Today, the Foreign Fishermen's Human Rights Alliance revealed that the Taiwanese-operated vessel "Hsin Lien Fa No. 168" has been held in Port Louis, Mauritius, since November 2022 due to the operator's unpaid debts to a local agency. As a result, three Indonesian crew members have been forced to remain aboard, without pay since January 2023, and are unable to return home. The Control Yuan, Taiwan’s oversight body, questioned the operator’s decision to burden foreign fishermen with business hardships, which significantly impacts their rights. Control Yuan member Ji Hui-jung has requested an automatic investigation into the matter.
In a press conference, the Alliance disclosed that the vessel, detained in Mauritius since November 19, 2022, had owed wages to 11 Indonesian fishermen for over ten months and suffered from food shortages. On September 23, 2023, Taiwan’s Fisheries Agency referred the case to the Pingtung District Prosecutors Office for potential human trafficking violations. The operator, accused of contravening deep-sea fisheries regulations, was fined TWD 250,000, with their fishing license suspended for two months.
The Control Yuan noted that the Taiwanese operator’s unpaid fees led to a court order in Mauritius approving the vessel’s detainment. The transfer of vessel ownership remains under judicial process, and Mauritian port authorities have mandated personnel remain aboard to monitor the vessel. Since November 2022, three Indonesian fishermen have been stranded on board, unable to leave for nearly a year and unpaid since January 2023, preventing their return to Indonesia.
The Control Yuan raised concerns over shifting business liabilities onto foreign fishermen, creating harsh working conditions and severely impacting their rights. Ji Hui-jung questioned whether Taiwan’s Agriculture Ministry and Fisheries Agency properly oversee foreign fishermen’s working conditions and vessel compliance. Ji emphasized whether authorities promptly boarded and inspected the vessel, or if they relied solely on statements from the shipowner, potentially missing critical investigation opportunities. She also highlighted the necessity of understanding if protections and wage recovery measures were enacted for the stranded fishermen and whether the authorities actively upheld labor rights on board.
[Ettoday/Reporter Du Guanlin/Reporting from Taipei]
[Photo by Edi Libedinsky / Mathilde Hugdal from unsplash]