今年六月，針對全球150個國家的人口販賣問題，美國國務院發表《2006年度人口販運問題報告》，由於台灣台灣的勞動政策及移民法令不僅對外勞及外籍配偶不友善，甚至在有限的保護法規中，還有執法不確實的情況，台灣在今年被歸為第二級觀察名單，與中國、越南、柬普寨等國家同級。號稱「人權立國」的民進黨政府才大驚失色，開始邀集各相關部會及民間團體開會應對。今天早上，由移工團體組成的家事服務法推動聯盟與立委雷倩辦公室召開記者會，痛批民進黨政府粉飾太平，不從製造人口販運元兇的外勞政策改革起，只在一些後端枝微末節的事情上自我辯護。
事實上，民進黨政府對於美國國務院的報告相當緊張，眾矢之的勞委會職訓局，還發佈了中英文的「人口販運報告說帖」。而在國務院報告正式發表前，行政院得到台灣將被降級的消息後，就由內政部召集，邀請各部會及民間團體開會，研擬一份「防制跨國人口販運行動計畫」，而給美國交代，企望在明年能夠上升一級。
台灣國際勞工協會秘書長顧玉玲表示，職訓局的說帖，對於目前造成外勞被強迫勞動、剝削虐待的種種有利仲介、不能自由轉換雇主、來台六年期限、限制團結權、不適用勞基法等等政策改革，完全沒有回應，只在粉飾太平。顧玉玲也批評內政部，在聯席會議時，只聽取勞委會的說詞，將民間團體意見排除，在行動計畫結論只做出短短一小段，毫不具體的「檢討現行外籍勞工政策與制度」。
民間團體最後在8月初時，憤而退席抗議，並選擇在今天召開記者會，將行政部門的顢頇、惡形惡狀公諸於世。
今天的記者會，家事服務法推動聯盟並舉出兩個個案，一個是越南籍外勞現身說法，聲淚控訴遭到仲介業者轉賣多次，前前後後高達六次，而且每個月只拿到數千元薪資。另一個案例是兩名在桃園某紙廠工作的菲勞，經過20幾個月、每天16個小時的無休假工作，菲勞如何向雇主表達無法負荷過重工作，雇主都置之不理，最後因過勞陸續在睡夢中猝死。
聯盟表示，這兩個案例都不是單一案例，而是在引進外勞14年來經常都在發生的事情，都是使人奴隸的罪行，都是在勞委會不得自由轉換雇主、不取消仲介的政策下，一再發生。但勞委會始終以個案都會積極解決的方式回應。
家事服務法推動聯盟在今天並提出五項具體政策，要求職訓局落實：一、強制國對國直接聘僱：以國對國方式引進外勞，廢除私人仲介從中剝削、壓榨外勞人權。二、外勞得自由轉換雇主：外勞可以辭職、轉換雇主以淘汰惡質老板。三、取消外勞居留最長六年年限。四、家庭類勞工應受法令保障：將13萬名家庭類外勞納入勞基法保障範圍，或另訂定家事服務法給與勞動權益之保障。五、外勞團結權：外勞應有組織工會、參選工會幹部的權利。職訓局則在今天傍晚發佈新聞稿，針對五個建議逐條回應。
台灣國際勞工協會總幹事吳靜如表示，從沒看過勞委會以這麼快的速度回應民間團體的訴求，看來只有美國的壓力才算壓力。不過吳靜如表示：「勞委會是睜眼說瞎話，一點也沒有解決問題根源的誠意。」
吳靜如說，14年來，勞委會面對私人仲介問題，擬定了多次、多種相關規定，但是，仲介費超收仍是現今移工面對的最大問題，明顯證明勞委會的種種規定完全無法解決因為制度設計的錯誤，導致移工被仲介剝削的事實。吳靜如更直接質疑，勞委會長期不願面對「取消私人仲介」，不願意處理問題的根源，是否反應了勞委會無法處理檯面下存在的「官商勾結」。
此外，吳靜如表示，自由轉換雇主和6年期限，是綁住在台移工的最大枷鎖。勞委會在2005年9月曾經做過的會議結論，包括考慮自由轉換、考慮取消六年年限等等，但到現在還是完全不考慮實行，勞委會完全不關心在台移工人權，關於在台現實存在的奴工，完全不重視其基本權利，所有的說詞，僅表現為搪塞地回應美國對台的評估，其心可議。
家事服務法推動聯盟表示，行政院只想做表面功夫，應付美國，這種不想真正面對問題的心態，台灣人口販運的問題只會更嚴重。
延伸閱讀：
2006/06/08 與其向美提解釋說帖 不如落實現有相關人口販運之政策 ■周憶如
美國國務院《2006年度人口販運問題報告》（部分）中文
《2006年度人口販運問題報告》英文原文
《2006年度人口販運問題報告》有關台灣部分之內容：
TAIWAN (TIER 2 WATCH LIST)
Taiwan is primarily a destination for men, women, and children trafficked for forced labor and sexual exploitation. Women from the P.R.C. and Southeast Asian countries are trafficked to Taiwan for sexual exploitation and forced labor. Women and children, primarily from Vietnam, are trafficked to Taiwan through the use of fraudulent marriages, deceptive employment offers, and illegal smuggling for commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor.
A significant share of foreign workers — primarily from Vietnam, Thailand, and the Philippines — are recruited legally for low-skilled jobs in Taiwan's construction, fishing, or manufacturing industries or as domestic servants, and are subjected to forced labor or involuntary servitude by labor agencies or employers upon arrival in Taiwan. Many of these contract migrant workers come from poor rural areas and are forced to pay up to $8,000 to recruitment agencies or brokers for a job in Taiwan, resulting in substantial debt that labor agencies and/or employers use as a tool for involuntary servitude. The process for recruitment and placement of the 350,000 foreign workers in Taiwan — half of whom are caregivers working in private residences and not protected by Taiwan's labor law — lacks regulation and oversight and may therefore lead to situations of involuntary servitude. The recruitment of foreign brides primarily from Vietnam, but also from other Southeast Asian nations, is poorly controlled and, as a consequence, has become a major conduit for the trafficking of girls and women into the Taiwan sex trade, as well as for forced labor. To a much lesser extent, there is internal trafficking of children for sexual exploitation and trafficking of a small and declining number of Taiwan women to Japan for commercial sexual exploitation.
Taiwan authorities do not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, they are making significant efforts to do so. Taiwan is placed on Tier 2 Watch List for its failure to show evidence of increasing efforts over the past year to address trafficking, despite ample resources to do so, particularly to address the serious level of forced labor and sexual servitude among legally migrating Southeast Asian contract workers and brides. Taiwan authorities need to demonstrate political will in tackling the trafficking in persons problem on the island. Taiwan should also develop a clear policy and action plan that adequately covers sex trafficking and involuntary servitude among foreign workers and brides. Comprehensive anti-trafficking legislation that criminalizes all forms of trafficking is critical to punishing traffickers who currently operate with relative impunity.
Taiwan has improved its collaboration with local and international NGOs to protect victims of trafficking, particularly P.R.C. citizens, and some members of its legislature are attempting to pass comprehensive anti-trafficking legislation. However, there continue to be concerns over the treatment of the large number of Vietnamese brides present in Taiwan. Taiwan officials concede that the process for admitting foreign brides is not sufficiently monitored, noting that 47 percent of Vietnamese brides in Taipei county are not living with their Taiwanese husbands. Taiwan also remains a destination for foreign workers. The oversight system for their recruitment and stay in Taiwan is not adequately scrutinized. Twenty thousand of the 350,000 foreign contract workers in Taiwan are "runaways" who have left their site of employment in Taiwan for a variety of reasons, including abuse or conditions of involuntary servitude. Taiwan authorities view most runaways as workers seeking to remain in Taiwan illegally, and therefore treat them as law-breakers, detaining and then deporting them immediately upon capture. Labor rights and anti-trafficking NGOs claim — with detailed accounts — that many of these runaway workers escaped conditions of bonded or forced labor or sexual servitude.
Prosecution
Taiwan has a number of related laws that may be used to prosecute traffickers, including laws against slavery and exploiting children in prostitution, but it does not have comprehensive anti-trafficking legislation. On April 13, 2006, Taiwan's Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) announced that businesses or individuals caught employing illegal workers will be fined up to $23,000. The new regulation, which took effect on April 20, 2006, will be directed at those who knowingly hire illegal workers. The CLA also announced that it will begin inspecting businesses that employ large numbers of female workers to ensure the workers are not being mistreated and to verify that the businesses have mechanisms in place that allow workers to report sexual harassment or abuse.
Over the reporting period, there were 94 indictments and eight convictions for sex trafficking crimes under Sections 231, 296, and 296-1 of Taiwan's criminal code; in contrast, there was only one reported prosecution for forced labor or exploitative labor practices. Although the CLA identified some victims of involuntary servitude, there were no cases referred for investigation or prosecution by law enforcement or judicial authorities. Punishments for employers or labor agencies found guilty of abuses, including forced labor, were administrative and light, most involving fines. The government has procedures for monitoring companies that employ foreign workers; however, none have been held criminally responsible for any potential trafficking-related violations. Taiwan legislative officials have drafted and are attempting to pass anti-trafficking legislation. Efforts are also underway to tighten immigration procedures and interviewing techniques in detention centers.
Protection
The Taiwan authorities provided inadequate protection for many victims of trafficking on the island over the last year, though they made efforts to improve levels of victim support in some areas. Most significant were efforts to identify and treat with care victims of sex trafficking found among the thousands of P.R.C. girls and women arrested for involvement in prostitution or immigration violations. As of April 3, 2006, there were 15 P.R.C. female trafficking victims at detention center facilities. Care for the estimated larger number of foreign victims of labor trafficking, domestic servitude, or sex trafficking among Southeast Asian contract laborers and imported "brides" remained uneven. Taiwan authorities continue to punish victims of trafficking for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of their being trafficked. Taiwan authorities fail to offer P.R.C. and Southeast Asian trafficking victims legal alternatives to their removal to countries in which they face hardship or retribution. Taiwan authorities operate two detention centers that are used to detain undocumented P.R.C. females prior to their forced repatriation, which contain separate, more comfortable facilities for the hundreds of P.R.C. females identified as trafficking victims. It is not clear if these identified trafficking victims are encouraged to assist in the prosecution of their traffickers. Victim protection varied widely among the different localities on the island. While Taiwan authorities provide substantial funding to the Foundation of Women's Rights Promotion, which in turn funds local NGOs to which it also refers victims — primarily Vietnamese brides — there are no centrally funded anti-trafficking shelters on the island. Taiwan authorities have undertaken modest efforts to ensure that brides in Taiwan understand their rights, and also run a hotline for reporting abuse. However, critics claim that the hotline is rarely used and that most potential victims are not aware of its existence. Taiwan also made stronger attempts to interview foreign spouses upon entering Taiwan, as demonstrated by the increase in the identification of fraudulent marriages (30-35 percent were rejected in 2005).
In contrast, care and assistance to Southeast Asian contract workers who have become victims of involuntary servitude is minimal. Taiwan authorities made significant efforts to better regulate the foreign labor sector, but this was focused on minor labor abuses rather than on more serious allegations of involuntary servitude. In 2005, the CLA established 24 offices around the island to provide counseling and other services to abused foreign workers. These centers, however, do not provide overnight shelter for victims; the only shelters available for victims of labor exploitation or involuntary servitude are NGO facilities. In 2004, the CLA established legal aid offices, a hotline, and a booth in the airport aimed to provide information to incoming foreign workers. The CLA reported that it is administering a program that will allow abused foreign workers to be reassigned to another employer or be returned to their country of origin. It also plans to increase the number of labor inspectors. NGOs question whether the CLA will follow through with plans, and many foreign workers remain unaware of the hotline, pamphlets, or shelters.
Prevention
Taiwan authorities' public statements about the dangers of the sex trafficking problem demonstrate the seriousness with which Taiwan evaluates the problem. There is also a growing public awareness and media coverage of the huge forced labor problem found in Taiwan's relatively unregulated inflow of low-skilled foreign contract laborers. Taiwan has conducted prevention campaigns aimed at foreign workers, including brochures laying out the laws in Taiwan and running radio public service announcements. Taiwan authorities, who participate in anti-trafficking training, also provide funding to international organizations for anti-trafficking outreach, largely for the purpose of counseling girls who may be sexually exploited or trafficked.