The Control Yuan today requested an investigation into the government's response to alleged labor abuses in the Taiwanese textile industry, after a report released by a US nongovernmental organization in February found forced labor conditions suffered by migrant workers.
In 2022 and 2023, the organization Transparentem interviewed more than 90 migrant workers from Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand employed by textile suppliers in Taiwan, whose buyers included Amazon, H&M and Adidas, the report said.
The investigation “found evidence of conditions that the International Labor Organization has defined as indicators of forced labor,” the report said.
Photo: Ashley Pon, Bloomberg
Workers also reported recruitment fees up to US$6,000, among the highest identified across multiple countries.
Other labor abuses in the 13 facilities across nine suppliers included retention of identity documents, restriction of movement, and abusive living and working conditions, it said.
The report suggests that textile suppliers had contravened the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法) and the Employment Service Act (就業服務法), Control Yuan members Chi Hui-jung (紀惠容) and Wang Yu-ling (王幼玲) said in a news release today.
An in-depth investigation is necessary, as the case concerns labor and human rights protections for migrant workers, and affects Taiwan’s international image, they said.
They questioned whether the relevant authorities had thoroughly examined the root causes of these issues and how they were supervising employers to prevent forced labor and contraventions of the UN’s International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
Article 6 of the covenant regards the right to work, Article 7 requires just and favorable working conditions and Article 9 concerns the right to social security and insurance, they said.
Relevant government agencies have therefore been asked to investigate whether specific countermeasures have been enacted following the findings, they said.
The Executive Yuan yesterday announced that registration for a one-time universal NT$10,000 cash handout to help people in Taiwan survive US tariffs and inflation would start on Nov. 5, with payouts available as early as Nov. 12. Who is eligible for the handout? Registered Taiwanese nationals are eligible, including those born in Taiwan before April 30 next year with a birth certificate. Non-registered nationals with residence permits, foreign permanent residents and foreign spouses of Taiwanese citizens with residence permits also qualify for the handouts. For people who meet the eligibility requirements, but passed away between yesterday and April 30 next year, surviving family members
The German city of Hamburg on Oct. 14 named a bridge “Kaohsiung-Brucke” after the Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung. The footbridge, formerly known as F566, is to the east of the Speicherstadt, the world’s largest warehouse district, and connects the Dar-es-Salaam-Platz to the Brooktorpromenade near the Port of Hamburg on the Elbe River. Timo Fischer, a Free Democratic Party member of the Hamburg-Mitte District Assembly, in May last year proposed the name change with support from members of the Social Democratic Party and the Christian Democratic Union. Kaohsiung and Hamburg in 1999 inked a sister city agreement, but despite more than a quarter-century of
Taiwanese officials are courting podcasters and influencers aligned with US President Donald Trump as they grow more worried the US leader could undermine Taiwanese interests in talks with China, people familiar with the matter said. Trump has said Taiwan would likely be on the agenda when he is expected to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) next week in a bid to resolve persistent trade tensions. China has asked the White House to officially declare it “opposes” Taiwanese independence, Bloomberg reported last month, a concession that would mark a major diplomatic win for Beijing. President William Lai (賴清德) and his top officials
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday expressed “grave concerns” after Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) reiterated the city-state’s opposition to “Taiwanese independence” during a meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang (李強). In Singapore on Saturday, Wong and Li discussed cross-strait developments, the Singaporean Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. “Prime Minister Wong reiterated that Singapore has a clear and consistent ‘one China’ policy and is opposed to Taiwan independence,” it said. MOFA responded that it is an objective fact and a common understanding shared by many that the Republic of China (ROC) is an independent, sovereign nation, with world-leading
RSS