Taiwan to implement fingerprinting scheme for SE Asian migrant workers from Mar 1

TAIWAN - The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) is set to enforce the new rule requiring migrant workers from four Southeast Asian countries to submit fingerprint records when applying for work visas to enter Taiwan beginning on March 1.

The fingerprinting program will be run on a trial basis in March and April for applicants from Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, and Vietnam, said Thomas Chen, director-general of the Bureau of Consular Affairs under the MOFA.

As part of the new visa application procedures, laborers interested in working in Taiwan will be required to have their fingerprints taken at Taiwan's liaison offices in their home countries before coming to Taiwan.

Workers directly recruited by Taiwanese enterprises or through labor brokerage firms in Thailand, the Philippines, and Vietnam will have to leave their fingerprints at Taiwan's offices in these nations starting from next month.

In view of the large number of Indonesian workers planning to come to work in Taiwan, the project will be carried out in two phases under arrangements with Taiwan's offices in Indonesia.

Those recruited directly by Taiwan employees may leave their fingerprints at the representative offices right from March 1 when applying for work visas for entering Taiwan,

But the other indirectly hired workers will have to go to Taiwan's offices in Indonesia and leave fingerprints there according to reservation timetable to be coordinated and worked out by the offices and the labor service agencies.

Chen said the test run is for the MOFA to gauge and evaluate the effects and reactions from those involved.

The measure will be refined later to improve the program's efficiency while keeping the effectiveness of preventing possible frauds, according to MOFA officials.

At present, the fingerprinting of migrant workers from these four Southeast Asian nations is performed at the National Immigration Agency, only after the workers enter Taiwan.

Chen said gathering fingerprint records before hand can enable the government to more effectively monitor and track migrant workers who attempt to return to Taiwan on fake documents after their work contracts have expired or after they have been deported.

There were also cases uncovered in the past in which foreign workers altered their identifies after returning home from Taiwan and then used new IDs to re-enter Taiwan.

There were civil rights groups in Taiwan protesting the selection of targeted nations for the fingerprinting measure. They described the selective measure as discrimination against people from specific areas.

But MOFA officials defended that the measure is necessary to help combat illegal immigrants who use forged documents and human trafficking operations from the largest sources of foreign workers in Taiwan.

Some labor organizations and local residents back the government measures in view of the large number of illegal foreign workers overstaying in Taiwan, some of whom may cause public safety concerns and affect native residents' work opportunities.