Northeast India’s target for recruitment due to similar skin tone, eating habits, belief in Christianity, labor skills.
The government of Taiwan wants to bring workers from northeast India to Taiwan because they have similar skin color and food preferences, share the same Christian beliefs, and have good skills in jobs like making things, building, and farming.
In a video on YouTube, Hsu talked about a special agreement between Taiwan and India that was signed recently. They are planning to work together on helping people find jobs. It will take some time to figure out all the details, like which jobs to focus on and where the workers will come from. They hope to start the program in about six months to a year.
Taiwanese labor minister statement on Indians
Hsu said that people were spreading false stories online before the election that Taiwan would hire more than 100,000 workers from India. But Hsu clarified that this was not true because the agreement to bring in workers from India had not been officially agreed upon yet. Hsu also mentioned that Taiwan has been having difficulty finding other countries to get workers from, so they don’t have to rely on just a few nations for their labor needs.
She said India has reached out to Taiwan about the possibility of a labor cooperation agreement. Xu said, “The quality of Indian migrant workers is very good, and the stability of their workers is also very high.”
Hsu said that Taiwan will bring in a few workers from India at first. Hsu explained that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Labor worked together to decide where to find these workers, and they chose northeast India.
The labor minister said they wanted to recruit people from this region first because they have similar skin color and eat similar food to us. Most of them also believe in Christianity. They are good at making things, building, and growing crops.
In the agreement, it says that Taiwan will decide how many people will be hired and where they will come from. Because both sides need to adjust, they will start with fewer workers.
She remembered that when they brought in workers from Mongolia, there weren’t many because they were different from the people here. For the last 20 years, they haven’t brought in any new workers from other countries. The only countries that the workers come from are Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam.
While there was bipartisan anticipation for an increase in source countries in 2020, the Taipei representative office in India expressed a strong interest in labor cooperation with Hsu, which she saw as a positive development.
Hsu said that expanding the source countries for migrant workers is not easy. She said the MOL has been looking for other source countries for labor over the past couple of decades.
She said Taiwan had discussions with Myanmar, Cambodia, and Bangladesh. However, the conditions were not suitable for both countries, or there were difficulties posed by China’s geopolitical influence, including obstruction or a lack of strong willingness from the other countries, she said.
Hsu said diversification helps mitigate and reduce the risks associated with overreliance on the original four countries.
In case of any disruption, employers now have an additional option. She assessed that this signing would have a catalytic effect, making the development of new source countries somewhat smoother.
When the MOU was signed on February 16, it made the leader of the Taiwan People’s Party, Ko Wen-je, wonder if migrant workers who have run away could be a problem for the country’s safety. However, Hsu explained that migrant workers actually commit fewer crimes compared to people who are from Taiwan.
Hsu explained that although some migrant workers do bad things, most of them are helping out in industries that don’t have enough workers. Their main reason for working is to make extra money.
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