Outreach events are helping migrant fishers on Taiwanese distant-water vessels connect with Fisheries Agency officials to talk about their work and struggles at sea, a nonprofit said last week.
Since March, Stella Maris Kaohsiung — a Catholic nonprofit dedicated to helping migrants, seafarers and refugees — invited Fisheries Agency officials to southern ports to meet and speak with migrant fishers to better understand their living and working conditions, Stella Maris chaplain Father Ansensius Guntur said.
The first event in Pingtung County’s Donggang Township (東港) was followed by a meeting at Kaohsiung’s Cianjhen Fishing Port (前鎮漁港) in July. On Sunday last week, agency officials and fishers met in Kaohsiung’s Cijin District (旗津).
Photo: Lee Hui-chou, Taipei Times
The firsthand interactions help inform the government in policymaking, said Guntur, who is Indonesian.
“When they come to the port, besides educating the fishers on regulations governing foreign crew members, they can also see the real situation there and listen to the fishers [talk] about [their] living conditions,” he said.
About 500 people, including migrant fishers on distant-water and coastal fishing vessels, attended the event in Cijin to celebrate the 14th anniversary of the Indonesian migrant group Bolo Dhewe, he said.
At the meeting, Fisheries Agency Director-General Chang Chih-sheng (張致盛) acknowledged Indonesian migrant fishers’ contributions to Taiwan’s economy.
“If any fishers need help from the agency, you must let us know so that we can help,” Chang said. “Accept Taiwan as your home and Taiwan will accept you as a family member.”
Fishers asked the agency to build more bathrooms and prayer rooms at ports, and asked questions about their wages, Guntur said.
The agency has so far been forthcoming and supportive of proposals to improve fishers’ living conditions, he said.
Greenpeace and Taiwanese migrants’ groups have long raised concerns about human rights abuses on Taiwanese-owned fishing vessels. The government has been under increased pressure to deal with the issue in the past few years after numerous incidents were exposed.
Indonesian university students in Taiwan were also invited to attend the Cijin event so they could understand the conditions of their compatriots, Guntur said.
“Maybe in the future, the students will be policymakers, so it is very important for them to learn about the fishers. Whatever work they do in the future, if it is related to fishers, then they know they have the responsibility to take care of the fishers,” he said.
The nonprofit is planning more outreach events, including a Christmas-themed one and others next year, he said.
There are about 21,000 migrant fishers employed on Taiwan’s deep-water fishing vessels, including about 13,000 Indonesians and 6,300 Filipinos, the Fisheries Agency said.
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