Taiwan-India Memorandum of Understanding on Labor Cooperation, which has sparked significant social controversy, was confirmed to be advanced from its "for reference" status to "review" by the Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee of the Legislative Yuan on April 4th. And the migrant workers’ rights groups will continue to monitor the progress of the review.
The MOU not only lacks transparency in its signing process but also fails to address the shortcomings of past policies concerning migrant workers. Within the brief thirteen articles of the Taiwan-India MOU, aside from mentioning basic principles such as compliance with the law, equal treatment of Indian migrant workers, and measures to prevent human trafficking, there is little mention of important aspects of migrant workers' rights protection. Article eight of the MOU, in particular, adopts a dual-track system allowing both private brokers and government-to-government (G to G) recruitment channels to coexist, thus allowing private brokerage agencies to continue operating.
The current domestic policy for contract renewals of migrant workers adopts a dual-track system incorporating both "private brokers" and "Direct Hiring Service Centers". However, private brokers exploit migrant workers to reduce costs and offer more convenient and cheaper services, which discourages employers from using services provided by Direct Hiring Service Centers. These Centers have been repeatedly criticized by the Control Yuan and legislators for their low effectiveness and utilization rates. Moreover, the number of the Centers have decreased from dozens nationwide to just one in Taipei. Under the current policy, it is evident that Direct Hiring Service Center is unable to function effectively due to the monopolization of the migrant job market by private brokers. While the dual-track system appears to offer diverse service channels, it essentially allows private brokers to continue exploiting migrant workers to fulfill their own private interests. We strongly urge the government to avoid adopting a dual-track system allowing both private brokers and government-to-government (G to G) arrangements. Instead, the sole channel for migrant workers’ recruitment should be through government-to-government arrangements.
The MOU on labor cooperation signed between the governments of Taiwan and India, involving the introduction of transnational labor, not only directly concerns the rights of migrant workers but also has significant implications for the rights of local workers. Therefore, we once again urge the Legislative Yuan to promptly conduct a substantive review of the "Taiwan-India Memorandum of Understanding on Labor Cooperation," to establish "G to G" as the only channel for the introduction of migrant workers, and to incorporate the protection of migrant workers' rights and relevant labor rights protection that have long been neglected in this MOU.
Mandarin ver. https://www.tahr.org.tw/news/3516
Translated by: Ya-ju, Edited by: Mina and Jackson Wu
