A new generation of slavery新世代的奴隸 -- 張華容、林尚儀、王鈺婷 譯

[丘延亮]

A new generation of slavery

新世代的奴隸

 

張華容、林尚儀、王鈺婷 譯

 

A crackdown on undocumented workers has led to illegal detentions and stretched the resources of the police and welfare groups

逮捕非法外籍勞工演變成非法拘留，並損耗警察與社福機構的資源

 

By Ron Brownlow
STAFF REPORTER
Sunday, Jun 04, 2006,Page 17

本報記者朗‧布朗勞

二零零六年六月四日星期日  第十七版

 

Victoria Andres was in for a nasty surprise when she came to Taiwan. She had signed a contract in the Philippines to work as a caregiver for an elderly man in Ilan. But after arriving at Chiang Kai-shek International Airport she was driven to Banciao and put to work as a domestic helper, or maid, for a family of five. She never saw the old man.

當維多利亞安德烈到台灣她著實被嚇了一大跳。她在菲律賓所簽的合約寫著她工作的內容是照料一名宜蘭的老年人，但當飛機降落了中正國際機場之後，她卻被送往板橋作為一個五口家庭的家庭助手，也就是女傭。她從來沒見過合約上所說的那名老年人。

 

There, according to Andres' boyfriend, the wife verbally abused her and the family's eight and nine year old children beat her. Not surprisingly, she ran away and found work cleaning houses part time. Her life on the run ended in April, when she was arrested near Fujen Catholic University (»²¤¯¤j¾Ç) in Taipei County.

根據安德烈的男友所說，安德烈在那個家庭中遭受太太的辱罵，而且那裡的八、九個小孩還會打她。不意外地，她逃跑了，並且當起清掃房屋的臨時工。四月時她在輔仁大學附近被捕，也結束了她亡命天涯的日子。

 

"I ran away because my job was very hard," Andres, 39, said in an interview last month at a police station in Sinjuang (·s²ø), Taipei County, where she was awaiting deportation. Sitting on a couch inside the precinct's foreign affairs office, Andres measured her responses and spoke in hushed tones, nervously twisting a reporter's name card in her hands. Her boyfriend later explained she did not want to reveal much, because she had been jailed for more than a month and was scared of being kept longer.

 安德烈上個月在新莊等待遣返時接受採訪，她說：「我逃跑是因為工作太嚴苛了。」坐在沙發上的安德烈小心地斟酌回答，手裡緊張地捏著記者的名片。她的男友後來向記者解釋安德烈並不想揭露太多，因為她才被判超過一個月的徒刑，害怕講太多刑期會延長。

 

Andres' predicament repeats itself in Taiwan thousands of times each year. The government has shown little inclination to address the root of the problem, which is that foreign workers are easily exploited and cannot change employers if their current one abuses them. Worse still is the broker system, where employers pay middlemen to sort through the complicated process of importing laborers.

安德烈的遭遇每年在台灣重複數千次，政府卻無心面對問題的根本—外勞容易被剝削且就算遭受施暴也不能更換雇主的問題。更糟糕的是雇主透過中間人處裡外籍勞工來台程序的仲介系統。

 

Foreign workers sign contacts in their home countries that require them to pay their broker a finder's fee and a service charge of NT$1,500 or more a month. When they arrive in Taiwan nearly all are forced to sign side agreements, which are recognized by the legal system and authorize brokers and employers to deduct even more from their monthly salaries, usually in the form of what are euphemistically called "loans."

外籍勞工在家鄉簽下合約，合約中規定他們要付給仲介業者介紹費以及每月要一千五百元甚至更多的手續費。而幾乎全部來到台灣的人都要再簽下另一紙合約，使得仲介業者和雇主可以在法律的保護下更進一步地剝削他們的薪水。這些剝削的項目通常被委婉地稱作「借貸」。

 

As of press time, the Executive Yuan's Council of Labor Affairs had not responded to e-mail and telephone requests for interviews.

至截稿前，行政院勞工委員會並沒有回應透過電子郵件以及電話提出的訪問邀約。

 

"It's not like slavery, it is slavery," said Lennon Wong (¨L­^¹F), deputy director of international relations at the Chinese Federation of Labor (¤¤µØ¥Á°ê¥þ°êÁ`¤u·|), noting that many broker companies are owned by politicians, their relatives or people who boast openly of their ties to lawmakers. "The government has set the system up like this on purpose to drive business to the brokers."

中華民國全國總工會國際關係處處長汪英達表示：「這不是類似奴役，這就是奴役。」他指出許多仲介公司是政治人物或是政治人物的親戚，或者是對外吹噓他們和立法人員有關係的人。他說：「政府建立這個制度是為了要圖利於這些仲介業者。」

 

But undocumented migrants create something of an image problem the government cannot ignore. Nearly 10,000 absconded in the first three months of this year, and polls suggest the public thinks politicians are not doing enough to protect jobs from cheap foreign labor. "Illegal foreign workers" («Dªk¥~³Ò), as officials call them, are also seen by the public as a sign of social decay, and on March 15 Premier Su Tseng-chang (Ĭ­s©÷) vowed to resign if social order does not improve within six months.

但非法移民已建立起政府所不能忽略的形象問題。今年三月以來，已經有大約一萬人潛逃，而且民調顯示民眾認為政治人物沒有儘力保護他們的飯碗不被薪資低廉的外勞搶去。官方口中的「非法外勞」，也被民眾認為是社會腐敗的象徵。蘇貞昌在三月十五誓言要在六個月內提升社會秩序，否則就要自動下台。

 

As part of a crackdown announced this April, the government raised the penalty for employers who hire undocumented migrants to NT$750,000, from NT$150,000. Last month, it more than doubled the reward for turning them in, to NT$5,000.

四月的待補行動之後，政府也提高了非法外籍勞工罰鍰，從原來的十五萬提高為七十五萬。上個月也加倍舉發的獎勵金額至五千元。

 

 

Undocumented migrants say the increased fines have made it harder to find work, and officials say more have been caught recently or are turning themselves in to police. "We usually see two cases a month of undocumented workers who want to go home," said Carlo Aquino, head of the Assistance to Nationals section of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office. "This month we've seen 33. That does not include those who don't have the money to go back yet."

非法外籍勞工說，增加罰款使得工作更難找；官方也表示近來有更多人遭逮捕或者是向警方自首，馬尼拉經濟文化辦事處的卡洛．阿奎諾說：「通常我們一個月會看到兩起非法移工想回家的例子，這個月已經有三十三起了，這還不包括那些仍沒有足夠金錢回家的人。」

 

The office instructs those most down on their luck to continue working until they can afford the NT$10,000 fine for running away and the plane ticket home. But Aquino says the crackdown and fines are resented by local officials tasked with enforcing them and will not be pursued with enthusiasm for long. "It's not so easy for them because they have to send back a lot of foreign workers," he said, noting that one precinct station had 50 migrants crammed in its cells. "Where will the precinct get that money?"

辦事處建議那些倒楣的移工繼續工作，直到他們能付得起因逃跑而遭罰款的台幣一萬元以及回家的機票錢為止。但是阿奎諾表示，這種更嚴厲的手段與罰款增加地方執法人員的重擔，他們的報怨與不滿似乎也意味著新措施執行上的困難重重，工作變成是執行指派的任務，而不是熱情的去盡到自己的職責。阿奎諾注意到一個地方轄區就有五十位移工被關在擁擠狹小的囚房裡，他表示：「對他們來說這是件不容易的事，因為他們必須遣返大量的外籍勞工，但是地方辦事處哪來那麼多的錢送外籍勞工回家？」

 

Migrants and their advocates say that despite the crackdown, life as an "illegal foreign laborer" is still much better than life as a "legal" one. At a stroke, you eliminate the broker's onerous fees, can compete for work on the open market, rent your own apartment, eat what you want and generally be your own master. "It's better to be undocumented because you're free and you can do whatever you want," said "Gloria," 41, a Filipina who has been undocumented for a year and a half and asked that the Taipei Times not print her real name. "Of course, there's always the fear that one day you might be caught," she said. "But it can be a little bit exciting."

外籍勞工和他們的辯護者表示，即使政府的手段更為嚴厲，但非法外籍勞工的生活還是比那些合法的人好很多。身為非法外籍勞工，你不用付大量的錢給仲介人，可以在開放的市場上競爭工作，租一棟屬於自己的公寓，吃自己想要的東西，並做自己的主人。四十一歲，已過了一年半非法外籍勞工生活的菲傭葛洛莉亞(匿名)說：「當非法外籍勞工比較好，因為很自由而且可以做任何自己想做的事。當然阿，總是會害怕有一天可能會被抓到，但這也蠻刺激的。」 

 

No word better describes the escape her friend made three years ago. "Alexandra," 27, hails from an indigenous region in the northern Philippines and taught herself to speak Mandarin and Taiwanese. She has lived here for more than seven years and is a repeat fugitive. The first time she was ratted out by a neighbor and sent back. She obtained a passport under a different name and returned two months later. "It's very easy," she said.

三年前葛洛莉亞的朋友逃脫的經驗則教人驚奇。今年二十七歲，來自菲律賓北部一個土著區域的亞莉珊卓自學廣東話和台語，目前她已經在台灣生活超過七年，過著躲躲藏藏的日子。她第一次非法打工時遭到鄰居密告，因而被送回菲律賓，兩個月後她拿到一本印有別人名字的護照而再度來到台灣。她說：「這實在非常簡單。」

 

Back home, she would be earning roughly NT$100 per day toiling in a rice mill or vegetable garden, if she found work at all. Her first legal job here paid her NT$20,000 a month, with little time off. Undocumented, she works about nine hours a day and earns more than NT$25,000 a month. "If you're documented you cannot refuse to do illegal work," she said.

在家鄉，若是她找得到工作，在輾米廠或蔬菜園裡辛苦工作每天大約可獲得新台幣一百元的薪資；她在臺灣的第一份合法工作則付給她一個月新台幣兩萬元，卻幾乎沒有休假；不受登記成為非法外籍勞工，她每天工作九小時，並且賺取一個月超過兩萬五千元的月薪。她說：「如果你有合法登記，你就沒辦法拒絕去做那些不合理要求的工作。」

 

For her second stint, she signed a contract to work outside Taipei. Shortly after her arrival an earthquake struck and knocked tiles off the wall in the house where she was working. The wife asked her to stick the tiles back on, but refused to buy glue. Alexandra used tape to fix the tiles. "The next day the tiles fell down again," she said.

第二次的工作，她簽了份合約。在她到達沒多久後，工作地方牆上的壁磚因為地震來襲而搖落，雇主太太要求她把壁磚粘回牆上，但卻拒絕出錢買膠水，亞莉珊卓便用膠布去固定壁磚，但隔天壁磚又從牆上掉下來一次。

 

The boss scolded her, then went into her room and made a phone call. When she returned she told Alexandra to pack her all belongings. She was to go to Taipei for a month to work for her brother.

老闆責怪她後，便走入房裡去打電話，當回來時她告訴亞莉珊卓去打包行李，並說要派她去台北幫老闆的哥哥工作一個月。

 

Alexandra sensed something was wrong. Why would her boss ask her to pack everything if she was only to be gone for a month? When they arrived at the station her fears were confirmed. The broker, not the boss' brother, was waiting at the other end of the parking lot.

亞莉珊卓察覺到有些地方不太對勁，如果她只要離開一個月的話，為什麼老闆要求她必需要打包所有的行李？當他們到達車站時，她的憂慮被證實了，等在停車站另一邊的不是老闆的哥哥，而是仲介勞力的掮客。

 

Alexandra, who stands less than 150cm tall and was dragging a suitcase nearly as big as she was, let her boss walk in front. Her heart was pounding. They passed a corridor to her left. She saw a train at the other end. Her heart was pounding. They passed a corridor to her left. She saw a train at the other end.

身高不及一百五十公分，手上卻拖著幾乎與她一樣大的行李，亞莉珊卓讓她的老闆走在前頭。她的心劇烈的跳動。他們穿過左邊的長廊後，她看見一班火車。

 

This was her chance. "There's a wall there so my employer ... cannot see me, and then I escape," she said. Summoning all her strength to drag her oversized suitcase, she made for the train. "Then it so happened that the train will leave the station," she continued. "I immediately get on. The conductor asked, `where's you ticket?' I said `Lai bu ji. (I didn't have time)' She let me get on."

她的機會來了。她說：「那裡有道牆，所以我雇主…看不見我，之後我就逃走了。」用盡所有的力氣，她拖著那過大的行李箱上了火車。她又繼續說：「那班火車即將離站，我馬上跳上車。車掌問我有沒有車票，我說我來不及買，她仍讓我上了車。」

 

 Victoria Andres wasn't so lucky. On the afternoon of April 9 she was in a karaoke bar with friends. She had the microphone and was singing Take Me to Your Heart by pop act Michael Learns to Rock when plain-clothes police officers busted in and started checking IDs. "I was shaking and got nervous and was crying," she said. "If felt sad and lonely at that time and I didn't have any money."

維多利亞．安德烈可就沒那麼幸運了。在四月九號下午跟朋友在ＫＴＶ唱流行歌手搖滾麥克的Take Me to Your Heart，唱到一半，便衣警察突然闖入，並檢查他們的身分。她說：「我緊張的邊哭邊發抖，覺得既難過又孤獨，而且當時我身上連一分錢都沒有。」

 

She spent the next 38 days at the Shinjhuang police precinct in Taipei County. The length of her stay was technically illegal because police are only authorized to detain a suspect for 30 days.

接下來，她在北縣新莊派出所待了38天，這樣的拘留是不合法的，因為依照職權，警察最多只能拘留嫌犯30天。

 

"We kept calling her employer (in Banciao) and asking her to give us Victoria's passport so she could go home," said Alan Chang (¾G¹Å¸Î), the officer in charge of the case. "The employer kept saying she was looking for it." Chang could not put Victoria on a flight to the Philippines without a passport and he could not help her apply for a new passport until her old employer declared the old one lost.

偵辦人員鄭嘉裕說：「我們不斷連絡她在板橋的雇主，並要求她給我們維多利亞的護照讓她回家，然而她的雇主卻不斷的說她還在找。」因為沒有護照，維多利亞不能搭機回菲律賓，而在她雇主聲明舊護照遺失之前，鄭嘉裕也無法幫她申辦新護照。

 

Everyone with knowledge of the case believes the woman in Banciao was stalling to punish Andres for running away. "Some employers, because of this resentment, they're angry. So some of them delay the return of the passport," said MECO's Carlo Aquino. He added that it was unusual for a migrant to be detained for so long, because his staff routinely visit precinct houses to check on detainees. But the government's crackdown has given them too much work and they rarely have time to leave the office.

只要了解這個案例的人都相信，她板橋的雇主跟蹤她是為了懲罰她的逃跑。臺北 馬尼拉經濟文化辦事處的卡洛．阿奎諾說：「由於對員工的這份憤恨與怒氣，所以有些雇主會延遲退還員工們的護照。」他加以說明，因為他的部屬都定期前往看守所尋訪這些被拘留者，這樣超時拘留移居者的情形是非常不尋常的。

 

A Catholic pastoral worker at Fujen Catholic University finally discovered Andres on a routine visit to the police station in late April. He was her first and only contact with the outside world for several weeks. Officers had previously refused to allow visits or even gifts of food from Victoria's friends, although this changed after his visit.

最後，一位輔仁大學的神職人員在定期尋訪派出所的過程中，於四月底找到了安德烈。這個神職人員是安德烈在這數個星期中，第一位也是唯一一位與外界接觸的人。之前，維多利亞的朋友數次要求造訪卻遭到拒絕，甚至連給予禮物或食物都不行，這樣的情況一直到這神職人員的造訪之後才有了改變。

 

The pastoral worker called Aquino, who called the precinct. The next day, the police notified MECO that the employer had decided that Andres' passport was lost. Officer Chang booked a seat for Andres on the earliest possible flight out, on May 17.

這位神職人員阿奎諾連絡了看守所，隔天，警察告知中華民國全國總工會，安德烈的雇主聲明他的護照已遺失，鄭嘉裕隨即幫安德烈定了一張5月17號最早班回國的機票。

 

The CFA's Wong said the length of Andres' detention was "illegal" and "ridiculous," but it's hard to see what options the police had. More detainees mean more work for Chang and his fellow officers, who often buy their charges food and medicine, and the precinct looked particularly busy last month.

中華民國全國總工會的汪英達認為，安德列的拘留是「不合法」且「荒謬」的，但卻無法得知警察是否有其他的選擇。這轄區的事務在上個月看起來特別繁忙，而他們還要經常幫拘留者購買所需食物跟藥物。對於鄭嘉裕及其部屬，被拘留者越多，他們的工作量也越多。

 

Wong and other advocates said the crackdown might flush out a few illegals, but in the end it amounts to mere window-dressing. The real problem is that there are more than 300,000 maids, construction workers, caregivers and other foreign workers from five Southeast Asian nations and Mongolia in Taiwan, and being undocumented, despite the risks, is often their best option.

汪英達和其他支持者認為，這樣的逮捕或許會暴露出一些非法行徑，但是這樣的數字最終只是假象。真正的問題在於，在台灣已有超過30萬來自五個東南亞的國家或蒙古的的女傭、建築工人、看護及其他的外籍勞工。儘管危險，他們的最佳選擇卻是成為非法勞工。

 

"There are so many problems the government does not want to face," Wong said. "It just want to use migrants as cheap workers and send them home."

汪英達說：「政府只希望能夠利用移居者作為廉價勞工再遣送他們回國，卻不願面對其中更多的問題。

 

 

" It's [migrant labor] not like slavery, it is slavery ... . The government has set the system up like this on purpose to drive business to the brokers."

-- Lennon Wong, Chinese Federation of Labor's deputy director of international relations

「這不是類似奴役，這就是奴役。…政府建立這個制度是為了要圖利於這些仲介業者。」