Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Fan Yun (范雲) and civic groups on Wednesday called on the Ministry of Education (MOE) to take immediate action to prevent foreign students from being forced to work as cheap labor.
An article published on Monday in The Reporter, a Taipei-based online news outlet, said that 16 Ugandan students enrolled at Chung Chou University of Science and Technology (CCUT) in Changhua County in 2019 worked as factory interns for long hours and low pay.
The students could not refuse to work due to substantial tuition debts, the report said.
Photo: CNA
The students had been promised scholarships and courses taught in English, but CCUT failed to provide either, it said.
Fan told a news conference in Taipei that the students’ experiences were not unique, but that the ministry had done nothing to effectively prevent such exploitation.
Taiwan Association for Human Rights secretary-general Shih Yi-hsiang (施逸翔) said the Ugandans’ case constituted human trafficking because of the forced labor.
Collines Mugisha, one of the Ugandan students, said he used to work more than 10 hours per day until he transferred to Providence University in Taichung last year.
Mugisha, who had hoped to study smart automation, said that he worked as a computer numerical control machine operator, a construction site worker and in logistics during his two years at CCUT.
Fan called on the ministry to launch an investigation, saying that it should offer immediate assistance to the Ugandan students still enrolled at CCUT.
The ministry should evaluate more carefully universities that want to recruit foreign students, and ensure that the schools can provide international students with suitable courses, as well as internship opportunities in line with the students’ area of study, she said.
The ministry said in a statement on Wednesday that a preliminary investigation showed that CCUT had committed “serious violations,” but failed to outline assistance it might provide the students.
In a separate statement, it said that it would report to prosecutors any university or employer suspected of trafficking foreign students or practicing forced labor.
The ministry has forbidden CCUT from recruiting foreign students and would cut the university’s subsidies, the statement said.
On Monday, a CCUT representative said that the university never promised to provide courses taught in English, adding that the school had set up scholarships, but it was possible that the foreign students did not apply for them or their applications were rejected.
The university declined to comment on reports that the Ugandan students were sent to factories to work long hours.
PIVOTAL ROLE: Taiwan’s importance in the global chip supply chain can be bolstered by domestic equipment manufacturing, President Tsai Ing-wen said Efforts must be made to better secure Taiwan’s place in the global supply chain by localizing production of equipment and facilities used by the semiconductor industry, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said yesterday. Tsai discussed the issue during a meeting with representatives from the Taiwan Electronic Equipment Industry Association at the Presidential Office in Taipei. Product shortages throughout the COVID-19 pandemic — particularly of automotive chips — highlighted the pivotal role of Taiwan in the global supply chain, she said. Tsai thanked the association for cooperating with the government on the shared goal of localizing production of important semiconductor industry equipment.
TRACING UNDER WAY: The CECC has identified six transmission chains among 25 recently confirmed COVID-19 cases, including those linked to a restaurant and a bank The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported 54 new COVID-19 infections — 44 imported and 10 local — and identified six transmission chains among local cases. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, said the imported cases are 18 who tested positive upon arrival at the airport and 26 who tested positive during quarantine. Of the local cases, seven are associated with a cluster infection at a Tasty Steak (西堤牛排) outlet in Taoyuan’s Zhongli District (中壢), one is linked to a family of four with COVID-19 reported on Monday, one is a family member of an
Without completed infrastructure and training, the expedited sale of new F-16s from the US could become a burden rather than a help, a military official said yesterday. Reuters on Thursday last week reported that Washington is looking to accelerate the delivery of 66 new F-16C/D Block 70 aircraft in response to what it sees as increasing intimidation by Beijing. Under the terms of the original US$8 billion deal signed in 2019, the US is expected to deliver a single-seater and double-seater for testing next year, then deliver the 66 new aircraft in batches of four or five from 2024 to 2026. The officials
BILINGUAL NATION 2030: Those interested can apply online, while recruitment would continue until all of the positions are filled, the Ministry of Education said The recruitment of foreign English teachers for elementary and junior-high schools would be expanded in the 2022-2023 school year as part of Taiwan’s efforts to become a bilingual country, the Ministry of Education (MOE) said yesterday. In a statement, the ministry said that it has since 2004 hired 81 foreign nationals per year to teach English in 16 smaller counties and cities to build a better English-learning environment for students. However, for the 2022-2023 school year, the number of foreign English teachers recruited would increase to 531, with some of them to be posted to Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Taichung, Tainan
RSS