Japanese automakers face the risk of human rights violations in Taiwan. Local subsidiaries and partner companies employ migrant workers from countries such as Vietnam, the Philippines, and Indonesia.

In doing so, there is no end to cases in which workers borrow large sums of money from recruiters in their home countries, which has been raised as a human rights issue. The author, who is well-versed in global supply chain issues, has organized a research team and has been working to uncover the reality of the issues in Taiwan.

“I paid recruiters in Vietnam for this factory job with borrowed money. I had to pay it all before I left my country. I worked for almost a year before my debt was gone. Several of my colleagues are still indebted,” said Tuan, a Vietnamese worker.

“Some of us had to mortgage our family house or land so we could borrow money to pay for our jobs,” Tuan continues. “I left my family to earn more than I ever could back home. I must work hard for a long time before I return to them”. Tuan’s real name has been changed for safety reasons.

Testimonies like this are not uncommon when speaking with migrants working as technical interns in Japan. It has been widely reported that many incur high debts to pay recruiters high fees, and some – but not all – are forced to endure harsh conditions.

However, Tuan left Vietnam to work in Taiwan.

Like Japan, Taiwan gradually opened its labor market to foreigners in the 1990s. However, contrary to Japan, low-skilled foreigners enter Taiwan as regular workers, not as technical interns. They are subject to the same labor regulations as local workers. Currently, 400,000 migrant trainees work in Japan, while 700,000 migrants are employed in Taiwan.

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