A senior official from Indonesia’s ministry of manpower said Thursday that he hasn’t received any complaints from Indonesian migrant workers in Taiwan regarding religious freedom.
The comments came after a recent US report criticized Taiwan for not allowing Indonesian workers two regular days off per week, which hinders their freedom to attend religious ceremonies.
There are more than 230,000 Indonesian migrant workers in Taiwan, of which 170,000 are domestic caregivers. The number accounts for 79% of all domestic workers in the nation.
The official in charge of Indonesian workers’ placement and protection abroad, Soes Hindarno, said Thursday that he has not received any data on this issue. He said that if these cases exist, they should be considered individual occurrences rather than a reflection of how Indonesian workers are treated in Taiwan.
A large number of Indonesian workers recently celebrated Eid al-Fitr, the end of Ramadan, at Taipei Main Station. An Indonesian official said he appreciates Taiwan’s respect for their culture and tradition.