have not done so, Wang said.
Boats that fly an FOC belong to merchant shipowners who have registered their vessels in a country other than their own to reduce operating costs, avoid higher taxes, and bypass laws that protect the wages and working conditions of the crews.
Taiwan has 1,100 deep-sea fishing boats, 241 of which are listed as FOC vessels, Fisheries Agency statistics showed.
Wang cited cases of human rights violations last year against migrant crew members on two Taiwanese FOC fishing boats, the Da Wang (大旺) and Chin Chun No. 12 (金春12號), both operated by Taiwanese and registered in Vanuatu.
While Taiwan had already closed its borders to almost all foreign nationals due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the government had not issued any quarantine guidelines for the crews of FOC vessels, Wang said.
The migrant crew members on the Da Wang and Chin Chun No. 12 were unable to obtain entry permits when the vessels returned to the Port of Kaohsiung in March and April last year respectively, she said.
Three Filipinos working on the two boats were confined to their dormitories in Kaohsiung, while two of the three were later held at the city’s airport for 20 days, she said.
The two Filipinos held at the airport were deemed by the NIA to have entered Taiwan illegally, and they were released only after the Legal Aid Foundation intervened, Wang said.
The incidents exposed a major failure on the part of the government to properly manage the FOC issue and prevent human rights violations, she said.
The Control Yuan is therefore calling on the NIA, OAC, Fisheries Agency and the Cabinet to institute corrective measures to protect the rights of migrant fishers on FOC vessels, Wang said.
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