International Center for Cultural Studies

Report｜Anniversary Symposium｜Keynote Speech: Progress and Challenges in Advancing Human Rights Protection for Migrant Workers in Taiwan's Distant-Water Fisheries

2025-04-30

Topic｜Anniversary of the Human Trafficking Prevention Act Amendment& the Prohibition of Forced Labor Academic Symposium－－Keynote Speech: Progress and Challenges in Advancing Human Rights Protection for Migrant Workers in Taiwan's Distant-Water Fisheries

Date｜2025/4/30

Venue｜HC104, HA Building III, Hsinchu Guangfu Campus, NYCU

Speaker｜Lawyer Ping-Cheng Lo, Former Minister without Portfolio, Executive Yuan

Moderator｜Professor Joyce C.H. Liu, Director, International Center for Cultural Studies National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University

Organizer｜School of Law, NYCU; ICCS, NYCU

Co-organizer｜Taiwan Association for Human Rights (TAHR); Taiwan Labor Front; Work Better Innovations

Event Info｜LINK

Event Photo｜LINK

Event Recording｜LINK

Event Handbook｜LINK

Reported by｜Yao-Chi, Chan (MA student, School of Law, NYCU)

Sub-project｜Migration, Unequal Citizens, and Critical Legal Studies

Convener｜Joyce C.H. Liu, Yu-Fan Chiu, Mei-Lin Pan

The symposium opened with remarks by Prof. Liu, Director of the International Center for Cultural Studies at National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University. Prof. Liu emphasized that despite its transformation throughout the history, slavery still persists in modern forms through legal and administrative frameworks, and are showcased in hidden forms of exploitation in distant-water fisheries, factories, agriculture, and domestic care sectors in Taiwan. She further underscored how the ambiguous legal classifications, such as “offshore employment” and “foreign territorial waters,” systematically exclude migrant workers from domestic labor protections in Taiwan. The selective application of legal norms creates structural inequalities. She stressed that laws not only serve as a governance tool but also determines who should be recognized as subjects of rights. When institutional design lacks coherence and integration, it easily becomes a structure that tacitly permits inequality. In spite of Taiwan's recent efforts in legislation protections for emerging labor sectors, such as digital and AI-based work, remain inadequate.

In the keynote speech delivered by Mr. Lo, Former Minister without Portfolio of the Executive Yuan and a practicing lawyer, reflected on Taiwan’s human rights infrastructure and labor protections for migrant fishery workers. He noted that although Taiwan has incorporated most of the international human rights conventions, it has long lacked dedicated mechanisms for effective implementation. The establishment of the National Human Rights Commission is a milestone. However, further inter-ministerial coordination is required for meaningful policy implementation. Lo further emphasized that the promotion of “human rights mainstreaming” should follow the example of gender mainstreaming to become a core component of policy assessment, budget allocation, and legislative drafting processes. With the engagement of external experts and inter-ministerial collaboration, Taiwan could gradually construct an institutional framework enough responsive and transparent.

Addressing human rights issue regarding Taiwan’s distant-water fisheries, Lo offered a critical review on implementation and shortcomings of Action Plan for Fisheries and Human Rights. As a leading distant-water fishing nation, Taiwan heavily relies on migrant crews enduring hazardous, isolated, and overworked conditions, which leads to recurring violations of migrant fishers’ human rights. Since 2018, several Taiwanese vessels have been subjected to Withhold Release Orders （WRO） by U.S. Customs and Border Protection （CBP） due to forced labor concerns. Furthermore, heightened scrutiny regarding labor conditions in seafood supply chains from major markets, including EU, the U.S., and Japan, has intensified pressure on Taiwan’s human rights governance in seafood supply chain.

In response, Taiwan introduced the Action Plan for Fisheries and Human Rights in 2022, featuring seven core strategies： raising minimum wages, regulating working hours and rest, subsidizing onboard Wi-Fi and safety equipment, mandating CCTV installation, monitoring recruitment agencies, improving oversight of foreign-flagged vessels invested by Taiwanese nationals, and promoting international cooperation.

However, Lawyer Ping-Cheng Lo noted that plan implementation encountered multiple challenges, including wage gaps relative to ILO Maritime Labour Convention standards, insufficient CCTV data retention, low interest from vessel owners in Wi-Fi subsidies, and ambiguous accountability between recruitment agencies and employers. He also pointed out that Taiwan’s dual-track employment system—comprising “domestic employment” and “overseas employment”—created inequality by applying different labour standards to fishers working on the same Taiwanese-flagged vessels based solely on their recruitment location. Lo therefore called for unifying these standards to eliminate the disparities. In response, the Ministry of Agriculture has initiated the development of a second-phase action plan in 2025 and has commenced legislative work on the implementation act for the ILO C188 Convention. These efforts aim to further integrate the existing legal framework through formal legislation and policy continuity to enhance regulatory coherence and transparency.

At the end of the session, Mr. Lo concluded the keynote speech by stressing that Taiwan must no longer view fisheries solely as an industrial concern but as an integral part of broader framework of national human rights policy. He noted that without effective implementation, even the most well-designed policies cannot adequately address the long-standing structural imbalances in labor relations. As global supply chains increasingly emphasize human rights duty and labor transparency, a lack of clear and responsive industry governance risks not only damages Taiwan’s international reputation but also undermines the global competitiveness of seafood products. Effective implementation and coordination are key to building a transparent framework that advances sustainable and fair fisheries in Taiwan."