《TAIPEI TIMES》 Fewer migrant workers missing this year: ministry

/ Staff writer, with CNA

The number of unaccounted-for migrant workers in the first half of the year is 4,400 fewer than in the same period last year, the Ministry of Labor said yesterday, responding to a local media report that said that more workers had absconded from their employers than in previous years.

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For the first six months of the year, 2.28 percent of the nation’s total migrant workers were unaccounted for, or about 16,700 of 739,000 migrant workers, down from 3.14 percent, or about 21,000 workers, in the same period last year, the ministry said.

The rate increased to 5.96 percent in the second half of last year, it added.

A Chinese-language United Daily News report, which said it was citing National Immigration Agency data, said that as of the end of May, the number of foreigners illegally residing in Taiwan had reached a high of 115,000, including nearly 83,000 migrant workers reported missing by their employers.

COVID-19 border controls have in the past few years affected the number of migrant workers entering Taiwan and the deportation of undocumented workers, the labor ministry said.

As border control measures were lifted and flights restored in March, the number of migrant workers increased, it said.

In addition, the National Immigration Agency, working with police, cracked down on illegal employment and expanded a voluntary departure program for those overstaying their visas, which helped lower the rate this year, it said.

Bilateral meetings with the countries where most migrant workers come from continue to address expanding the scope of direct recruitment of migrant workers, the ministry said.

On Tuesday last week, Taiwanese and Indonesian officials agreed to expand recruitment of caregivers directly from Indonesian care facilities, in an effort to ease migrant workers’ financial burden in paying broker fees, it said.

An amended regulation published on July 18, which is set to go into effect soon after the public comment period ends, would routinely check the number of unaccounted-for workers from foreign brokers and recruitment agencies, it added.

The ministry said it has also investigated higher rates of unaccounted-for workers in the construction and agricultural sectors.

A consultative advisory group in March urged the ministry to limit the number of absconded migrant workers, as more unaccounted-for workers would lead to lax regulations, allowing more migrant workers to enter the Taiwanese job market, it said.

The group said that the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Agriculture should help employers increase their knowledge on the Regulations on the Permission and Administration of the Employment of Foreign Workers （雇主聘僱外國人許可及管理辦法） and hire migrant workers carefully, it said.

The labor ministry said it has also proposed an amendment to stiffen the penalties for illegal employers by fining them for each undocumented worker they hire, and increase the fines for brokers who facilitate the hiring of undocumented migrant workers up to NT$1.5 million （US$47,173）.

It would also continue working with other ministries and agencies to improve measures for preventing the hiring of undocumented migrant workers.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES