A Taiwan human rights Group has called for internet access aboard fishing vessels to keep fishermen informed on their long journeys. In an event held at the Taipei Fish Market, The Taiwan Association for Human Rights invited several fishermen to share their stories. One Indonesian man named Andris said that he had lost all contact with the outside world for eight months, unable to contact his family or verify he had been paid. Another Indonesian man named Wandi said that after returning from a voyage without the internet, he discovered his fiancee had left him and his father had died.
Taiwan’s fishing companies often employ migrant workers for their voyages, and their poor labor practices and working conditions have been widely reported. The U.S. Department of Labor has put Taiwanese fish on its "List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor" two consecutive times in 2020 and 2022. Fishermen have come back from trips only to discover that they have not been paid their agreed upon wages, and as migrant workers, are left with little legal recourse.
New Power Party legislator Chiu Hsien-chih (邱顯智) said in a speech at the event that Taiwan is a high-tech powerhouse and it is shameful that migrant workers are not given even basic internet while at sea. Kimberly Rogovin of the organization Global Labor Justice said that Taiwan is one of the few countries which grants migrant workers the right to organize trade unions. However, if workers cannot contact their unions while at sea, unionization is just an illusion, she said. She added she hopes that Taiwan will improve the human rights conditions of fishermen, including internet access, as soon as possible.