Put an end to the abuse of foreign fishermen! NGO has formed the Human Rights Alliance of Foreign fishermen and called for the abolition of overseas employment.

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The body of Indonesian fisherman Supriyanto was returned to the port of Taiwan on August 25, 2015, and the Pingtung District Prosecutor's Office signed the case with the administration of "death from septicemia." "however, there are many wounds on the body and it is suspected that he has been abused for a long time. The case is still under investigation by the Pingtung District Prosecutor's Office." Taiwan's International Labor Association Chuang Shu-ching points out that offshore operations are prone to abuse, harsh deduction of wages, and long-term exploitation. The above cases are only used as an introduction. "abuse cases are not cases reported by the Fisheries Department, but are very frequent and continue to occur."

The International Labor Association of Taiwan, the Taiwan Association for the Promotion of Human Rights, the Taoyuan City Mass Service Association, the Greenpeace and Environmental Justice Foundation formed the "Alliance for the Protection of the Human Rights of Foreign fishermen," and held a press conference on the 17th to call for the abolition of the overseas employment system, and all foreign fishermen should be included in the Labor Law and managed by the Ministry of Labor.

The wages of foreign fishermen both at home and abroad often fall short of the legal salary and are maliciously withheld. Photo of the fishermen in question (courtesy of the Alliance for the Protection of Human Rights of Foreign fishermen)

Human Rights Protection Alliance of Foreign fishermen: abolishing overseas employment and bringing it into the administration of labor law

In the face of the damage to the rights and interests of foreign fishermen, Shih Yi-hsiang, deputy secretary general of the Taiwan Association for the Promotion of Human Rights, pointed out that many deaths of foreign fishermen at sea have occurred in recent years, all of which are still under investigation, and there are still no satisfactory results. in terms of the intermediary system, the Taiwan system, and the division of labor among various ministries, foreign fishermen face human rights oppression in highlighting the problem.

The Alliance for the Protection of the Human Rights of Foreign fishermen has put forward a demand for the abolition of overseas employment, and all foreign fishermen in Taiwan are protected by the Labor Law. Foreign fishermen are managed by the Ministry of Labor regardless of ocean or offshore, and sufficient resources are invested to improve the frequency and accuracy of labor inspection of offshore and offshore fishing vessels.

"the Fisheries Department is unable to keep track of the actual number of overseas fishermen employed." Chuang Shu-ching points out that according to a survey conducted by the Indonesian media, the number of Indonesian people going to Taiwan to work as foreign fishermen is likely to exceed 40,000. Moreover, the Fisheries Department has not checked the low wages of foreign fishermen employed abroad. "the Fisheries Department has always said that it does not have the funds and manpower, and we think that the Fisheries Department does not have the specialty of managing workers, so both offshore and offshore deckhands should be under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Labor."

When the captain is around, how can the fisherman tell the truth?

Chuang further explained that at present, the government does not have enough labor inspectors, so it should add manpower. In addition, it is necessary to board the ship regularly for inspection. The counties and cities with the largest number of offshore fishing vessels, such as Ilan and Kaohsiung, need to have fixed labor inspectors. Once a week or two, they will board the ship for labor inspection. Only by mastering the roster of the crew of each fishing boat can the tracking effect be achieved.

In addition, Taiwan should also take the initiative to sign the International Labour Organization Convention on Fisheries work (ILO C 188) and legalize it domestically. Chiu Chiu-chi, director of the Taiwan Ocean Project of the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF), explains that in terms of working hours, Fisheries work Convention No. 188 is for the number of working hours per week, but overseas employment is per month, and it is easy to work more than seven days. In the salary section, Fisheries work Convention 188 also states that it is at least $614; overseas employment is $450.

Li Yikai, head of the Greenpeace Marine Project, points out that Fisheries work Convention 188 further regulates the health check-ups of fishermen, clearly stipulating the contents of health check-ups, and on the whole can ensure that labor inspection, health check-up, working hours and wages are all above average. At present, Norway, Morocco, Argentina, Angola, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Congo, Estonia, France, Latvia and South Africa have adopted it; the European Union has even followed up and requires all member states to adopt it; Thailand will adopt it at the end of this year at the earliest.

The Fisheries Department cited cases of visits by fishermen, "but during the visit with the fishermen, the captain was watching. If I were a fisherman, I would not tell the real situation." Li Yikai said that although there are relevant provisions and penalties in the current measures for the license and Administration of overseas Employment of non-Chinese Seafarers, "in fact, none of them has been met. The problem with the Fisheries Department now is that all the laws and regulations have come out. What exactly is law enforcement? The Fisheries Department did not even check it. Is this law intended for international inspection?. Or is there actual law enforcement? There is a gap. "

Fishery Department: cooperate with the Ministry of Labor to improve the protection of rights and interests

Lin Guoping, deputy director of the Fisheries Administration, responded to various questions from the outside world: at present, there are fishery inspectors in foreign ports, and when domestic ocean-going vessels come back, they will also conduct interviews and questionnaires for overseas fishermen, and disputes over the practice will also be discussed again, such as bringing the crew to be visited indoors and separated from the captain, so that the fishermen can tell the real situation.

Lin said that the "measures for the license and Administration of overseas Employment of non-Chinese Seafarers" was only passed last year, and this year, we also began to visit fishermen, cooperate with the Ministry of Labor, and check wages, working hours, and so on. At present, there are no cases of penalty, but there are cases in progress and are being further verified.

With regard to the unified management of foreign deckhands by the Ministry of Labor, Lin explained that ocean-going fishing vessels are relatively difficult to manage because they are far from home and operate at sea. at present, they are managed by the "measures for permission and Management of employing non-Chinese Seafarers abroad." the management situation is mature in the future. It will also be docked with the Labor Standards Law, and now we can only standardize the basic conditions first, and then strive to raise the standard.

The Fisheries Department further stated that the current management measures have improved the protection of various rights and interests, including salary and working hours, including a minimum monthly wage of US $450, a minimum rest time of 10 hours a day for crew members and at least 4 days of rest per month. Shipowners are required to take out personal accident, medical and general death insurance for their crew. The amount of general death insurance shall not be less than NT $1 million. If a crew member is accidentally injured or sick in the performance of his duties, the shipowner should immediately arrange medical treatment nearby and be responsible for medical and other expenses.

The British EJF Foundation has released a global film accusing Taiwan of human rights exploitation of fisheries and serious need for improvement in longline fishing.

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