In Taiwan, migrants flee oppressive workplaces for life on the periphery

This communicative was produced successful concern with the Pulitzer Center.

Taichung City, Taiwan – Bernard keeps a debased profile.

Heading to enactment connected the streets of Taiwan, the 45-year-old Filipino migrant idiosyncratic dodges glances and often checks his look disguise to marque definite his quality is concealed.

To fell his accent, helium often speaks successful a near-whisper.

Often, helium declines invitations to societal occasions from his chap countrymen, disquieted that a “Judas” among them mightiness study him to the authorities.

Hired astatine 1 of Taiwan’s galore electronics factories, Bernard came to the land legally successful 2016.

But since June 2024, helium has been among Taiwan’s increasing colonisation of undocumented workers. He blames his broker, a backstage employment cause to which migrants are usually assigned, for his existent predicament.

Bernard’s broker tried to confiscate his passport, helium said, past tried to person him to resign and forgo severance payments from his employer.

He refused some times, he said, causing a rift betwixt them.

“They [brokers] lone talk to you erstwhile they travel to cod payments oregon erstwhile they privation to instrumentality you,” Bernard, who asked to usage a pseudonym retired of fearfulness of repercussions, told Al Jazeera.

Brokers successful Taiwan instrumentality a chopped of their clients’ wages and person important power implicit their conditions and occupation prospects, making their relationships prone to abuse.

When Bernard’s declaration expired successful 2022, he said, his broker blacklisted him among other employers.

Desperate to enactment his daughter’s education in the Philippines, Bernard ditched his broker and decided to overstay his visa to work odd construction jobs, helium said.

These days, helium said, helium feels “like a vertebrate successful a cage”.

In public, Bernard would not adjacent utter the connection “undocumented” successful immoderate language, lone gesturing with his hands that helium ran away.

Joy Tajonera celebrates Sunday Mass astatine Taichung Catholic Church successful Taichung, Taiwan, connected February 23, 2025 [Michael Beltran/Al Jazeera]

Taiwan’s undocumented workforce is rising fast.

The fig of unaccounted-for migrants connected the land has doubled successful the past 4 years, reaching 90,000 this January, according to the Ministry of Labor.

Despite Taiwan’s image as 1 of the region’s uncommon wide democracies, a increasing fig of Southeast Asian migrant workers are living nether the constant menace of deportation and without entree to social services.

Taiwan institutionalised its broker strategy successful 1992 successful a bid to streamline labour recruitment.

Brokers power astir each facet of a migrant worker’s life, from wherever they live, to their meals, to the presumption of their employment contracts, and adjacent however they entree nationalist services.

Migrant rights advocates say it is precisely this level of power that is prompting large numbers of workers to flee their workplaces.

Over a 3rd of each complaints made by migrants to the Ministry of Labor are broker-related, according to authoritative data.

As of January 2025, Vietnamese made up the biggest stock of the undocumented at 57,611, followed by Indonesians astatine 28,363, and Filipinos astatine 2,750.

Joy Tajonera, a Catholic priest who runs the Ugnayan Center, a migrant structure successful Taichung City, said the Taiwanese government has taken a lax approach to the issue.

“The strategy allows the brokers a power to beryllium utilized to the disadvantage of migrants,” Tajonera told Al Jazeera.

“Meanwhile, employers play innocent.”

Brokers typically complaint migrants a monthly work interest of $50 to $60, and besides cod fees for occupation transfers, infirmary insurance, leave, and astir of the indispensable documentation to enactment successful Taiwan.

In immoderate cases, they impose property limits for definite jobs.

Tajonera said galore undocumented workers tin really gain much without a broker, “but past you suffer each societal protections and wellness insurance. It’s not that they privation to tally away. It’s their situation, they can’t instrumentality it immoderate more.”

‘Shameless and stupid’

Taiwan’s Labor Ministry said successful a connection that the summation successful undocumented migrants was driven by pandemic-related disruption to deportations.

It said it has taken assorted steps to amended conditions for migrant works, including raising the minimum wage, conducting regular inspections of recruitment agencies, introducing a caller suspension mechanics for agencies with precocious rates of absconding workers, and encouraging labour-sending countries to trim bureau fees.

“Through pre-employment predisposition for concern migrant workers and one-stop predisposition sessions for household caregivers, the ministry aims to heighten workers’ consciousness of ineligible requirements, pass them of the risks and consequences of going missing, and guarantee employers fulfill their absorption responsibilities,” the ministry said.

However, since last year, the Taiwanese authorities has besides accrued the maximum fines for migrants caught overstaying their visas from $330 to $1,657.

Lennon Ying-Da Wang, manager of the nationalist migrant structure Serve the People Association, called the government’s determination to summation penalties “shameless and stupid”.

“Instead of addressing the reasons for moving away, this volition conscionable forestall radical from surrendering,” helium told Al Jazeera.

Wang said a deficiency of protections, peculiarly for those moving successful childcare and fisheries, is the cardinal crushed wherefore galore migrants abscond from their workplaces.

Neither industry is taxable to Taiwan’s monthly minimum wage of $944, according to Taiwan’s Labor Standards Act.

Wang said migrants successful signifier often person fractional that magnitude minus deductions by brokers.

“Migrants conscionable privation a decent salary,” Wang said. “But there’s an unspoken regularisation among immoderate brokers not to prosecute migrant workers who inquire for assistance from shelters. That forces them to tally away.”

Despite his sympathies, Wang, arsenic the manager of a state-funded facility, is not allowed to instrumentality successful migrants who person absconded from their employers arsenic they are taxable to deportation.

Nicole Yang checks connected infants astatine Harmony Home successful Taipei, Taiwan, connected April 7, 2025 [Michael Beltran/Al Jazeera]

On a quiet, nondescript roadworthy astatine the borderline of Taipei lies Harmony Home, an NGO catering to undocumented young mothers and children.

While the women and children who enactment astatine Harmony Home cannot beryllium deported for humanitarian reasons, the authorities is not obligated to enarthrosis the costs of their care or medical needs.

Harmony Home, which has taken successful much than 1,600 children implicit the past 2 decades, has precocious seen a crisp uptick successful minors coming done its doors, laminitis Nicole Yang said.

“Last year, we had astir 110 caller kids. By April this year, we’ve already got 140,” Yang told Al Jazeera.

“We besides attraction for 300 others who unrecorded astatine location portion their parent works.”

Li-Chuan Liuhuang, a labour adept astatine National Chung Cheng University, said that portion the broker strategy volition beryllium hard to “uproot immediately”, the authorities could amended oversight by “making the recruitment process and outgo operation much transparent”.

In Lishan, a mountainous area of Taichung, hundreds of undocumented Southeast Asians prime peaches, pears and cabbages for section landowners. The beingness of runaway migrants, galore of whom fled fishing trawlers, is not lone tolerated but relied upon for the harvest.

Liuhuang said she would similar to spot specified migrants being allowed to enactment connected farms with due labour protections, but she believes this would not beryllium casual for the nationalist to accept.

“The authorities volition person to perpetrate much efforts for this benignant of dialogue,” she told Al Jazeera.

Mary, who asked to usage a pseudonym, said she absconded from her occupation arsenic a childcare worker to enactment illegally at various mountain farms after becoming frustrated astatine earning little than fractional the minimum wage and having her grievances ignored by her broker.

Migrant idiosyncratic Mary checks connected crops successful Lishan, Taichung City, connected April 8, 2025 [ Michael Beltran/Al Jazeera]

Sitting beside a cabbage patch, Mary, 46, said she ever felt anxious astir the police in the city.

But successful Lishan the rules are different, she said, as landowners person an unwritten statement with the authorities astir the runaways.

“There’s no mode the boss doesn’t have connections with the police. He ever knows erstwhile they travel and tells america not to spell out,” she told Al Jazeera.

Even so, determination is nary warrant of avoiding mistreatment successful the mountains.

After the harvest, employers sometimes withhold payments, threatening anyone who complains with deportation, Mary said.

“If I kick that the boss doesn’t give maine the salary, I volition get reported. Who volition assistance me?” she said.