Taiwan needs to improve language training for migrant workers to prevent them from leaving work and becoming undocumented. That was the view expressed by several lawmakers and officials during a meeting of the legislature’s Internal Administration Committee on Wednesday.
According to the National Immigration Agency, there are an estimated 84,000 undocumented migrant workers in Taiwan. DPP legislator Lo Mei-ling (羅美玲) said during the hearing that countries such as Japan and Korea require migrant workers to undergo language training, while Taiwan does not. She says that many conflicts between migrant workers and employers arise from frustrations related to language barriers, leading some workers to leave their employers and become undocumented. She says that the language requirements in Japan and Korea may be why there is a lower rate of undocumented workers in those countries.
Director General of the Workforce Development Agency Tsai Meng-liang (蔡孟良) said during the hearing that Taiwan does require a certain number of language training hours for most migrant workers. However, he acknowledged that this is typically insufficient to overcome the language barrier. He says he has learned about the systems in Japan and Korea, and the agency is planning ways to improve language training for migrant workers.
Tsai also said that to help deal with the number of undocumented migrant workers, the agency has developed a draft amendment to the Employment Service Act, which will increase the fines for employers hiring undocumented workers. Such employers could be fined up to NT$750,000 (US$23,000). Fines would also be raised for those acting as illegal agents in recruiting migrant workers. Such fines could be as high as NT$1.5 million (US$46,000) depending on the number of people involved, a three-fold increase over the current maximum penalty.