Taiwan bans RI workers indefinitely

Taiwan bans RI workers indefinitely

Associated Press, Taiwan

Taiwan banned the hiring of Indonesian workers on Thursday, complaining too many have broken their contracts and run away from their jobs.

The indefinite ban could be a blow to cash-strapped Indonesia because Taiwan has become a major income source for tens of thousands of the Southeast Asian nation's workers. About 97,000 Indonesians work on the island as maids, construction workers, factory laborers and caretakers for the elderly.

Last May, more than half - or 397 - of the 693 foreign workers who ran away from their jobs were from Indonesia, the Council of Labor Affairs said. The council said 134 of the runaways were from Vietnam, 76 from the Philippines and 86 from Thailand.

Part of the problem is that Indonesian law requires the workers wire a minimum of NT$3,000 (US$1=NT$33.66) a month back to Indonesia, said a council official.

The workers are forced to do this by labor brokers, who could lose their right to recruit workers if the laborers don't remit the money, the official said.

"The money the laborers make is their own. They have every right to decide what to do with it," the official said.

Many workers break their contracts with the labor brokers and seek illegal work so they can avoid the Indonesian regulation.

Taiwan has requested help from Indonesia but so far Jakarta hasn't responded, said the official, who wouldn't describe what kind of assistance Taiwan expected.

Representatives at the Indonesian Economic and Trade Office in Taipei didn't return phone calls from The Associated Press.