US embassy cable - 05TAIPEI4206

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 TAIPEI 004206 
 
SIPDIS 
 
PLEASE PASS AIT/W 
STATE FOR EAP/RSP/TC, DRL, G/TIP 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON, ELAB, PHUM, SMIG, TW, VM, ID, TH, PH, ILO, WCL 
SUBJECT: Taiwan Bans Vietnam Workers Due To High Runaway 
Rate 
 
1. Summary: Taiwan has banned foreign workers from 
Vietnam since January 2005.  The official reason is the high 
percentage of Vietnamese workers that run away from their 
employers once they enter Taiwan.  NGOs claim that, many 
workers flee as a means to escape abuse because the 
Vietnamese trade office is known not to assist abused 
workers.  Taiwan officials believe a high percentage of 
runaways were trying to avoid paying high brokerage fees, 
which the Vietnamese Government is unwilling to address. 
End Summary. 
 
Vietnamese Workers at large in Taiwan 
------------------------------------- 
 
2.  In January 2005, Taiwan imposed a ban on hiring new 
foreign workers from Vietnam because approximately 10% of 
Vietnamese workers in Taiwan either overstay their visas or 
run away from their employers.  According to the Council on 
Labor Affairs (CLA), as of June 2005, of the 102,445 
Vietnamese workers in Taiwan, 10,583 workers are unaccounted 
for. There are currently more Vietnamese runaways in Taiwan 
than the total number of runaways from all other countries 
combined.  The other countries that send workers to Taiwan 
are the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia and Mongolia. 
(reftel) 
 
High Broker Fees Contribute to High Runaway Rate 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
3.  Officials at Taiwan's CLA believe that the primary 
reason workers run away is to escape from the debt they owe 
the labor brokers that arranged their job contract.  AIT has 
learned that Vietnamese workers typically have the highest 
broker fees of all foreign workers that come to Taiwan. 
"The lowest fee I ever saw was NT$140,000 (US$4,000).  That 
is only for the Vietnam broker and does not include the 
Taiwan broker fee.  The fees in Vietnam are often twice as 
high as the fees charged to Filipino workers." said Joyce 
Shiau, Director of Taiwan CLA's Foreign Worker's Counseling 
Center, a government office responsible for the welfare of 
foreign workers in Taipei.  Vietnamese families sometimes 
pool their resources to take out a loan to send one family 
member, usually a female, to Taiwan.  Eighty percent of them 
will work as domestic servants taking care of the elderly. 
As a result of the loan, the worker arrives in Taiwan in 
debt.  He or she will work for the first year or two, out of 
a three-year contract, just to pay off the debt. 
 
4.  The high broker fees create a host of problems for the 
Vietnamese workers.  While workers from other countries can 
expect to save US$4,000 - $6,000 after a three year stint, 
Vietnamese workers find that they will not be able to save 
nearly that much money. In addition, Vietnamese workers are 
sometimes unwilling to seek help because of the risks of 
getting sent back to Vietnam.  A worker deported within the 
first two years of the contract would likely still be 
indebted to the broker. 
 
Vietnam Government Involved in Setting High Broker Fees 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
 
5.  Stephanie Wei, Director of Rerum Novarum, a Catholic 
welfare organization in Taiwan explained to AIT the 
differences between brokers in Vietnam and brokers in other 
countries.  She said that in many countries, the government 
views the broker as a necessary evil because they provide an 
essential service. By comparison, she explained that in 
Vietnam "the Vietnamese government is the broker." Joyce 
Shiau said "The Vietnamese government is quite good at 
exploiting the foreign workers that come to Taiwan."  She 
explained that the government, which receives a portion of 
the brokerage fees when workers leave Vietnam, also collects 
income taxes when they return.  Most Vietnamese workers will 
pay almost NT$60,000 (US$2,000) in back taxes when they 
return to Vietnam. 
 
6.  A telling example which supports Shiau's assertion, 
occurred in early January 2005 when  Taiwan authorities 
announced they were banning Vietnamese workers from Taiwan. 
In response, the Vietnam Economic and Cultural Office in 
Taiwan announced that, as a measure of goodwill, the office 
would round up 2,000 illegal Vietnamese workers in Taiwan by 
the end of the month.  In the end, the office was only able 
to turn over 800 illegal Vietnamese workers.  AIT ECONOFF 
asked Nguyen Ba Hai, head of Labor Administration, Vietnam 
Economic and Cultural Office in Taiwan, how the Vietnamese 
government was able to organize an island-wide effort to 
track down illegal Vietnamese workers.  Nguyen Ba Hai said 
that the Vietnam government had sent labor brokers to Taiwan 
to assist the authorities in tracking down illegal workers. 
 
Vietnam Government silent on labor trafficking 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
7.  The Vietnam government's involvement in lucrative broker 
fees may have translated into lax efforts to combat labor 
trafficking in Taiwan.  NGOs report that a number of 
dishonest brokers use bait-and-switch tactics to illegally 
hire Vietnamese workers.  NGOs claim that  before they are 
hired, workers are frequently told they will be employed as 
domestic caretakers in Taiwan.  However, once they arrive, 
the workers are sent to factories or farms and are paid a 
fraction of the prevailing wage.  These NGOs claim that 
employers are willing to risk hiring illegal foreign workers 
because, compared to hiring Taiwan workers, they can be paid 
lower wages, will work long hours, cannot change jobs, and 
rarely know their rights.  Joyce Shiau confirmed that "60% 
of all labor trafficking cases involve Vietnamese workers." 
Peter Nguyen Van Hung, head of the Vietnamese Migrant 
Worker's Office, an NGO in Taiwan, described some of the 
tragic consequences of labor trafficking.  He said there 
were many cases of domestic caretakers, poorly trained in 
using factory machines, losing fingers and hands while 
working in factories. 
 
8.  Nguyen Luong Trao, of the Vietnam Economic and Cultural 
Office in Taiwan told AIT that labor trafficking was a 
common complaint they received from Vietnamese workers. 
When AIT ECONOFF asked them what the office did about these 
complaints, he explained that they encouraged them work with 
their broker.  When asked about the exact number and type of 
complaints they receive, he said "we don't keep statistics." 
 
Taiwan, NGOs bemoan lack of cooperation from Vietnam 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
9.  The Vietnam government's lack of progress on these 
issues has frustrated Taiwan officials.  Yang Guo-shen, 
Specialist with the Council of Labor Affair's Foreign 
Workers Division, said that Taiwan has been warning Vietnam 
since May 2004 to control the high runaway rate. In response 
to questions about the high broker fees, he said his office 
has seen many cases where high broker fees are disguised as 
loan agreements and the workers claim they have never seen 
the loan agreement. He also added "these loan agreements 
have the official seal of the Vietnamese government so 
somebody is stamping these documents as legitimate." 
 
10.  NGOs also report similar stories of the Vietnamese 
government's unwillingness to help Vietnamese citizens. 
Stephanie Wei, director of Rerum Novarum told AIT "If a 
Filipino worker has a problem, the first place they go to is 
MECO (Manila Economic and Cultural Office).  But the 
Vietnamese office does nothing to help their foreign 
workers." 
 
11.   Nguyen Luong Trao told AIT that Vietnam is cracking 
down on the high run away rate by passing a law to punish 
Vietnamese workers that runaway from their employers.  When 
AIT ECONOFF asked whether this would not simply result in 
discouraging runaways from returning to Vietnam.  Nguyen 
Luong Trao replied, "Eventually they have to return and, 
when they do, they will be punished." 
 
12.  Comment: Although the Taiwan government is responsible 
for the welfare of all foreign workers, Vietnamese workers 
have faced particularly harsh conditions.  Lack of support 
from the Vietnam government and the close cooperation 
between the Vietnam government and labor brokers appear to 
be contributing factors to the higher runaway rate among 
Vietnamese laborers in Taiwan.  End Comment.