Numbers: According to different estimations, 50,000 to 200,000 people from the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan entered Taiwan as tourists, overstayed their visas, and worked without a work permit in the late 1980s, for instance, in manufacturing and construction.⁴

In the same year, the hiring of “household caretakers” (家庭監護), “household helpers” (家庭幫傭), and “foreign sailors” (外籍船員) begins.⁹

Migrant fishers can only compose up to one-third of the crew on a Taiwanese fishing vessel. Throughout the 1990s, many of them are from the People’s Republic of China who get hired in ports outside Taiwan.¹⁰

On a project basis, 68 industries including in the textile sector are permitted to bring in migrant workers.¹¹

The migrant workers who legally enter Taiwan are from four countries whose governments signed respective agreements with Taiwan’s government: Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines.¹²

The CLA specifies stipulations for the hiring of migrant workers in its “Regulations on the Permission and Administration of the Employment of Foreigners.”¹³ According to these regulations, migrant workers need to go through a physical examination before crossing the border and need to be checked regularly during their stay in the country. The physical examination includes testing for tuberculosis, syphilis, Hepatitis B, malaria, parasites, HIV, and a mental health assessment. If a migrant worker does not pass these tests, they will be immediately repatriated. Female migrant workers can also be asked to do a pregnancy test¹⁴

The CLA introduces the Employment Stability Fee Payment Method.¹⁵ Employers who employ migrant workers must pay a monthly “employment stability fee” that is used for the state administration of foreign labor and for funding the training of local workers. The amount paid by employers depends on the employment category: in ordinary manufacturing work the monthly amount is 2,000 yuan, in high-tech manufacturing it is 2,400 yuan, for domestic care workers it is 2,000 yuan, and for domestic helpers it is 5,000 yuan.¹⁶

Wages: The standard wage for migrant workers, including migrant domestic workers, is the official minimum wage which stands at NT$ 12,365.¹⁷. That is 46 percent of the average manufacturing wage in Taiwan which stands at NT$ 26,942.¹⁸

Numbers: The official number of legally employed temporary migrant workers reaches 16,000.¹⁹ According to some estimates, more than 50,000 migrant workers reside in Taiwan as undocumented workers, other estimates put the number lower.²⁰

After pressure from the fishing industry, regulations are changed and migrant fishers can compose up to one-half of the crew on a fishing vessel.²²

Protests: In April, migrant workers at the Lucky Cement Factory (幸福水泥厰) in Dong’ao stage a wildcat strike to demand a wage increase. The management immediately hires another group of workers and pressures the migrant workers to give up and resume work.²⁵

In May, after Thai workers clash with the management of the company Zheng Tai Yi in Taichung, leading to the deportation of workers, CALL (Committee Action of Labor Legislation or 工委會, a left-wing group of labor activists that continues to exist until 2005) supports the struggle against deportation and for equal rights for migrant workers to organize and strike. This is the first time, that Taiwanese labor activists support an action of migrant workers.²⁶

In September, 40 migrant workers from the Philippines working at the Hwa Hsia Glass Factory (華夏玻璃廠) in Hsinchu go on a wildcat strike demanding the same wage as their local co-workers. The management charges the strike leaders for absenteeism and initiates their deportation.²⁷

Other events: Representatives of Taiwan’s broker agency sector for the recruitment of migrant workers propose to the CLA to establish an official brokerage system in order to curb illegal brokerage.²⁸

Taiwan’s President Lee Teng-hui starts promoting the “Southbound Policy” as a way to establish closer links to Southeast Asian governments and sup­port Taiwanese investments in Southeast Asia. The policy is important as it is also directed at the main sending states for migrant workers recruited under Taiwan’s “guest worker” regime.²⁹

The CLA sets up a government unit responsible for overseeing the recruit­ment of migrant workers and for controlling the broker agencies (勞委會職訓局外籍勞工作業中心).³¹

Protests: In January, more than 50 migrant workers from Malaysia working at the Kuan Yuan Paper Mill (廣原造紙厰) launch a wildcat strike because they are dissatisfied with the employer’s decision that their year-end bonuses are not be paid before their contract runs out and they return to Malaysia. The employer contacts the police so that nine alleged strike leaders get depor­ted.³²

Other events: In February, a contractor working for the Tamsui MRT (subway) line construction project in Taipei and New Taipei has not paid wages, and 60 migrant workers leave the site and remain in Taiwan as undocumented workers.³³

Wages: The official minimum wage is set to NT$ 14,880.³⁴ That is 46 percent of the average manufacturing wage which stands at NT$ 32,494 in Taiwan.³⁵

Numbers: The official number of temporary migrant workers reaches about 189,000, a more than ten-fold increase in the past three years. The official number of undocumented migrant workers reaches 10.000.³⁶

Protests: As Taiwan’s unemployment rate rises, labor protests organized by local unions become more frequent. Labor groups start the “workers’ march against unemployment” and demand a law regulating factory closures. Later workers who have become unemployed protest by lying on train tracks or dumping garbage on highways and stage other actions.³⁸

At the factory of the US computer company DEC (Digital Equipment Corporation) in Taoyuan, hundreds of employees get laid off, including local and migrant workers. They protest and demand severance pay.³⁹

In August, more than 70 migrant workers from Thailand go on a wildcat strike to protest against wage arrears at Naidida Tire Factory (耐地達輪胎厰) in Changhua.⁴⁰

The CLA gradually integrates the schemes for migrant workers who entered at different times into a unified quota system for migrant workers in the manufacturing sector. The proportion of migrant workers among the employ­ees cannot exceed 30 percent of the workforce.⁴²

Wages: The monthly minimum wage which most migrant workers earn, is set to NT$ 15,840, and it is not raised again until ten years later.⁴³ That is 45 percent of the average manufacturing wage in Taiwan which stands at NT$ 35,408.⁴⁴

Protests: In January, representatives and supporters of the Taiwan Labor Front, regarded as close to the leadership of the oppositional Democratic Progressive Party, demonstrate in Taipei against rising local unemployment and carry posters outside the CLA headquarters demanding: ‘‘Send Back Immigrant Labor Now!”⁴⁶

In July, 30 migrant workers and supporters stage a protest in Taipei against the high fees of NT$ 15,000 to NT$ 30,000 brokers charge them for extending their work contract.⁴⁷

On October 8, 180 local and migrant workers at textile manufacturer Ching Yang stage a demonstration against the sudden factory closure and the relocation to the People’s Republic of China (PRC). They demand the payment of wage arrears. On October 16, 100 migrants and 80 local workers from the same factory storm the office of the Taipei Labor Bureau and demand equal rights for all employees participating in the demonstration, irrespective of nationality.⁴⁸

The restriction on migrant fishers’ proportion of the crew on a fishing vessel (in relation to local fishers) is abolished.⁵⁰

Migrant care workers can now also be hired by care institutions or elderly homes supplementing the workforce of local care workers there.⁵¹

Protests: Taiwan’s National Federation of Trade Unions organizes a demon­stration with 10,000 people protesting against the shortcomings of the policies regarding migrant workers and demanding two days off per week and the obligation for employers to pay into the pension fund.⁵²

Other events: In July, the Philippine government announces the suspension of flights to Taiwan, accusing the latter of misconduct in how it handles bilateral air traffic. Later, the Philippine government refers in its documents to Taiwan’s CLA as the CLA “of the Province Taiwan.” It also announces that it will strictly review the qualifications of Taiwanese employers and brokers. This is met with resentment on the side of the Taiwanese govern­ment and Taiwanese brokers.⁵³ The conflict is solved more than a year later, in September 2000, when the two governments sign a new aviation agreement.⁵⁴

In September, after an earlier bilateral agreement between the governments of Taiwan and Vietnam, Taiwan’s CLA announces that Vietnam becomes the fifth country from which migrant workers will be recruited to Taiwan and that it is considering countries in Central and South America as further sources of migrant labor.⁵⁵

Also in September, a fight breaks out between 200 to 300 Thai and Filipino workers at the Formosa Plastics’ Sixth Naptha Cracker plant in Mailiao (麥寮), Yunlin County. They use metal pipes, sticks, and petrol bombs, and they turn against the riot police which is sent in to defuse the fight.⁵⁶ According to an analysis, “[a]uthoritarian management practices, excessive overtime burdens, and over-crowded dormitories contributed to a profound sense of isolation, frustration and despair, which ultimately found an outlet in mass, inter-ethnic violence.”⁵⁷

In October, TIWA (Taiwan International Workers’ Association; 台灣國際勞工協會), the first local NGO to promote the interests of migrant workers in Taiwan, is founded by activists of the Taiwanese labor organization CALL.⁵⁸ The founding of TIWA is in part a reaction to the Mailiao incident. The new organization aims to prevent such inter-immigrant violence and wants to promote solidarity between local and migrant workers.⁵⁹

The CLA begins to use the Employment Stabilization Fund (就業安定基金) to finance inspectors in every county and city labor bureau. They are asked to check the working and living conditions of migrant workers, especially work safety and accommodation facilities.⁶¹

Other events: Due to the diplomatic disputes of the previous year (see above), Taiwan’s CLA announces the suspension of the hiring of Filipino workers. The suspension is not lifted until the end of the year.⁶²

Wages: The official minimum wage is still NT$ 15,840 as it has not been raised since 1997. That is 41 percent of the average manufacturing wage in Taiwan which stands at NT$ 38,922.⁶³

Numbers: The official number of temporary migrant workers reaches approximately 326,500, an increase of 73 percent in the past five years. The official number of undocumented migrant workers drops to 5,500.⁶⁴

The CLA decides that employers can deduct up to TWD 4,000 from a migrant worker’s wage for food and accommodation expenses, in effect reducing the obligatory minimum wage for migrant workers.⁶⁶

The CLA abolishes the rule that migrant workers cannot get married during the period of employment in Taiwan. It bans the employers’ practice to hold back part of the wage until the end of the labor contract, so-called obligatory savings (强迫儲蓄). And it requires employers to take care of migrant workers in accordance with the Foreigner Life Management Plan (外國人生活管理計畫書), a scheme that regulates the employer’s responsibility for an employed migrant worker’s discipline at work and beyond. An employer can lose their employment permit for migrant workers if their employed migrant worker, for instance, commits a crime or disturbs the local community by being drunk or swearing loudly in public.⁶⁷

The CLA stipulates that Taiwanese brokers shall not charge a “broker fee”, but only a monthly “service fee”, which is NT$ 1,800 for the first year, NT$ 1,700 for the second year, and NT$ 1,500 for the third year.⁶⁸

Other events: The Association of Employers of Foreign Domestic Helpers protests against the CLA’s new requirement that only households of care recipients with a score of 20 points and less on the Barthel Index scale can hire a migrant domestic care worker. During the related press conference, an old man says that he had eight chronic diseases, including myocardial infarction, but still could not fulfill the requirement of 20 points or less on the Barthel Index scale and, therefore, could not apply for hiring a migrant domestic care worker. After that, the old man’s face turns pale and he collapses. He is sent to the hospital where he dies. After receiving criticisms from different sides, the CLA raises the necessary score on the Barthel Index scale and, thereby, relaxes the conditions for employers to be able to hire a caregiver.⁶⁹

After the implementation of the Occupational Accident Protection Act (職業災害勞工保護法), both local and migrant workers can apply for compensation in the case they suffer an accident at work.⁷¹

Due to a sharp increase in the number of Indonesian migrant workers leaving the job and running away, the Taiwanese government stops the recruitment of Indonesian migrant workers. This ban is kept up for two and a half years due to ensuing diplomatic conflicts.⁷²

The obligatory regular pregnancy test for female migrant workers is abolished. The government declares that pregnant migrant workers are protected by the Gender Equality Act and that migrant workers enjoy the same rights as local workers, including maternity leave, paternity leave, and leave for taking care of children.⁷³

Other events: The Prosecutor’s Office (檢察院) reprimands the CLA for the improper implementation of the policies on migrant labor because they had serious effects on the employment opportunities of Indigenous workers.⁷⁴

Taiwan’s government announces a plan to facilitate the recruitment of migrant fishers from other countries than the People’s Republic of China.⁷⁵ After this, the composition of the workforce on Taiwan’s fishing vessels changes as more fishers from Indonesia and the Philippines are recruited.

Migrant workers can again be hired for public construction projects with an investment of more the NT$ 10 billion.⁷⁷

When SARS breaks out in Taiwan, the government decides that migrant workers need to quarantine for ten to fifteen days. Only if there are no indicators of any infection can they enter Taiwan for work.⁷⁸

Other events: The government of Thailand classifies Taiwan as a SARS epidemic area and decides that travelers from Taiwan cannot enter Thailand. In protest, Taiwan’s government announces that it will not allow Thai migrant workers to enter Taiwan.⁷⁹

Many employers react to the SARS outbreak by implementing a “lock down” rule for the migrant workers they employ and by not allowing them to leave the dormitories of their factories or their family apartment during their days off.⁸⁰

In total, three migrant care workers die after contracting SARS. Since domestic care labor is not covered by the Labor Standard Act, the family members of these migrant workers cannot get compensation for death on the job.⁸¹

Protests: TIWA, Catholic support groups, and others organize the first migrant worker demonstration. The main purpose is the protection of migrant workers’ rights, and the main demands are: granting migrant workers the right to change the employer, abolishing the private broker system, implementing a direct government-to-government recruitment system, enacting a Domestic Labor Law, abolishing migrant workers’ fees for accommodation and food, and guaranteeing that migrant workers and local workers get the same wage for the same work.⁸²Afterwards, such demonstrations will happen every two years (with different demands for improvements of migrant workers’ conditions).⁸³

Other events: The Indonesian care worker who looks after national policy advisor Liu Hsia has not had time off for a long time and is so stressed out that, when she pulls Liu Hsia out of bed, the latter suffers serious injuries. Liu Hsia dies a day later. After this incident, the labor conditions of migrant domestic workers get a lot of public attention. TIWA and other or­gani­­­­zations form the Promoting Alliance for the Household Service Act (PAHSA; 家事服務法推動聯盟). They push for the clear definition of employment rela­tions, working conditions, and responsibilities of migrant domestic workers through the enactment of a Domestic Labor Law.⁸⁴

Other events: In June, migrant workers from the Philippines form KaSaPi (Kapulungan ng Samahang Pilipino) as a self-organization to support each other in everyday life and at work in Taiwan.⁸⁵

The CLA sets up a non-profit organization to operate as a labor broker for migrant workers.⁸⁸

The CLA lowers the threshold for hiring migrant workers in the manufacturing sector. The minimum capital investment is lowered from NT$ 200 million to NT$ 50 million. The threshold for high-tech industries is raised to NT$ 1 billion, and this is combined with the lowering of the migrant quota to five percent.⁸⁹

After the Indonesian government and the Taiwanese government sign a “memorandum on labor policies”, Taiwan’s CLA abolishes the ban on the recruitment of Indonesian migrant workers.⁹⁰

Protests: In January, the labor contracts of more than 100 Filipina migrant workers are terminated by the company Fast Fame Electronics (飛盟), a manufacturer of mother boards and similar devices. The company has just relocated to the PRC and seized operations in New Taipei. The female migrant workers are transferred to other companies through a bidding process involving brokers and employers. Many complain and protest after they end up in companies in other sectors, including steel plants and factories for heavy machinery. Some are seen unfit for the jobs there and face repatriation. TIWA supports the workers, and many are able to first move back to their previous factory dormitories before being transferred somewhere else through a second bidding process.⁹²

In March, Filipina workers organize rallies protesting against a racist and misogynist article in the newspaper China Times Weekly. In the article, Filipina domestic workers are accused of fabricating “stories of harassment and rape to extort money from their employers, especially the rich and powerful.” Filipina workers hand out leaflets demanding an apology from the newspaper management and outlining the actual working conditions of migrant domestic workers. TIWA manages to even mobilize local workers and union members, including print workers of the newspaper, to support the rallies.⁹³

On August 21, more than 1,000 Thai migrant workers hired for the construction of the MRT (subway) in Kaohsiung stage a “riot.” They “set fire to offices and motor cars in protest against the degradation they experienced in the workplace and dormitories and against the shady connections between their employers and broker firms.”⁹⁴ Their employer and their brokers have long restricted their freedom, mistreated them, and forced them to use tokens to buy high-priced daily necessities. The case points to the usage of illegal brokers and inhumane management methods. Later it is revealed that state officials received commissions from brokers and that there are cases of collusion between the government and the business sector.⁹⁵

On December 12, the Promoting Alliance for the Household Service Act (or PAHSA, later renamed Migrant Empowerment Network in Taiwan, MENT) organizes the “March Against Slave Labor” with the following demands: direct government-to-government employment arrangements (instead of using brokers), the ability to freely change the employer (which is seriously restricted), the abolition of the six-year limitation of migrant workers’ residency in Taiwan, the enactment of a Domestic Labor Law, and the protection of the migrant workers’ right to organize in labor unions.⁹⁶

Other events: The results of the first inspection of labor brokers are released. 66 percent of the examined brokers fail the inspection.⁹⁷

Wages: The official minimum wage is still NT$ 15,840 as it has not been raised since 1997. That is 38 percent of the average manufacturing wage in Taiwan which stands at NT$ 41,868.⁹⁸

Numbers: The official number of temporary migrant workers is 327,500 at the end of the year, about the same as five years earlier. The official number of undocumented migrant workers  reaches 21,500.⁹⁹

Protests: On March 13 and 14, at the Formosa Plastics plant in Mailiao, Yunlin County, about 3,000 workers representing 60 per cent of the plant’s Filipino and Thai workforces, go on strike and demand that the company pays the brokers’ fees in full and increases workplace accident and illness insurance coverage. The company agrees to pay the brokers NT$ 18,000 for each migrant worker. The fact that Thai and Filipino workers join this struggle collectively is the more surprising as, in 1999, the same plant saw a major physical fight between these worker groups.¹⁰¹

Other events: A domestic care worker from Vietnam, who is mentally un­stable and has not had a vacation for a long time, attacks and kills her employer and tries to kill his wife. She finally jumps off a building, trying to commit suicide.¹⁰²

The Legislative Yuan amends the Immigration Act (入出國及移民法) and excludes migrant workers from the category of foreigners who are able to apply for permanent residency.¹⁰⁴

The CLA announces arrangements for cases when migrant workers change employers. The Ministry of Labor (MoL) will freeze a company’s quota for employing migrant workers for two years after a migrant worker at this company changes the employer. Under certain conditions, the employer can directly apply for a replacement, for instance, when the migrant worker leaves the country or disappears without the employer’s consent or if they die.¹⁰⁵

The maximum period for migrant workers to stay in Taiwan is extended from six to nine years.¹⁰⁶

Whether a broker’s license for arranging migrant labor contracts is renewed depends on an evaluation. If a broker’s evaluation grade is as low as C or the evaluation is refused, no license will be issued anymore and the broker is not allowed to set up branch offices。¹⁰⁷

The CLA establishes a center for the direct hiring of migrant workers (外勞直接聯合聘雇中心) in order to assist employers who want to recruit migrant workers without having to go through a broker.¹⁰⁸

Protests: The demonstration organized by TIWA and others in the previous year is repeated on December 9, 2007, and attended by migrants, local workers from labor unions, and gay and lesbian activists, among others. The leadership of Taiwan’s major unions refuses to support the rally because they think that the temporary immigration of workers from Southeast Asia has led to rising unemployment of local workers.¹⁰⁹

Wages: The official monthly minimum wage is raised for the first time since 1997 and set to NT$ 17,280 (but will not be raised again until 2012).¹¹⁰That is 40 percent of the average manufacturing wage in Taiwan which stands at NT$ 43,240.¹¹¹

The monthly minimum wage of migrant domestic workers is delinked from the general minimum wage for all other workers. It stays at NT$ 15,840.¹¹²

Other events: Indonesian migrant workers in Taiwan form IPIT (Ikatan Pekerja Indonesia, Taiwan) as a self-organization that supports migrant workers with problems at work and beyond.¹¹⁴

FOSPI (Forum Silaturahmi Pelaut Indonesia) is formed in Donggang, the largest port for coastal fishing vessels, as a coalition of more than ten hometown associations of Indonesian migrant fishers. FOSPI becomes the main self-organized initiative of Indonesian fishers in Taiwan with more than 2,000 members.¹¹⁵

Local labor activists set up SPA (Serve the People Association) in Taoyuan. Originally meant to support local labor organizing, SPA’s focus soon turns to the support of migrant workers and their struggles in Taoyuan’s manufacturing districts and beyond.¹¹⁶

Wages: The amount allowed to be deducted from migrant workers’ wages for food and accommodation is raised to NT$ 5,000.¹¹⁷

Wages: The official minimum wage is still NT$ 17,280.¹²⁰ That is 40 percent of the average manufacturing wage in Taiwan which stands at NT$ 43,152.¹²¹

Numbers: At the end of the year, the official number of temporary migrant workers reaches 379,500, an increase of 16 percent in the past five years. The official number of undocumented migrant workers  reaches 27,500, most of them from Vietnam and Indonesia.¹²²

Protests: On March 6, Filipina and Indonesian migrant workers’ groups in Taiwan organize a rally in front of the MoL to demonstrate against a temporary ban on the recruitment of migrant workers from the Philippines. The ban is a reaction to the deportation carried out by the Philippine government of a group of people from the PRC and Taiwan to the PRC for alleged racketeering. Migrant workers in Taiwan fear that the ban could “whip up racist hatred against migrants from the Philippines.”¹²⁴

In September, the management of the Taiwan Main (Railway) Station (TMS) in Taipei cordons off part of the station and prohibits people to rest, eat, or drink there. This is in reaction to a migrant procession and gathering at TMS celebrating Eid al-Fitr, the breaking of the fast at the end of Ramadan. Eid Al-Fitr is celebrated by the predominantly Muslim Indonesian migrant workers in Taiwan. The railway station management’s measures are seen as a racist act by migrant worker activists and local support groups. In the following years, they organize a series of protests around Eid al-Fitr, with the number of participants rising from a few dozen (in September 2012) to a few hundred (in September 2013).¹²⁵

Wages: The official monthly minimum wage is raised for the first time since 2007 and set to NT$ 18,780.¹²⁷That is 41 percent of the average manufacturing wage in Taiwan which stands at NT$ 45,318.¹²⁸

According to previous regulations, an employer of a migrant domestic live-in care worker who allows the worker to change employers has to wait until the care worker finds a new employer or leaves the country before being able to hire a new migrant care worker. In order to encourage employers to agree to their migrant domestic care worker changing employers, the government adapts the regulations. If the change does not go back to any mistake of the employer and if the three parties agree, the original employer can apply for replacement immediately after the care worker finds a new employer.¹³⁰

Protests: TIWA holds a rally together with the Taiwan Association of Family Caregivers where they claim that the government’s concept for long-term care is a “blood and sweat”-system exploiting migrant workers. This is the first time, TIWA is able to combine the issue of migrant caretakers’ conditions with the issue of lacking long-term care for old people in Taiwan.¹³¹

In June, migrant fishers organized in various hometown, harbor-based, and faith-based associations in Yilan demand the abolishment of accommodation fees. The conflict leads to a wildcat strike from July 6 to 8 and, later, the mobilization of local support organizations in support of the migrant fishers.¹³²

Other events: In May, Filipino fishers set up the Yilan Migrant Fishermen’s Union (YMFU), the first self-organized union of migrant fishers in Taiwan.¹³³

Protests: The management of Taipei Main Station eventually gives in to the protests of migrant workers and their local supporters, and it opens the train station again for migrant workers who want to meet and socialize there. On July 19, 2015, between 10,000 and 20,000 migrant workers meet at the station to celebrate Eid al-Fitr and the fact, that the station is officially open to them again.¹³⁶

In June, a strike breaks out at state-owned China Pacific Laundry Services (華傑洗滌企業) in Taoyuan which cleans uniforms and other items for China Airlines. Local and migrant workers participate in the strike. The union of the local workers demands a wage increase, a bonus just for union members, and more, and it includes the demand to abolish the accommodation fee for migrant workers. Management meets the demands of the union. However, migrant workers do not join the labor union as they fear employer retaliation.¹³⁷

Wages: The official monthly minimum wage of migrant domestic workers is increased for the first time in a decade from NT$ 15,850 to NT$ 17,000.¹³⁸

The official monthly minimum wage (for local and migrant workers except migrant domestic workers) is set to NT$ 20,008.¹³⁹That is 41 percent of the average manufacturing wage in Taiwan which stands at NT$ 49,374.¹⁴⁰

Numbers: The official number of temporary migrant workers reaches approximately 588,000 at the end of the year, an increase of 55 percent in the past five years. The official number of undocumented migrant workers among them reaches approximately 51,000.¹⁴¹

Protests: MENT initiates a campaign “against physical punishment” (反剝皮) and calls on the legislators to abolish the rule that migrant workers have to leave the country for one day after their three-year contract runs out.¹⁴³(The latter was, indeed, changed that same year; see above.)

Other events: In February, the Domestic Caretaker Union (DCU) is founded as a union of Filipina live-in domestic care workers in Taiwan.¹⁴⁴

Other events: On August 31, the Vietnamese undocumented worker Nguyen Quoc Phi is shot nine times by Taiwanese police. They do not allow medics to help him and he dies. TIWA organizes a protest where speakers criticize the government and the police for treating undocumented migrants like criminals.¹⁴⁶

In October, Indonesian migrant workers form GANAS (Gabungan Tenaga Kerja Bersolidaritas), a self-organized solidarity group of mostly factory workers and domestic workers.¹⁴⁷

In November, the Taoyuan City Domestic Caretaker Union is founded.¹⁴⁸

On December 14, a big fire breaks out at night at the Sican (矽卡) factory in Luzhu district, Taoyuan, killing six and seriously injuring five Vietnamese migrant workers who live in the illegal factory dormitory. This is the worst fire in a dormitory for migrant workers since Taiwan opened up for the recruitment of migrant workers in the early 1990s.

The staff of private brokers are not allowed to withhold the documents of a migrant worker or act against the expressed will of a migrant worker. In case of a violation of the law, the authorities can revoke the agency’s license.¹⁵⁰

The MoL and the Ministry of Health and Welfare (衛福部) promote “extended respite for foreign household caretakers.” If they attend people with serious physical or mental disabilities who live alone and are over 70 years old, migrant domestic care workers can take a leave and apply for respite service at the Taiwanese Long-term Care Center (長照中心).¹⁵¹

Other events: On February 18, 2018, Indonesian migrant fishers affiliated with FOSPI open the An-Nur Mosque in Donggang. They rented a building in the port neighborhood from 2007 on to pray and study the Quran there until, in 2016, they bought their own building and renovated and prepared it for the opening as a mosque.¹⁵²

Several organizations found the Human Rights for Migrant Fishers (HRMF) coalition, including the Taiwan International Workers’ Association (TIWA), Serve the People Association (SPA), Taiwan Association for Human Rights (TAHR), Seamen’s/Fishermen’s Service Center (SFSC), Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF), Greenpeace Taiwan, and the Yilan Migrant Fishermen’s Union (YMFU).¹⁵³

The police hunts for undocumented Vietnamese migrant worker Hoang Van Doan who is allegedly engaged in illegal logging at Alishan (mountain in central Taiwan). The police catch him by putting a net over his head, but Hoang Van Doan manages to escape through a hole. When he is found a few days later in the mountainous area, his dead body has already started to decompose. His hands are handcuffed.¹⁵⁴

On April 28, a fire breaks out at the Chin Poon factory in Pingzhen, Taoyuan. The fire spreads to the dormitory for migrant workers, and eventually two workers from Thailand die. One of the firefighters also dies while trying to rescue the migrant workers.¹⁵⁵

In conjunction with the “action plan to welcome Taiwanese businesspeople who return and invest in Taiwan” (歡迎臺商回台投資行動方案), Taiwanese employers who relocated their business abroad but return to Taiwan can under certain conditions increase their quota and hire migrant workers even before recruiting Taiwanese workers.¹⁵⁷

Protests: On May 3, more than 70 Vietnamese migrant workers go on strike at the Meidi Food factory (美堤) protesting long working hours as well as unpaid wages and overtime compensation. The company management makes concessions but also lays off key organizers of the strike. That leads to another strike on May 20.¹⁵⁸Some migrant workers try to set up a union. This attempt fails because their application to form a union is rejected and because many workers leave the factory. Another strike breaks out at the same factory in January 2021, but, again, many migrant workers take the compensation they win from management and leave.¹⁵⁹

MENT organizes a migrant worker demonstration under the slogan “Abolish the broker system, implement G2G” (廢仲介、要G to G) and with the demand that the MoL follows the example of South Korea in abolishing the existing broker system and implementing a “government to government” method to recruit migrant workers directly.¹⁶⁰

Other events: On August 28, Filipino migrant worker Deserie Castro Tagubasi, employed by electronics manufacturer Tyntek (鼎元光電), dies after her legs are splashed with hydrofluoric acid she uses to clean circuit boards in the factory.¹⁶¹

The last migrant domestic care worker who is part of “outreach care” leaves Taiwan, an indicator for the eventual failure of the “outreach care” pilot program.¹⁶²

Families with many children are allowed to hire a foreign domestic helper.¹⁶⁴

Protest/Other events: On March 22, a fire breaks out in the metalwork factory of Tzeng Wei in Dadu district, Taichung. Three migrant workers from Vietnam are trapped in the dormitory above the workshop and eventually die.¹⁶⁵In less than three years since the fire in the Sican factory in 2017, eleven migrant workers and six firefighters have died in fires after being trapped in illegal dormitories. MENT and firefighter associations hold a protest in front of the MoL and demand a regulation for the separation between factory spaces and workers’ living quarters.¹⁶⁶

Wages: The official monthly minimum wage is set to NT$ 23,800.¹⁶⁷That is 42 percent of the average manufacturing wage in Taiwan which stands at NT$ 56,538.¹⁶⁸

Numbers: The official number of temporary migrant workers reaches 709,000 at the end of the year, an increase of 21 percent in the past five years. The official number of undocumented migrant workers among them reaches 52,000.¹⁶⁹

In May, due to the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic, the border entry of migrant workers is temporarily suspended.¹⁷¹

In June, the MoL relaxes the restrictions for hiring migrant workers during the pandemic. Employers can apply to extend their work permits, and migrant workers are allowed to change employers without any time limits or restrictions of the number of changes during this period.¹⁷²

In August, various industries face labor shortages because of the pandemic. Many care workers have changed jobs and started working in factories, causing dissatisfaction among care workers’ employers. Therefore, the MoL revises the regulations for migrant workers who want to change employers or jobs: migrant domestic care workers have to first register with the public Employment Service Agency (公立就業服務機構), and if no other household wants to employ them within 14 days, they can transfer to another sector and take a job there. MENT criticizes this restriction on migrant workers’ ability to change employers and jobs.¹⁷³

In November, as the Covid-19 pandemic slows down, the MoL introduces a special program for migrant workers entering Taiwan, requiring all of them to first go through centralized quarantine. However, as the number of quarantine places is limited, only a certain number of migrant workers can actually enter Taiwan.¹⁷⁴

In December, the Taiwan government stops the entry of Indonesian migrant workers because the Covid-19 pandemic spreads in Indonesia.¹⁷⁵

Other events: In February, a migrant domestic care worker who is looking after a Covid-19 infected person in a hospital contracts the virus herself. Taiwan’s Center for Disease Control (CDC) announces that the care worker is undocumented, and this triggers a public outcry. In response, the government promises to increase efforts to search and arrest migrant workers who have gone undocumented. MENT advises the government to include undocumented migrant workers in pandemic prevention measures and demands that undocumented migrants are not punished, not expelled, and offered a chance to regain a legal status.¹⁷⁶

Also in February, Indonesian migrant fishers establish their own labor union in Keelung, the Keelung Migrant Fishermen’s Union (KMFU).¹⁷⁷

On June 7, the Miaoli County magistrate Hsu Yao-chang orders all migrant workers in the county to stay at home (and not leave their dormitories). ASE, a semiconductor manufacturer in Zhongli, Taoyuan, orders all migrant workers who rent private rooms to move back to the factory dormitory. This draws critique from migrant worker initiatives and supporter groups because no such orders are announced for Taiwanese workers.¹⁷⁸

Numbers: The official number of migrant workers falls to 670,000 at the end of the year, a decrease of 6 percent in the past year. The official number of undocumented migrant workers among them increases to 56,000.¹⁷⁹

In April, the Executive Yuan announces the Migrant Worker Retention and Long-term Employment Program (移工留才久用方案). According to this program, migrant workers who have been employed in Taiwan for more than six years, meet the required skill level, and earn at least NT$ 33,000 per month or NT$ 500,000 per year, as well as care workers who earn at least NT$ 24,000 per month, are eligible to apply for the so-called “medium-skilled” status (中階技術). If granted, their length of stay in not restricted anymore as for other migrant workers, and they can even apply for long-term residency if they meet certain criteria.¹⁸¹

In October, the obligatory quarantine system for people entering Taiwan is terminated, and migrant workers can enter Taiwan again as before the pandemic.¹⁸²

Protests: In January, 400 migrant workers and local supporters stage a demonstration in Taipei, called for by MENT and other groups. The main demand is the right for migrant workers in Taiwan to decide whether they want to change employers.¹⁸³

Wages: In March, the government of Indonesia refuses to validate the contracts of Indonesian migrant domestic workers in Taiwan on the grounds that Taiwan has not implemented the “zero fees for migrant workers” program. After five months of negotiations, the MoL announces in August that the monthly wage of migrant domestic workers will be raised from TW$ 17,000 to TW$ 20,000, the first increase since 2015.¹⁸⁴

In May, the MoL, in its attempt to counter the labor shortage, announces the increase of the number of migrant workers in four sectors—manufacturing, construction, agriculture, and institutional elderly care—by 28,000.¹⁸⁶

The CLA loosens the quota regulations for migrant workers again. As long as the quota is below the maximum of 40 percent, employing companies can raise the number of migrant workers they are allowed to hire by paying a higher “employment security fee.”¹⁸⁷

Protests: In May, the Wi-Fi Now for Fishers’ Rights campaign is pressuring Taiwan’s government, among others, to make the provision of Wi-Fi connections for fishers obligatory on all distant-water fishing vessels. The campaign is supported by NGOs from the U.S. and Taiwan as well as by FOSPI, the organization of Indonesian fishers in Taiwan based in Donggang.¹⁸⁸

In October, migrant workers from the Philippines working for the electronic manufacturer Askey, a subsidiary of the computer company Asus, stage a protest outside the MoL in Taipei because they suspect that management plans a relocation of production units to Vietnam. The migrant workers have formed their own union and demand job protection or the assurance that they get severance payments if the relocation goes ahead.¹⁸⁹

On December 10, called out by MENT, 1,000 migrant workers and supporters demonstrate in Taipei, demanding the abolishment of the broker system and direct government-to-government forms of recruitment for migrant workers.¹⁹⁰

Other events: In January, the Formosa Music Fest takes place in Qijin, Kaohsiung. It is the first self-organized festival of these subcultural communities of Indonesian migrants who are factory laborers, domestic care workers, and fishers and come together around punk, metal, or reggae music.¹⁹¹

In April, a fire breaks out in the Lian Hwa food factory (聯華食品) in Beidou township, Changhua, killing four Taiwanese workers and three migrant workers.¹⁹²

Wages: The official monthly minimum wage is raised to NT$ 26,400.¹⁹³ That is 42 percent of the average manufacturing wage in Taiwan which stands at NT$ 62,492.¹⁹⁴

Numbers: In March, the official number of migrant workers entering Taiwan since the reopening of the border in October of the previous year reaches 100,000, and the overall number of migrant workers exceeds 753,500 at the end of the year. The official number of undocumented migrant workers among them reaches 86,500 at the end of the year, an increase of 65 percent since 2020.¹⁹⁵

In September, the Care Industry Workers’ Union Taiwan (SBIPT: Serikat Buruh Industri Perawatan Taiwan) is founded. The union demands that the migrant domestic care workers fall under the regulations for the minimum wage, just as migrant workers in other industries.¹⁹⁷

Wages: The official monthly minimum wage is raised to NT$ 27,470.¹⁹⁸

Numbers: The official number of temporary migrant workers reaches approximately 820,000 at the end of the year, an increase in the past four years of nearly 16 percent. The official number of undocumented migrant workers among them reaches 95,300. Among them 59,000 are from Vietnam, 30,600 from Indonesia.¹⁹⁹