Migrant crisis explodes on island where number of undocumented workers has doubled

Migrant workers demand equal pay (Image: Getty)

Taiwan is facing an explosion in the numbers of undocumented foreigners working in the country. The number of unaccounted-for migrants on the island has doubled in the last four years, reaching 90,000 this January, according to the Ministry of Labour.

The foreign workers originally came legally to the island, having secured work through employment brokers. However, many migrants end up leaving their agencies and working illegally, after being ruthlessly exploited by their brokers. Brokers exert a huge amount of control over a migrant's life - deciding everything from where they live, to their meals, to the terms of their employment contracts, and even how they access public services.

Many migrants work in agriculture (Image: Getty)

Joy Tajonera, a Catholic priest who runs the Ugnayan Centre, a migrant shelter in Taichung City, told Al Jazeera: “The system allows the brokers a power to be used to the disadvantage of migrants. Meanwhile, employers play innocent.”

Brokers typically charge migrants a monthly service fee of $50 to $60, and also collect fees for job transfers, hospital insurance, leave, and most of the necessary documentation to work in Taiwan.

Tajonera said many undocumented workers can actually earn more without a broker.

“But then you lose all social protections and health insurance," he explained. "It’s not that they want to run away. It’s their situation, they can’t take it any more.”

Taiwan opened its labour market in 1992, leading to an influx of migrant workers.

Most come from Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines and play a crucial role in the island state's economy.

More often than not they work in the so-called 3D occupations (Dirty, Dangerous, and Demanding), mostly at construction sites, in agriculture, as caregivers and as fishers.

According to a government report last year, a major reason for the growing number of undocumented migrant workers is an imbalance between Taiwan’s labour market and employment policies.

This results in workers being burdened by brokerage fees and left prone to debt bondage in order to secure their jobs.

This, in turn, drives them to seek higher wages, or else leaves them constrained by an inability to change workplace, as their status is tied to a single employer and, thus, open to exploitation.

As of January 2025, Vietnamese made up the biggest share of the undocumented at 57,611, followed by Indonesians at 28,363, and Filipinos at 2,750.