Becoming an upholder of justice
In 2005, news broke of a series of rapes by two labor brokers in Tainan, with over 100 young Vietnamese women the victims. Father Hung worked to expose the case and joined with others to support the women, and after 12 long years they finally won justice in the courts. “That was as painful to me as if it had been my own sisters being brutally abused.” Because of the burden of heavy brokerage fees and the fear that deportation would leave them unable to repay their loans, these women felt they had no choice but to grit their teeth and live with the assaults.
Under this humiliation, their visions of beautiful futures were destroyed and their bodies and minds were left beaten and bruised.
“The brokerage system is the crux of the problems around migrant labor and immigration.” To defend the rights of immigrants and migrant workers, Father Hung has resolutely confronted the massive power of the brokers, both in Taiwan and abroad. “Back then there still weren’t any clear laws to protect them.” That is, until the passage of the Human Trafficking Prevention Act, which Father Hung was a major advocate for. With this, Taiwan was returned to Tier 1 status in the US State Department’s 2010 Trafficking in Persons Report, and for his work, Father Hung was recognized as a “hero acting to end modern-day slavery.”
“Things have improved a lot since then.” When the Legislative Yuan amended Article 52 of the Employment Service Act, the employment and management of foreign labor saw further improvement, at least on paper. However, as Father Hung says, to really solve the problem, there needs to be a greater focus on enforcement.
“Not even three months after he came to Taiwan, his hand was cut off by machinery and he couldn’t work,” says Father Hung, pointing out a Vietnamese worker who came to his office to seek aid. Sitting in the Vietnamese Migrant and Immigrant Office, the youthful-looking man is laboriously filling out a form with his left hand as he embarrassedly covers his severed wrist with his right sleeve. “We’re helping him fight for his due rights.” Between language difficulties, inadequate pre-job training, and issues with machine design, one young body after another has fallen victim to workplace accidents in Taiwan. Father Hung takes every opportunity to speak up for migrant workers, devoting all his energy to fighting for fair treatment on their behalf.
A group of female Vietnamese churchgoers in traditional ao dai.