Migrant Laborer Fall Victim to Human Trafficking

Anh Ngô Văn Mùi

Đơn kiến nghị của Ngô Văn Mùi

Taiwan is currently labeled as a Tier 2 Watch List country in the United States Department of State, 2006 Trafficking in Persons Report. Although the government claims that efforts are being made to eliminate human trafficking, many migrant workers continue to fall victim to human right abuses.

Ngo Van Mui is a 35 year old man from Hà Tỉnh, Vietnam. He made an agreement with the labor agency Vixelim in Hà Nội, Vietnam to acquire work in Taiwan; the working hours would be 8 hours a day, with overtime pay when necessary. Ngo Van Mui paid a total of 6,900 USD to the labor broker for finding him work in Taiwan.

On July 14, 2006, he arrived to Taichung, Taiwan; after the health examination, the company placed him at the Limited International Eastern Company (東方獅國際有限公司), the Taiwanese counterpart of the labor agency in Taichung. There, they locked him for 15 days to wait for work. During this time period, he was not allowed to go into contact with anyone outside of that company. In the morning they placed him at the company to perform sanitation services and otherwise locked him in the basement of the company, forbidding him to leave or interact with others. At 7 pm daily, they would bring him to an unknown location about 5 minutes from the company to sleep; he was also forbidden from leaving that area.

On the 28th of July, 2006, two labor agency representatives as well as a Chinese-Vietnamese translator brought him to the household in which he would be providing domestic service. Upon entering the household, a woman in the house stated that she did not want a Vietnamese worker, but an Indonesian one. The company representative convinced the woman in the house to allow him to a trial work period. The work schedule was to be as follows: wake up at 5 am to do laundry, scrub the house, cook, and gardening. In the evening, after preparing dinner, he was to iron the clothes. It was not until 10 or 11 pm, will he be allowed to sleep, a work day of a total 19 hours without overtime pay. The work consisted entirely of domestic service, unlike what was agreed upon in the contract. He then realized that this equated to paying a company contract price to work in a domestic setting. He consequently refused the unfair domestic work asked of him.

Danh thiếp của Công Ty Môi Giới

They returned him to the company and locked Ngo Van Mui for an additional 15 days in the same manner as before. The manager and a translator asked him that if he agreed to work in a domestic setting the company would rebate an agreed upon set amount of money. Ngo Van Mui then wrote a statement declaring that he would agree to perform domestic work upon acceptance from the household and an agreed upon monetary rebate.

After a few days, Ngo Van Mui inquired the labor agency of the status of a new household. The manager then informed him that the household did not want his service. Ngo Van Mui then requested they provide him a different household to work. The manager stated that a change would not be possible and requested that he write a statement declaring his refusal to perform the domestic work provided.

Ngo Van Mui refused to write the unfair statement. The manager still refuses to provide a household change for the Ngo Van Mui. The company then stated that if he wanted to escape, they would arrange for his escape. Ngo Van Mui only wanted to fulfill the contract not to escape, so he refused.

On August 15, 2006, as he was taking out the trash; he left the company and arrived at the Office for Vietnamese Migrant Workers and Brides to seek assistance.

Ngo Van Mui is a case of human trafficking. He was cheated by the labor agency into paying almost 7000 USD, believing that he would be working for a manufactory company under agreed wages and hours. However, when he arrived to Taiwan, he was told that he must work as a domestic servant (which had no regulations, protection, or set hours). Ngo Van Mui was locked indoors at the work site and had no access to anyone outside of those in the company for a month after his arrival into Taiwan. It was only after his escape from the company was he able to seek assistance. Now, we at the Vietnamese Migrant Workers and Brides Office are fighting for his fair treatment and a change in work in accordance to the signed contract.

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