Taipei: Taiwan’s human rights situation in 2024 experienced “no significant changes,” with “no credible reports of significant human rights abuses,” as stated by the U.S. Department of State in its abridged annual human rights report.
According to Focus Taiwan, the report, part of the department’s “Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2024,” highlighted that Taiwan’s authorities actively enforced laws prohibiting human rights abuses and prosecuted officials involved in such acts. It noted the absence of reports concerning arbitrary or unlawful killings by authorities or their agents during the year.
The report affirmed that Taiwan’s constitution provides for freedom of expression, which includes press and media rights, and indicated that authorities respected this right generally. On labor rights, the document mentioned that although the law allows workers to form and join independent unions, conduct strikes, and bargain collectively, the right to strike remains highly restricted. Teachers and civil servants are not permitted to strike, and strikes are only allowed in “adjustment” disputes, such as issues over compensation or work schedules, and only after mediation.
Additionally, the report pointed out challenges in organizing enterprise unions, especially in large enterprises within the technology sector, where practices such as blacklisting union organizers from promotion or relocating them are prevalent. Taiwan’s Ministry of Labor (MOL) oversees the implementation and enforcement of labor laws alongside local labor affairs authorities. Most labor disputes, often involving wage and severance issues, are typically resolved through mediation or arbitration, with the law prohibiting strikes or protests during these proceedings.
The report further stated that Taiwan employed more than 793,000 foreign workers, primarily from Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Thailand. The government runs a Foreign Worker Direct Hire Service Center and an online platform to facilitate employer hiring of foreign workers without brokers. The government also allows migrant workers who have been abused or exploited to change employers and offers a 24-hour toll-free hotline service in six languages for legal advice, protection, and abuse reporting.
Foreign workers’ associations informed the State Department of foreign workers’ reluctance to report employer abuses due to fears of contract termination. Workers also faced challenges accessing the hotline while at sea. Additionally, the report noted that over 87,575 migrant workers were not in touch with their legal employers and likely remained informally employed elsewhere, lacking applicable labor protections.