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PP RUEHCN RUEHGH
DE RUEHIN #2632/01 3540928
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 200928Z DEC 07
FM AIT TAIPEI
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 TAIPEI 002632 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR G/TIP, G, INL, DRL, PRM, EAP/RSP, EAP/TC 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KCRM KPAO KWMN PGOV PHUM PREL SMIG TW
SUBJECT: TIP UPDATE: TAIWAN MAINTAINS ANTI-TRAFFICKING 
MOMENTUM 
 
 
¶1. (U) Summary: Taiwan continues to make progress in its 
fight against human trafficking.  The Taiwan authorities and 
local NGOs co-sponsored three separate TIP conferences over 
the past month.  The Legislative Yuan (LY) amended the 
Immigration Law to provide additional protections for 
trafficking victims, and banned for-profit marriage brokerage 
services.  The Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) extended the 
legal work period for foreign workers from six to nine years. 
 CLA has also promised to ease restrictions on foreign 
workers' ability to change employers, and to implement a 
direct-hiring process for domestic helpers by year's end. 
The Immigration and Justice ministries are completing work on 
the first draft of a comprehensive anti-trafficking statute. 
Despite this progress, NGOs and human rights activists called 
a march to protest the poor working conditions, inadequate 
legal protections, and corrupt labor brokerage system which 
still plague tens of thousands of foreign laborers in Taiwan. 
 End Summary. 
 
Trafficking Conferences 
----------------------- 
 
¶2. (U) On November 26, the Ministry of Interior (MOI) and 
National Immigration Agency (NIA) sponsored and participated 
in a one-day conference hosted by the Good Shepherd Sisters, 
a local Catholic NGO.  More than 100 people attended the 
conference, including police, prosecutors, judges and NGO 
representatives from around Taiwan.  It is difficult to 
identify or protect trafficking victims, said several police 
officers, because foreign workers fear the police and often 
conceal the truth.  Prosecutors complained that Taiwan law 
offers trafficking victims little incentive to testify, 
making it difficult to build cases against suspected 
traffickers.  Without an anti-trafficking statute, one judge 
noted, prosecutors must rely on other criminal laws to pursue 
traffickers.  Some statutes, like Taiwan's anti-slavery law, 
carry heavy jail sentences, but also impose evidentiary 
burdens which are difficult to prove in trafficking cases. 
Other offenses, like document fraud and perjury, are easier 
to prove, but punishments are far less severe.  For these 
reasons, the judge concluded, many traffickers receive light 
punishment or escape conviction entirely. 
 
¶3. (U) On December 6-8, a coalition of NGOs led by the Stella 
Maris International Service Center hosted the "2007 
International Conference on Globalization and Human Rights of 
Migrants."  The event was sponsored by MOI, the Foreign 
Ministry (MOFA) and the Council for Labor Affairs (CLA).  The 
second and third days of the conference focused on the 
history and development of Taiwan's foreign labor market and 
recommendations to improve protections and services for 
Taiwan's foreign worker population.  Participants included 
Taiwan government officials, international and local NGO 
representatives, and local academic and religious leaders. 
 
¶4. (U) Father Peter Nguyen of the Vietnamese Migrant Workers 
and Brides Office (VMWBO) recommended the following reforms 
for Taiwan's foreign worker system: (1) replacing the current 
brokerage system with a government-run direct-hiring system; 
(2) extending Labor Standards Act protections to domestic 
helpers; (3) eliminating the nine-year time restriction to 
allow foreign workers to remain in Taiwan as long as they 
have legal employment; (4) allowing foreign workers to form 
their own unions or to join existing ones; and (5) enabling 
foreign workers to change employers at will.  In response to 
Fr. Peter's points, CLA Deputy Director Chou announced CLA's 
plan to open by year's end a direct-hiring service for 
domestic helpers and five new employer counseling centers. 
Chou also stated that CLA intends in the near future to 
liberalize rules governing a foreign worker's right to change 
employers.  Fr. Peter told AIT that VMWBO had compiled a list 
of dozens of foreign workers currently held in detention 
centers who, according to Fr. Peter, should be identified as 
trafficking victims and removed from detention.  VMWBO 
 
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intends to submit this list to NIA for consideration in the 
near future.  AIT will stay in contact with VMWBO and NIA to 
monitor progress on this issue. 
 
¶5. (U) On December 9, in conjunction with the Liberal 
International Conference on Human Rights in Taipei, the 
Taiwan Foundation for Democracy hosted a conference on human 
trafficking in Asia.  In his opening remarks, President Chen 
called for increased international cooperation to help Taiwan 
eliminate its human trafficking problem.  Panelists from the 
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe compared the 
very different strategies adopted to discourage sex 
trafficking: the Netherlands legalized the purchase and sale 
of sexual services, while in Sweden it is legal to sell 
sexual services, but not to buy them. (Note: Prostitutes are 
not punished criminally in Sweden, but their clients are. End 
note.)  The panelists concluded that as long as it is legal 
to purchase sex, women will be trafficked to meet the demand. 
 In another session, representatives from local and 
international NGOs asserted that traditional male attitudes 
about sex and women's inferior social status also helped 
perpetuate the demand for commercialized sex in Asia and 
around the world.  They argued that governments can reduce 
that demand (and the number of trafficking victims) by 
educating boys and young men to regard girls and women as 
equals to be treated with respect. 
 
Foreign Workers Protest 
----------------------- 
 
¶6. (U) Also on December 9, ten local and international NGOs 
convened the "2007 National Migrants Rally - I Want My Day 
Off!" rally, to protest the substandard working and living 
conditions endured by Taiwan's foreign worker population. 
According to VMWBO's My-Nga Le, more than 2,000 people 
participated in the peaceful rally.  Le said MOI and CLA 
officials were also invited but did not attend. 
 
Amended Immigration Law 
----------------------- 
 
¶7. (U) On November 30, the Legislative Yuan amended Taiwan's 
immigration law to provide additional protections for 
trafficking victims.  The amendment requires local police and 
prosecutors to establish dedicated anti-trafficking units. 
Law enforcement agencies must protect trafficking victims' 
identities and personal information from public disclosure. 
Government agencies must ensure trafficking victims' personal 
safety, and provide them with appropriate housing, medical 
and psychiatric care, counseling services, translation 
assistance and legal counseling services.  If the victim is a 
minor, a social worker must be assigned to his or her case, 
and must be present during police questioning, all legal 
proceedings, and trial. 
 
¶8. (U) If a trafficking victim cooperates with prosecutors by 
providing testimony or other assistance, the victim shall be 
entitled to the protections afforded by Taiwan's Witness 
Protection Law.  Additionally, such cooperation shall be 
considered by prosecutors and judges to reduce or eliminate 
the victim's liability for any criminal or administrative 
violations.  Victims who cooperate with prosecutors are 
entitled to receive temporary visas to remain in Taiwan up to 
six months, and can request extensions.  However, once the 
prosecutor closes the case, the trafficking victims will be 
repatriated to his or her home country. 
 
¶9. (U) The revised immigration law also bans for-profit 
marriage brokerage agencies.  It is now illegal for marriage 
agencies to advertise their services or to ask for fees.  The 
law provides a one-year period for existing marriage agencies 
to wind up their operations.  Violators will face fines 
between NT$200,000 and NT$1 million (US$6,250-$31,250) for 
failure to comply.  Non-profit groups will be allowed to 
 
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arrange marriages between foreigners and Taiwan residents. 
 
Draft TIP Statute Under Review 
------------------------------ 
 
¶10. (U) According to NIA Immigration Affairs Division 
Director Chien Hui-jiuan and Ministry of Justice (MOJ) High 
Court TIP Prosecutor Jenny Chen, NIA and MOJ recently 
submitted the first draft of a comprehensive anti-TIP statute 
to the Interior Ministry for approval.  According to 
Prosecutor Chen, MOI will review and amend the draft as 
necessary before submitting it to the Executive Yuan for 
review.  NIA Director Chien advised that the Interior 
Ministry is expected to complete its review process by April 
¶2008.  The Executive Yuan could approve the statute as early 
as next June, she added, paving the way for the proposal to 
go the LY for consideration.  AIT has offered to send the 
draft statute to US DOJ's Civil Rights Division for its 
review and suggestions, but MOJ and NIA have not yet replied. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶11. (U) The subject of human trafficking is receiving more 
attention in Taiwan than ever before.  Government agencies 
and NGOs maintain a constant dialogue through public 
conferences and day-to-day contacts.  That interaction is 
bearing fruit, as evidenced by the increased TIP victim 
protections included in the recently amended Immigration Act, 
and the elimination of for-profit marriage brokerage agencies 
frequently used to traffick women to Taiwan.  Although much 
progress has been made, much remains to be done.  Elder-care 
interest groups continue to block efforts to extend Labor 
Standards Act protections to Taiwan's 160,000 domestic 
helpers and caregivers, and the exploitative brokerage system 
remains largely untouched.  According to NGOs, police, 
prosecutors, and NIA officials frequently fail to identify 
TIP victims, and too often punish even those who have been 
identified as victims for immigration and labor offenses. 
AIT will continue to work with Taiwan counterparts to address 
these and other TIP issues, and will keep G/TIP informed of 
Taiwan's progress. 
YOUNG