Death, abuse, exploitation: Taiwan’s migrant worker shame
An Indonesian fisherman’s body dumped at sea, another returned bloodied and emaciated; a domestic helper sexually abused by five employers - two shocking cases that shine a light on the plight of imported workers on the island
The Fu Tzu Chun set out from Yilan County, Taiwan, late last summer, bound for international waters. Aboard the fishing vessel with the captain and a Taiwanese subordinate were nine Indonesian crew members, only seven of whom would return to port alive.
Despite having lost two crewmen in suspicious circumstances, the ship and its captain are still going to sea and the manpower agency and Taiwanese broker that placed the men on the boat are still recruiting workers from Indonesia. For migrant workers in Taiwan, life is cheap, and can be signed away at the stroke of a pen.
Like his fellow crew members, Supriyanto – in his mid-40s, the eldest of those aboard the Fu Tzu Chun – had signed a contract with a manpower agency in Indonesia. A translated copy provided to Post Magazine suggests such documents are vaguely worded. It states that a crewman can be fined an unspecified amount or fired for misbehaving or making a mistake – those terms left open to the captain’s interpretation – but one clause stands out; if for any reason the crewman should die at sea, the captain is within his rights to dump the body overboard. Supriyanto’s corpse, bloodied and emaciated, would make it back to Taiwan, but for another crewman, that clause would be used to full effect.
Mualip (like Supriyanto and many of his countrymen, he went by just one name) was not yet 30 and his crewman’s licence was due to expire early last November. The circumstances surrounding his death have never been explained by the captain or crew – with no body to examine, it is very likely they will never be known – and it is not clear whether he died before or after Supriyanto, who, according to his autopsy report, perished at 11.10pm on August 25, 2015.
