A New Generation of Slavery in Taiwan

Legal Human Rights
21

Why are people being held on immigration violations being detained in common prisons?

[quote]Thanh Nien journalists visited a prison in Taipei, where 90 Vietnamese workers – two-thirds of all the inmates – are being detained on labor-related charges.

Nguyen Anh H., from northern Ha Tay province said he ran away from a garment company in Chupei as the conditions there were harsh – and was arrested three months ago.

Do Van T., from northern Hai Duong, said he was now broke and hopeless. He had emptied his pockets to pay around US$560 in fines to the police.

Le Thi N., from Nam Dinh province said she could not stand her bosses and quit her job as a nanny for a 3-year-old child and a caretaker for an 82-year-old.

She only had 3-4 hours of sleep a night and toiled the whole time but still did not please her rude employers who often threatened: “You call that company to take you back home [Vietnam]”.

Exhausted, she fled and four months later was taken into custody.

[/quote]
thanhniennews.com/features/? … wsid=21354

22

Well we couldnt find a plane to Gitmo…

Or maybe the signs arent posted in English

23

My understanding is that the authorities want to deport illegal workers, but some countries won’t cooperate, so their nationals sit in detention until their country gets around to getting them travel documents/passports.

24

The Taiwan government’s asylum and immigration policies have led to the indefinite and arbitrary incarceration of lawful immigrants in criminal detention facilities for indefinite periods of time. Thousands of men and women are held in prison conditions, having been forcibly removed from the communities in which they had settled.
These people pose little to no risk to the community and are often forced to flee from their place of employment because of abuse or coercion resulting in involuntary servitude.

These people are not criminals, they are victims being persecuted because of racist Taiwan government policies that encourage criminal abuse by Taiwanese employers. The people who should be put in jail are the employers who blatantly violate immigrants human rights. Rape, torture and even the disappearance of immigrant workers has become commonplace in Taiwan. The Taiwanese authorities encourage these abuses by arbitrarily incarcerating those immigrants who escape involuntary servitude in Taiwan while refusing to even investigate reports of abuse by employers, much less prosecute employers who violate human rights.

25

You’re not doing your cause any favours with this. More activists are what’s needed, not more histrionics from crackpots. Give us some convincing statistics on these "commonplace rapes, tortures and “disappearances” – by which I assume you mean murder.

26

Firstly if they have left their employment they are not legal immigrants. Please get that fact correct.

No one denies that some employers here abuse their employees by asking them to work 7 days a week or longer than contracted hours. Yes that needs addressing.

But your rants on racism really do not justice to your cause

27

[quote=“TainanCowboy”]
Or perhaps you have the back-up sourcing to support the claim of [quote]"…millions of illegal slave workers in the US working for slave wages doing jobs Americans won’t do…"[/quote], eh?[/quote]

funny you should ask…maybe that’s one of your buddy?

yikers.com/video_nestle_food … eople.html

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[quote]TainanCowboy wrote:

Or perhaps you have the back-up sourcing to support the claim of
Quote:
“…millions of illegal slave workers in the US working for slave wages doing jobs Americans won’t do…”
, eh?

funny you should ask…maybe that’s one of your buddy?

yikers.com/video_nestle_food … eople.html[/quote]
That’s a great video but it looks a bit staged.
I think the fundamental difference between the workers on strike in this video and minority workers in Taiwan is that they can go on strike and demand that their rights be protected.
Here in Taiwan, minority residents are prohibited from forming unions and if they dare go on strike they risk immediate termination and deportation without pay and even violent retribution from their Taiwanese employers.
If they seek other employment, minority workers face arbitrary arrest without trial and indefinite detention at the hands of the Taiwan government.
taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/ … 2003219173
theepochtimes.com/news/3-12-29/17756.html
As for the ones that have disappeared, there are no statistics besides the numbmer of missing workers as reported by the CLA. What has happened to them is unknown. The local authorities do not investigate disappearnces of missing persons if those people are minority laborers without ROC nationality.

29

[quote=“dablindfrog”][quote=“TainanCowboy”]
Or perhaps you have the back-up sourcing to support the claim of [quote]"…millions of illegal slave workers in the US working for slave wages doing jobs Americans won’t do…"[/quote], eh?[/quote]funny you should ask…maybe that’s one of your buddy?
yikers.com/video_nestle_food … eople.html[/quote]dablindfrog -
I am not able to see the relevance of your post.
Perhaps you might re-read my post and approach it in a contextually accurate manner.

30

[quote=“TainanCowboy”]dablindfrog -
I am not able to see the relevance of your post.
[/quote]

just like you are unable (or unwilling) to digest the miriade of infos peoples are trying to get through to you in order to somewhat educate you,but hey…don’t blame us for trying :wink:

31

[quote=“TainanCowboy”][quote=“Satellite TV”]Not as much as they cover the millions of illegal slave workers in the US working for slave wages doing jobs Americans won’t do …[/quote]Sat TV -
Nice to se you back.

Now about the ridiculous allegations in this post…Got Sourcing on this?

Show me the “SLAVES.”?[/quote]

No problem…Call Durins Bane and ask him to look out his front window. :smiling_imp:

32

How many of these do you think are just working illegally and don’t want to be found?

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How many of these do you think are just working illegally and don’t want to be found?[/quote]

That seems like a more realistic scenario. I love how they call them “run-ways.” Are we gonna grab the manacles and round up a posse?

34

[quote=“TainanCowboy”][quote=“Satellite TV”]Not as much as they cover the millions of illegal slave workers in the US working for slave wages doing jobs Americans won’t do …[/quote]Sat TV -
Nice to se you back.

Now about the ridiculous allegations in this post…Got Sourcing on this?

Show me the “SLAVES.”?[/quote]

Personal source : In my homestate, Oregon, I volunteered with members of my religion to visit migrant farmworkers. Our intention was not to convert, but rather to deliver some items that they needed.

In some instances, the workers come early or when they come the harvest is not ready. So they are without money and they are without transport, etc.

Ok, so we brought shoes, blankets, clothes, soap.

The point is, farmers charge rent, etc for places you wouldn’t want your dog to live in.

There is a case from years ago in which illegal workers from Mexico were paying ‘taxes’, double electricity, rent, etc. And they were working for Standford university!

Here’s another: I once worked in a restaurant owned by Taiwanese. This was in Baltimore, MD. The owners were brother and sister, and likely their father, #2 cook was the mother, #1 cook was imported from China, and assistant cooks 1 and 2 were husband and wife from Nicaragua. Let’s call them Jose and Maria (it’s been more than 10 years…I can’t remember). I was a part-time waiter.

The husband and wife spoke very little English. I speak Spanish and quickly made good friends with them. I was appalled to find that, although his pay was low but acceptable US$6 per hour (I think), his wife’s pay was below minimum wage.

They were recruited in Nicaragua to work in this specific restaurant. It means that restaurant owners like this specifically advertise these positions in latin america in order to be in control of an illegal and pay them less.

Their apt, electric bill, etc was all in the name of the boss. This made them afraid to quit because if they did, they would have no place to stay.

One day, the bosses were shouting at Maria to get a move on. She cut her thumb seriously and had to go to a doctor. They refused to pay the medical bill and fired her.

I urged Jose to find another job if he could. And I quit immediately after this event.

There are hundrends of thousands of people in similar circumstances. It’s not slavery – but they are manipulated, underpaid, abused, and controlled by fear.