Focus Taiwan
Date: 10/02/2020
By: Lionel Chiou, Hou Wen-ting,
Wang Shu-fen and Kay Liu

Sydney, Oct. 2 (CNA) Some 24 Myanmarese seamen are seeking help through the International Transport Workers' Federation, claiming that a Taiwanese shipping company underpaid them and "dumped" them in Kaohsiung, according to the federation's branch in Sydney.

The 24 seamen, 19 of whom have finished their 14-day quarantine in Kaohsiung, reported their underpayment to the federation and were subsequently forced to disembark from vessels operated by Taipei-based Hsin Chien Marine Co. (新健海運) in the southern port city in the past month, said Matt Purcell, an assistant coordinator of the workers' group in Sydney.

Purcell told CNA that the seamen said that the shipping company had been deducting up to US$700 from their monthly wages for the past six months.

While in quarantine in Kaohsiung, the seamen said they received threatening letters from a shipping agency handling affairs on behalf of Hsin Chien, which said that if they miss flights arranged for them to return to Myanmar, they will be put on "the wanted list," said Purcell, who showed a letter he received from the seamen.    [FULL  STORY]