Press Release: People’s Agenda on the Migration in Southeast Asia and East Asia

English:

[Taipei, 25 October 2024] – East and Southeast Asian civil society leaders committed to strengthening regional cooperation on human rights, democracy, and migration rights protection in Taipei, Taiwan (23-24 October). About 50 representatives of various civil society organisations and individual rights advocates from 14 countries working on human rights for migrants, refugees, stateless and undocumented people and workers, as well as Commissioner Ms. Zoe Huirong Chi from the National Human Rights Commission, gathered for a Cross-Regional Forum: Promoting Rights of People on the Move in East and Southeast Asia organised by BEBESEA (Better Engagement Between East and Southeast Asia). 

The forum discussed the current situations and concerns of the people on the move,  geopolitical dynamics and instability that cause more involuntary migration, and the rise of authoritarianism, and shrinking democratic spaces that all impact the promotion and protection of migrants’ rights in the region. In such a context, the civil society leaders participating in the forum reiterated the importance of regional cooperation and solidarity to the governments’ accountability in protecting democracy and human rights.

“We have chosen Taiwan to be our ideal location to hold this forum because of its geographical location connecting East and Southeast Asia and political environment that allows us to safely discuss some sensitive issues related to human rights and democracy in the region.”  – Mariko Hayashi, Co-founder, BEBESEA

There are two regional momentums that the participants of the forum particularly responded to: 1) the recent adoption of the ASEAN Guidelines on the Placement and Protection of Migrant Fishers and 2) the development of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the protection of migrant fishers on board Taiwanese fishing vessels between Indonesia and Taiwanese authorities. 

The Guidelines is the operational document to the ASEAN Declaration on the Placement and Protection of Migrant Fishers that recognizes migrant fishers as migrant workers, entitling the former to the same rights and protection of migrant workers. Both the Declaration and Guidelines note the application of Universal Declaration of Human Rights, fundamental labour conventions, and other relevant international instruments in the case of migrant fishers. The rights of migrant fishers and measures of protection that need to be put in place by ASEAN member states are specified in the ASEAN Guidelines. 

The measures of protection specified in the ASEAN Guidelines are governed by the principles of (i) right based, (ii) non-discrimination, (iii) gender sensitive and gender responsive, (iv) inclusion and targeted support for migrant fishers including undocumented migrants and migrant in crisis, (v) transparency, integrity, and accountability, (vi) participation, representation, voice and agency of migrant fishers, (vii) whole of government  and whole of society, (viii) shared responsibility, (ix) evidence-based policy and programmes, and (x) partnership and collaboration.

“The Declaration and Guideline can be the reference for relevant stakeholders, governments of receiving countries of fishers, including fishing vessels owners to improve the human rights protection, due to the members of ASEAN being the majority resource country of migrant fishers”. Daniel Awigra – Executive Director HRWG.  

Migrant fishers play a central role in the growth of the fishing industry in Taiwan. According to the Fisheries Agency, Ministry of Agriculture, ‘Fishery Statistics Annual Report of the Republic of China (2023)’, in 2022, a total of 21,811 migrant fishers worked on distant water fishing (DWF) vessels, and 11,250 on board Taiwanese coastal water fishing fleets. Indonesia dominates this number, followed by the Philippines and Vietnam. The huge number of migrant fishers working in this sector enables Taiwan to hold a strategic position in the global fishing industry. 

However, the ongoing decade of labor exploitation and human rights violation experienced by migrant fishers in the Taiwanese fishing industry both on the domestic and distant water fishing fleets are unacceptable, indicating serious omission of human rights violations as well as lack of true commitments and actions by Indonesian and Taiwanese authorities resolving the issues towards progressive solutions. 

Therefore, the representatives of the Coalition on the Protection of Indonesian Migrant Fishers on Taiwanese Fishing Vessels (the Coalition) attended the BEBESEA’s Cross-Regional Forum demanding the Indonesian and Taiwanese authorities to intensify policy discussions leading to the development of MoU on the protection of Indonesian migrant fishers onboard Taiwanese fishing vessels. 

It is important to emphasize that discussions leading to the development of MoU, particularly for the Taiwanese distant fishing, shall consider the Proposal and Union Demands that have been delivered and communicated constructively to both authorities last March. As main highlights, the Coalition demands the incorporation of fundamental labor rights and decent work, freedom of association and anti-retaliation, collective bargaining agreements, Wi-Fi, fair pay, grievance handling, and employer accountability for labor recruitment, including recruitment fees and related costs fully paid by employers to protect the migrant fishers. 

(A coalition of 7 labor unions in Indonesia and Taiwan representing more than 30,000 fishers in fleets all major oceans, supported by 12 civil society organizations in both countries and globally. The coalition has been established to advocate for better standards for migrant fishers. See further information about the coalition and their demands here.)

“This arrangement must build on the international human rights and labour standards to make sure that the human rights of fishers are protected throughout their migration phase, including at sea“ Jeremia Humolong Prasetya – Program Manager, IOJI.

Lennon Ying-Da Wang, Director of the Department of Policies on Migrant Workers in Serve the People Association states: “All the shocking violations we encountered by migrant workers from all different sectors in Taiwan clearly show that forced labor is clearly a systematic condition. Take the fishing sector for example, we see salaries of distant water fishermen still largely paid through the brokers; there is still no regulation to ensure the access of WIFI for more than 20,000 distant water migrant fishermen. We call on the government of Taiwan to show their political willingness to start to change the series of systematic forced labor conditions and to work with all other stakeholders which include the unions and CSO/NGO for migrant workers, employers, brands and retailers (especially for the fishing industry), governments of migrant-sending countries and other concerned countries to work together with a timeline. We understand all the problems might not be fixed all at once, so all of us are dedicated to contributing our efforts to work on it, and so the government and other stakeholders shall take their parts, too.

Hariyanto Suwarno, Chairperson SBMI, as one of the Coalition’s representatives participating in the BEBESEA’s Cross-Regional Forum, added that in order to have meaningful, inclusive, and equal social dialogues as well as progressive, just, fair and effective agreement for protecting human rights of migrant fishers, the Indonesian and Taiwanese authorities need to immediately establish and facilitate regular tripartite meetings among officials, industries and unions in Indonesia and Taiwan. “Further delays on establishment of the arrangement for better labor protection of migrant fishers are serious omissions to human rights violations,” he concluded. 

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Contact person: 

Daniel Awigra: +628176921757, awigra2015@gmail.com

Lennon Ying-Da Wang: +886-933908994, ydwong@gmail.com 

中文版：

新聞稿
東南亞及東亞移民議程

【台北，2024年10月25日】——來自東亞與東南亞的公民社會領袖於台灣台北（10月23日-24日）承諾加強區域合作，以促進人權、民主和移民權利的保護。來自14個國家、約50位致力於移民、難民、無國籍人士及無證件工作者人權的公民社會組織代表及個人權利倡導者，以及國家人原委員會紀惠容委員，一起參加了由BEBESEA（促進東亞與東南亞更好互動）組織的跨區域論壇：促進東亞與東南亞移動人士權利保護。

論壇討論了當前移動人士的情況與關切事項，包括導致更多非自願移民的地緣政治動盪、威權主義的興起，以及日益萎縮的民主空間，這些都影響著區域內移民權利的促進與保護。在此背景下，參與論壇的公民社會領袖重申區域合作和團結對於政府在保護民主和人權方面的問責至關重要。

「我們選擇台灣作為舉辦這次論壇的理想地點，是因為其地理位置連接東亞與東南亞，且其政治環境允許我們安全地討論一些與區域內人權與民主相關的敏感問題。」——BEBESEA共同創辦人林 茉里子（Mariko Hayashi）

參與論壇的與會者特別關注兩個區域動態：1）最近通過的《東盟漁工安置與保護指南》；2）印尼與台灣當局正在制定的關於保護在台灣漁船上工作的印尼漁工的備忘錄（MoU）。

該《指南》是《東盟漁工安置與保護宣言》的操作性文件，承認漁工屬於移工，享有與其他移工相同的權利與保護。《宣言》和《指南》均提到《世界人權宣言》、基本勞工公約及其他相關國際文書的應用，並在《東盟漁工安置與保護指南》中具體規定了東盟成員國需要採取的漁工權利保護措施。

《東盟漁工安置與保護指南》規定的保護措施基於以下原則：（i）以權利為本，（ii）不歧視，（iii）性別敏感和性別回應，（iv）包含和針對無證移工及危機中的移工提供支持，（v）透明度、誠信與問責，（vi）漁工的參與、代表、發聲與自主，（vii）政府與社會全員參與，（viii）共同責任，（ix）基於證據的政策與計劃，（x）合作與夥伴關係。

「《宣言》和《指南》可以作為相關利益相關者以及漁工接收國政府和漁船船東改善人權保護的參考，因為東盟成員國是漁工的主要來源國。」——HRWG執行董事丹尼爾·阿維格拉（Daniel Awigra）表示。

漁工在台灣漁業的發展中發揮了核心作用。根據台灣農業部漁業署《2023年中華民國漁業統計年報》，2022年，共有21,811名漁工在遠洋漁船上工作，另有11,250人在台灣沿海漁船上工作。印尼漁工數量最多，其次是菲律賓和越南。大量漁工在這一行業工作，使得台灣在全球漁業中擁有戰略地位。

然而，台灣漁業，無論是國內還是遠洋漁業，長期以來存在的勞工剝削和人權侵犯問題不可接受，顯示出人權侵犯問題的嚴重忽視，並且印尼和台灣當局缺乏真正的承諾和行動來解決這些問題，推動積極的解決方案。

因此，印尼漁工保護聯盟（聯盟）的代表出席了BEBESEA的跨區域論壇，要求印尼和台灣當局加強政策討論，推動制定保護印尼漁工在台灣漁船上工作的諒解備忘錄（MoU）。

需要強調的是，關於制定MoU的討論，特別是針對台灣遠洋漁業，應考慮去年三月已提交並與兩國當局建設性溝通的建議書與工會訴求。聯盟的主要訴求包括將基本勞工權利和體面工作、結社自由與反報復、集體談判協議、Wi-Fi、合理薪酬、申訴機制及雇主在勞工招聘中的問責（包括由雇主全額支付招聘費用和相關成本）納入其中，以保護漁工的權利。

「這項安排必須基於國際人權和勞工標準，確保漁工的人權在其移動過程中，包括在海上，得到保護。」——IOJI項目經理杰瑞米·胡莫隆（Jeremia Humolong Prasetya）。

桃園市服務協會移工政策處主任汪英達表示：「台灣不同產業的移工所遭遇的駭人聽聞的侵權事件，清楚地顯示出強迫勞動已成為系統性問題。以漁業為例，我們發現遠洋漁工的薪資仍主要通過仲介發放；超過2萬名遠洋漁工仍無法確保獲得Wi-Fi的使用。我們呼籲台灣政府展現政治決心，開始改變這一系列的系統性強迫勞動問題，並與包括工會和移工的民間社會組織/非政府組織、雇主、品牌和零售商（尤其是漁業方面）、移工輸出國政府及其他有關國家共同合作，制定一個具體的時間表。我們理解所有問題無法一次解決，所以我們所有人都將努力貢獻力量，政府和其他利益相關者也應該負起應盡的責任。」

作為參加BEBESEA跨區域論壇的聯盟代表之一，印尼移工組織（SBMI）主席哈里揚托·蘇瓦諾（Hariyanto Suwarno）補充說，為了達成有意義、包容和平等的社會對話，以及推動進步、公正、合理且有效的協議來保護漁工的人權，印尼和台灣當局應立即建立並促進雙方政府、產業及工會之間的定期三方會談。他總結道：「在制定更好勞工保護安排方面的進一步拖延，是對人權侵犯的嚴重忽視。」

新聞聯絡人：

Daniel Awigra: +628176921757, awigra2015@gmail.com

汪英達: +886-933908994, ydwong@gmail.com

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