A Church group has welcomed the Taiwanese government’s new policy seeking an increase in the protection for foreign fishermen working their distant-water fishing fleets.
“We appreciate this step and the commitment to ensuring its implementation. It will have an impact on improving the lives of the migrant fishers and ensure that there is serious protection of their rights,” said Father Ansensius Guntur, executive director of Stella Maris Kaohsiung, a Church-run organization that provides care for migrants, seafarers and refugees.
The priest spoke to UCA News on July 18 in response to a statement from Taiwanese government officials that they would oversee the implementation of the Regulations on the Authorization and Management of Overseas Employment of Foreign Crew Members, which was passed in May and took effect this month.
Taiwan government’s Fisheries Agency official Chiu Yi-hsien spoke about the new law while attending an event sponsored by Stella Maria Kaohsiung on July 16.
Representatives of the fishermen, as well as from governments of the countries of origin of the migrant fishermen, such as Indonesia and the Philippines, as well as market countries such as the United States, attended the event.
The regulation is claimed to be an effort to improve the labor environment in the fishery industry and Taiwan’s concrete commitment to safeguarding and respecting human rights.
It stipulates a salary increase of $100 for migrant fishermen to $550 per month, increased insurance costs, and increased monitoring of the work situation by installing CCTV cameras on board, besides creating a task force at the agency to inspect ships.
About 21,000 migrant fishermen are employed in Taiwanese finishing boats, the majority from Indonesia and the Philippines, according to Taiwanese authorities.
A report released in May last year by Greenpeace Southeast Asia and the Indonesian Migrant Workers Union showed that they are vulnerable to violence, such as forced labor.