TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Five Indonesian migrant workers are facing up to NT$300,000 (US$10,746) in fines for eating together at a restaurant in Kaohsiung City last week.
On the evening of June 16, five Indonesians, including four women and one man, gathered together for dinner at an Indonesian restaurant on Nanhua Road in Kaohsiung's Sanmin District. However, a unit of the National Immigration Agency was running spot checks on restaurants for Level 3 alert violators and noticed that the restaurant's lights were still on.
When they looked inside, they found the five Indonesian nationals seated at the same table as they dined together. A translator informed them that that they would each be fined between NT$60,000 and NT$300,000, prompting one of them to lament "the price of friendship is too costly," reported CNA.
(NIA photo)
After a preliminary investigation, NIA officers found that four of the Indonesians are legally employed at a mask manufacturing factory in Taiwan, while the fifth is the manager of a shop.
The NIA said that because it was a gathering of five people eating inside a restaurant, it was a clear violation of Level 3 restrictions. Officers filed a report for the incident and notified the health department to assess the level of fines to be handed out.
One of the workers said that he thought it would be safe to dine in a restaurant he was familiar with. The workers said that they got together because they had not seen each other in a long time and did not realize they were violating the rules.
