Absconded Vietnamese find work in Taiwan

A Vietnamese woman married to a Taiwanese disclosed the likely employment waiting for the around 100 Vietnamese that disappeared while on a tour in the country.

A Vietnamese woman married to a Taiwanese disclosed the likely employment waiting for the around 100 Vietnamese that disappeared while on a tour in the country.

 

Four Vietnamese women detained in the Taiwanese police station (Source: CNA)

The anonymous woman acted as the interpreter for the police when one of the missing Vietnamese was found. When being asked why he disappeared almost immediately after entering Taiwan, the man said he was from Tra Vinh Province and had a family member working and living in Taiwan. Many of the Vietnamese have relatives in Taiwan.

"They are from different provinces and cities. They already informed their relatives beforehand to pick them up as soon as they arrived at the hotel," she said.

According to the woman, they are likely to be brought to farms to collect tea leaves and fruits in mountainous areas. Young women may be given other jobs. New fruit pickers are given VND800,000 (USD34) a day, while skilled workers could earn up to VND2m.

She was worried that after the mass disappearance relatives from Vietnam will have a more difficult time to get their visa done.

The Taiwanese National Immigration Agency said on January 1 that they had found 24 of absconded Vietnamese including 10 men and 14 women. Nine people turned themselves in. On the same day, the agency released an announcement in Vietnamese to call for the rest of the missing Vietnamese to go to the police and promised that their rights would be protected.

Those who have been found admitted that they bought the tour to Taiwan for USD655 to USD2,200 and ran away to illegally stay in the country.