RemittancesGateway.org

Taiwan may back off retaliatory measure against Filipino workers

Monday, 28 February 2011 13:08

Source: Focus Taiwan (from CNA)
By: Emmanuelle Tzeng and Alex Jiang

Taiwanese authorities said on Monday they are considering a proposed relaxation of a measure imposed during a diplomatic spat with the Philippines that critics say technically bars Filipino workers from entering Taiwan.

Taiwan took a series of retaliatory moves after the Philippines deported 14 Taiwanese fraud suspects to China on Feb. 2, which Taipei saw as a violation of its jurisdiction.

One of them, announced by Taiwan's representative office in the Philippines on Feb. 10, required that Philippine citizens submit their Social Security System Card as part of their applications to work in Taiwan.

The new rule has amounted to "a technical freeze on Filipino workers" as Manila stopped issuing the card a long time ago, the Taiwan International Workers Association and other groups supporting workers' rights said in a joint statement Sunday.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman James Chang responded Monday that the ministry would "make an overall assessment" of its policies and their implementation regarding regulations over foreign workers' applications.

The Philippines have asked Taiwan to accept other forms of social security documents for Filipino workers as a solution, said a ministry official who requested anonymity.

Taiwan's related government agencies "are currently studying the possibility" of carrying out the request, the official added.

Among the other punitive measures Taiwan took after the deportation of its nationals to China included lengthening the process for screening applications by Filipino nationals seeking to work in Taiwan to four months, from no more than 12 days previously.

That move was also seen as a temporary freeze on hiring new Filipino workers.

There are more than 77,000 Filipino migrant workers in Taiwan, accounting for 20 percent of the total number of foreign workers in Taiwan.