TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — KMT legislators held a press conference on Monday drawing attention to unaccounted-for foreign workers, noting the number has increased from 48,000 in 2020 to nearly 90,000 by 2024.

KMT Legislator Wang Yu-min (王育敏) showed surveillance camera footage taken at Taoyuan International Airport, where a foreign worker appeared to be standing in line for airport security check to board a flight home. The worker then changed clothes as part of a disguise and departed the airport, and the whereabouts remain unknown, per CNA.

Wang said the Vietnamese worker in the video was required to leave Taiwan on Dec. 3, 2024, as her work contract expired. A labor broker took the worker to the airport and confirmed her arrival at 11:30 a.m., but she left the airport lobby at 11:41 a.m.

Wang said employers and brokers try to send off foreign workers at the airport in person but due to regulations, they can not enter the security area. No government unit is responsible for supervising and ensuring the departure of foreign workers.

Foreign workers may deceive employers and brokers to remain in Taiwan, the legislators said. Wang said employers and brokers are still the groups who are punished and urged government authorities to bear responsibility.

KMT Legislator Wan Mei-ling (萬美玲) also questioned whether an organization assisted the foreign worker’s departure from the airport. Wan said as the number of foreign workers increases each year, supervision is more important.

Wang said that based on information collected by her legislative office, 90 foreign workers fled the airport in 2024. She urged the government to close this loophole and ensure all foreign workers return to their native country after their work contract.