Five Vietnamese runaways arrested for illegal farm work

Police carried out a raid on an onion farm in a rural town in Yunlin county, western Taiwan, after receiving a tip about suspected runaway migrant workers in the field.

On November 20, officers from Douliu Precinct, Yunlin County Police Bureau, observed five foreign workers busily harvesting the vegetables at the farm in Citong town, The Commons Daily reported last weekend.

To avoid any injuries to their colleagues or the workers, officers decided not to chase the suspects but to set up a checkpoint on the highway, waiting for the workers to pass by.

At 5:30pm, five suspects traveling in a truck were successfully intercepted by the police. The workers later were confirmed as Vietnamese nationals who had run away from their former employers in senior citizens' homes in southern Taiwan.

They were processed by Yunlin County Service Center of the National Immigration Agency.

A Taiwanese driver who was transporting the workers in the vehicle was also detained to assist a police investigation.

It is not uncommon that runaway foreign workers are hired during the peak for harvesting agricultural produce in remote farms. However, Douliu Precinct stressed that employers should not illegally hire any persons with problematic work permits.

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