Put an end to the abuse of foreign fishermen! NGO called for abolishing overseas employment by forming the Human Rights Alliance of Foreign fishermen

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On August 25, 2015, Supriyanto's body was returned to Taiwan's harbor, and the Pingtung District Attorney's Office concluded the case with "septicemia death." "However, there are many wounds on the body, which is suspected to have been abused for a long time. The case is still under investigation by the Pingtung District Attorney's Office." Chuang Shu-ching of the Taiwan International Labor Association pointed out that offshore operations are prone to abuse, excessive salary deduction, and long-term exploitation. The above cases are only used as an introduction."Abuse cases are not cases mentioned by the Fisheries Department, but very frequent and continuous."

Yilan County Fisherman's Professional Union, Taiwan Presbyterian Church Ping An Foundation Seafarers Fisherman Service Center, Taiwan International Labor Association, Taiwan Association for the Promotion of Human Rights, Taoyuan City Mass Service Association, Greenpeace, Environmental Justice Foundation formed the "Foreign Fisherman's Human Rights Protection Alliance," 17 held a press conference calling for the abolition of overseas employment system.

Photo of non-involved fishworkers (courtesy of Foreign Fishworkers 'Human Rights Protection Alliance)

Foreign Fishermen's Human Rights Protection Alliance: Abolish Overseas Employment and Bring It into Labor Base Law Management

Shih Yi-hsiang, deputy secretary-general of the Taiwan Association for the Promotion of Human Rights, pointed out that there have been many cases of foreign fishermen dying at sea in recent years, and they are still under investigation. There are still no satisfactory results. In terms of the intermediary system, Taiwan's system, and the division of labor among various ministries, the problem of human rights oppression faced by foreign fishermen is being highlighted.

The Foreign Fishermen's Human Rights Protection Alliance has put forward a demand for abolishing overseas employment. All foreign fishers in Taiwan are covered by the Labor Standards Law. Foreign fishers are managed by the Ministry of Labor regardless of ocean and offshore. Moreover, sufficient resources are invested to improve the frequency and accuracy of labor inspections of offshore and ocean-going fishing vessels.

"The Fisheries Department is unable to obtain the actual number of fishermen employed outside Hong Kong." Zhuang Shuqing pointed out that according to Indonesian media surveys, Indonesia alone to Taiwan as foreign fishermen, is likely to exceed 40,000; and overseas employment of foreign fishermen low pay situation, Fisheries Department did not carry out inspection,"Fisheries Department has always said that there is no funding, manpower, plus we think Fisheries Department also does not have the professional management of labor, so whether offshore or offshore fishermen, should be brought under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Labor."

How can a fisherman tell the truth when the captain is beside him?

Chuang further explains that the government does not have enough inspectors at present, so it should increase manpower. Moreover, it must regularly board ships for inspection. The counties and cities with the largest number of offshore fishing boats, such as Ilan and Kaohsiung, need regular inspectors to board ships for inspection once a week or two.

In addition, Taiwan should sign ILO Convention C 188 on its own initiative and domesticate it. Chiu Siu-chi, Director of the Taiwan Oceans Program of the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF), explained that in terms of working hours, Convention 188 on Work in Fisheries targets the number of working hours per week, but overseas employment is more than seven days per month. In terms of wages, the Work in Fishing Convention 188 states a minimum wage of $614 and $450 for offshore employment.

Li Yiqiao, head of the Greenpeace Ocean Project, pointed out that the 188 Fisheries Work Convention further regulates the health inspection of fishermen, clearly stipulates the content of health inspection, and generally ensures that labor inspection, health inspection, working hours and wages are above average. At present, Norway, Morocco, Argentina, Angola, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Congo, Estonia, France, Latvia and South Africa have adopted it; the EU has even expressed follow-up and required all member states to adopt it; Thailand will adopt it as soon as the end of this year.

The Fisheries Department has cited 86 cases of fishermen visiting."However, when the fishermen visited, the captain was watching. If I were a fisherman, I would not tell the truth." Li Yiqiao said that although there are relevant provisions in the "Measures for the Permit and Management of Overseas Employment of Non-Chinese Crew Members", penalties are also set,"but in fact they have not been fulfilled. The problem of the Fisheries Department now is that the laws and regulations have come out. What is the actual law enforcement?" The Fisheries Department has not even checked. Now, is this law set for international viewing? Or is there actual law enforcement? There's a gap."

Fisheries Department: Cooperate with Ministry of Labor to improve rights and interests protection

In response to questions from the outside world, Deputy Director of Fisheries Lin Kuo-ping replied that at present there are fishing inspectors in foreign ports, and when domestic ocean-going vessels return, they will also conduct interviews with fishermen from abroad. As for disputes over methods, they will be discussed again. For example, the crew members who want to be interviewed will be taken indoors and separated from the captain, so that fishermen can tell the truth.

Lin said that the "Measures for the Permit and Management of Overseas Employment of Crew Members of Non-Chinese Nationality" was only passed last year. This year, visits to fishermen have also been started, and labor inspections have been carried out in cooperation with the Ministry of Labor to check the salary and working hours. At present, there are no cases of fines, but some cases are in progress and are being further verified.

As for the unified management of foreign fishermen by the Ministry of Labor, Lin explained that ocean-going fishing vessels are far away from China and operate at sea, which is more difficult to manage. At present, they are managed by the "Measures for Licensing and Management of Overseas Employment of Non-Chinese Crew Members." In the future, when the management situation is mature, it will also interface with the Labor Standard Law. Now we can only set the basic conditions first and then strive to improve the standard.

The Fisheries Department further explained that the current management method has raised the protection of various rights including salary and working hours, including a minimum monthly wage of US $450, a minimum of 10 hours of rest per day for crew members and a minimum of 4 days of rest per month; requiring shipowners to insure crew members against personal accident, medical and general death insurance; The general death insurance amount shall not be less than NT $1 million. If the crew members are injured or ill due to duty accidents, the shipowner shall arrange medical treatment nearby immediately and be responsible for medical treatment and other expenses.

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