Taiwan Church News
3466 Edition
July 30 – August 5, 2018
Topical News
Human Rights For Migrant Fishers Protest Outside Of MOI’s International Workshop
Reported by Chiu Kuo-rong
On July 25, the Ministry of Interior(MOI) held an annually international seminar, entitled as “2018 International Workshop on Strategies for Combating Human Trafficking”, mainly to discuss and exchange policies on preventing exploitation of migrant domestic workers and fishers.
Responding US Department of State’s annual “Trafficking in Persons Report”, this MOI international seminar is actually to showcase Taiwan’s progress in human rights and achievement in stopping human trafficking.
Ironically, before the assembly of MOI’s international workshop, International Labour Organization(ILO) released a news on July 17 about the first ever fishing vessel, referring to Fu-Shen 11 from Taiwan, breaching C188 – Work In Fishing Convention, 2007(No. 188)and being detained at Cape Town, South Africa in May, 2018.
In order to urge Taiwan government to take seriously about the deteriorating problems of Taiwan migrant fishers, a coalition called Human Rights for Migrant Fishers consisting of seven Taiwan nongovernmental organizations, including PCT Seamen’s/Fishermen’s Service Center and etc, staging a protest outside MOI’s international workshop and calling Taiwan government to take actions to eradicate human rights abuses and human trafficking in the fishing industry.
Translated by Peter Wolfe
(photo credit to Hou Bai-chien, http://www.eventsinfocus.org/news/2539)
