TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – A total of 22 Vietnamese nationals suspected of working in Taiwan illegally were arrested in a raid on a construction site in Hsinchu County on March 14 and could now face deportation, reports said Friday.
Coast Guard Administration officials from Kaohsiung received a tip-off and carried out the raid, which saw 22 runaway cases. Among the Vietnamese nationals, 13 were immigrants working in Taiwan, six were traveling for tourism purpose, and three were visiting their relatives in the country, wrote the Liberty Times.
The authorities will also seek to prosecute two Taiwanese employers involved in the case for offenses against the Employment Service Act.
According to the officials, the group of illegal aliens was found to have been working in a clandestine underground construction project in the northwestern municipality of Taiwan, drawing little attention from the outside world.
The Coast Guard Administration reckoned it was not uncommon to see people from Vietnam enticed to seek illegal working opportunities in Taiwan, as the wages here are five times as high as in their home country, said the report.
Employers who hire illegal alien workers risk a fine of at least NT$150,000 and at most NT$750,000, in compliance with the Employment Service Act.
Taiwan arrests 22 illegal Vietnamese working at an underground construction site (Photo/Coast Guard Administration)