【聲明】對移工不當盤查、濫權上銬，員警判妨害自由～民間團體呼籲警方停止對移工歧視性執法

2022-06-23

文/桃園市家庭看護工職業工會、財團法人司法改革基金會、外籍漁工人權組織、台灣人權促進會、宜蘭縣漁工職業工會、桃園市群眾服務協會、聽你說—移民工法律暨公共衛生諮詢平台、越在嘉文化棧、1095文史工作室、台灣移工聯盟MENT、屏東縣好好婦女權益發展協會、天主教新竹教區越南移工移民辦公室、全國家戶勞動產業工會、印尼勞工團結組織、移工國際台灣分會

去(2021)年8月16日，新北三重一名家庭看護移工在出門倒垃圾時，遭員警隨機盤查並上銬帶回警局。員警查無不法後，又將移工丟包他處，要移工自行返家。案件經桃園市家庭看護工工會揭露，由法律扶助基金會指派律師協助移工提出刑事告訴及民事求償。新北地檢署於今(2022) 年1月7日偵結，以妨害自由罪起訴涉案員警。案件移至新北地院後，涉案員警當庭認罪，並於調解庭提出民事賠償及書面道歉與移工成立調解。

新北地方法院刑事庭於2022年6月7日宣判，認為員警執勤時僅憑個人主觀猜測逕對移工濫行盤查，並濫用職權上銬、剝奪移工的行動自由，使移工身心受創，也使人民對公權力產生不信任感，構成公務員假借職務上之權力，故意剝奪他人行動自由罪，但考量涉案員警已經與移工調解成立，獲得移工宥恕，輕判有期徒刑4月，宣告緩刑2年（案號：新北地方法院111年度審簡字第362號刑事判決）。

本案是台灣第一件移工告警察濫用職權妨害自由並勝訴的案例，但卻不是第一次警察濫用權力、不當盤查並違法侵害移工人身自由的案件。

本案涉案員警也自承當天是「不必要之盤查」，並承諾未來執勤時會更注重與外籍移工之互動與權利保障。然而，這不僅是單一員警的不當盤查與執法過當，更是警界長期以查緝無證移工作為績效，誘使基層員警對移工濫行發動盤查的歧視性查緝政策所致。

即便統計數據早已顯示，移工的犯罪率遠低於國人的犯罪率，警方政策仍將移工及東南亞裔人士與治安問題劃上等號。這種針對移工的歧視性執法，不單強化了整體社會對移工的歧視與負面觀感，也讓在語言、資源及司法程序上多重弱勢、求助無門的移工，時刻面對警察濫權的不當盤查，只能每天帶著恐懼與羞辱在台灣過日子，台灣社會自豪的法治與人權於此蕩然無存！

本案可說是台灣移工人權保障的指標性案例，法官跟檢察官對警察不當盤查並違法拘束移工人身自由的行為論罪，值得高度肯定；也感謝媒體、民意代表及社會大眾對本案的關注，實現法律對移工的保障。然而，遍觀我國移工人權保障法制及政策，仍有許多可以檢視、提升的面向，關心移工權益及司法人權的團體在此聯合呼籲：

警政署應會同移民署應檢討不當盤查移工之績效誘因，廢止歧視性查緝政策

警政署目前仍否定「2018年司法改革國是會議」的決議，拒絕成立「警政專案及績效管理委員會」，而僅舉辦事後的檢討會，致使警察績效的法制化、合理化與監督程度仍然不足。警政署應針對員警不當盤查移工的主要原因，即現行查緝政策與績效制度，會同移民署進行通盤檢討、廢止取締移工的相關政策及績效專案，避免因不當誘因追求績效而致生的歧視、恣意性不當執法行為。
移民署應投入法治教育資源、加強法扶合作，協助移工面對不當侵害事件

移工受到警察隨機盤查，幾乎是其在台生活的日常，但遭遇不當盤查並如本案最終獲得有效司法救濟的案例，極為罕見。如何保全證據、委任律師、尋求司法救濟，對於處在語言及司法相對弱勢的移工而言十分困難。移民署身為移工在台居留事務的主管機關，應加強移工法治教育宣導，協助移工取得法扶資源，進行司法救濟，以符合憲法及兩公約明定移工享有的訴訟權及正當法律程序之基本人權保障。

共同聲明團體

桃園市家庭看護工職業工會Domestic Caretakers Union Taoyuan
財團法人司法改革基金會 Judicial Reform Foundation
外籍漁工人權組織 Organization for Migrant Fishers’ Rights
台灣人權促進會Taiwan Association for Human Rights
宜蘭縣漁工職業工會 Yilan Migrant Fishermen Union
桃園市群眾服務協會 Serve the People Association
聽你說—移民工法律暨公共衛生諮詢平台 Listener-Migrants’ Legal and Community Health Platform
越在嘉文化棧 Khuôn viên văn hoá Việt Nam
1095文史工作室 1095 Culture Studio

台灣移工聯盟MENT（Migrant Empowerment Network in Taiwan）
成員團體：
– 海星國際移工服務中心（Stella Maris）
– 平安基金會所屬勞工關懷中心（PCT. Peace Foundation Labor and Migrant Workers Concern Centre, LCC）
– 天主教會新竹教區移民移工服務中心（Hsinchu Migrants and Immigrants Service Center, HMISC）
– 天主教希望職工中心（Hope Workers Center, HWC）
– 天主教台灣明愛會（Caritas Taiwan）
– 台灣國際勞工協會（Taiwan International Workers Association, TIWA）

屏東縣好好婦女權益發展協會（Juridical Association for the development of Women’s Right in Pingtung, JADWRP）
天主教新竹教區越南移工移民辦公室（Vietnamese Migrant Workers and Immigrants Office, VMWIO）
全國家戶勞動產業工會（National Domestic Workers’ Union）
印尼勞工團結組織（Ganas Community）
移工國際台灣分會（Migrante Taiwan）

—-英文版聲明—-

On August 16, 2021, a domestic caregiver in Sanchong, New Taipei City, was randomly checked by a police when she was taking out the garbage. The migrant worker was then handcuffed and brought back to the police station. Later the police found out that there was nothing wrong about the migrant worker. They dumped the migrant worker at a random street and asked her to go home by herself. The case was later revealed by the Domestic Caretaker Union (DCU) based in Taoyuan City. Legal Aid Foundation assigned an attorney to assist the migrant worker to file a criminal case and compensation against the police. The New Taipei District Prosecutor’s Office had concluded the investigation on January 7, 2022, and charged the police officer with the crime of offense against freedom. Later the case was transferred to the New Taipei City District Court, the police officer pleaded guilty in court. He agreed to compensate the worker and write an open apology in the mediation court.

The Criminal Division of the New Taipei District Court handed down the verdict on June 7, 2022, holding that the police had conducted a discriminatory investigation on migrant worker simply based on his personal subjective conjecture and abused his power to deprive the freedom of the migrant worker via handcuffing. His behavior has already caused the migrant worker to suffer both physically and mentally. It also makes people feel distrustful of public power, thus deliberately making the civil servant convicted of the offense of freedom. However, since the police officer had made a settlement with the migrant worker, the sentence of imprisonment was reduced to 4 months with a 2 year probation. (Case No.: Criminal Judgment No. 362 of the Year 111 Trial Jian Zi of the New Taipei District Court).

This is the first case in Taiwan in which a migrant worker sued the police for abusing public power to obstruct freedom and won the case. However, this is not the first time for police officers to racial profiling on migrant workers and abusing their power against the personal freedom of migrant workers. The police officer in this case admitted that it was an “unnecessary investigation” on that day, and promised he will improve the protection on the rights of migrant workers in the future. However, this is not an individual case of a single police officer abusing public power. It is a structural discriminatory investigation policy from the police sector, which encourage police officers to check up on undocumented workers. Thus making racial profiling on migrant workers becomes a common scenario. Even though statistics have shown that the crime rate of migrant workers is much lower than that of Taiwanese citizens, the police sector still put on strong connection between public safety issues and migrant workers/Southeast Asians. The discriminatory policy against migrant workers not only reinforces the overall discrimination and negative perception of the group, but also makes them even more vulnerable in Taiwan. Lacking of language support, judicial resources, and other helps from society, migrant workers can only live with this day-to-day fear and humiliation in Taiwan. The rule of law and human rights that Taiwanese society is proud of are all gone!

This case is a benchmark for the protection of migrant workers in Taiwan. We acknowledge the verdict by judges and prosecutors regarding the improper investigation and illegal restraint by the police. We would like show our appreciation to the counselors, the general public and the media: with your great concern and supervision on this case, we protect the rights of the migrants. However, we still need to improve the laws and regulations regarding human rights protection on migrant workers. The followings are the demands from civil groups:

National Police Agency and National Immigration Agency should review the current policy of improper investigation on migrant workers, and abolish the discriminatory policy:

Currently the National Police Agency still refuses to comply with the resolution of “2018 Judicial Reform National Conference” and refuses to set up a “Police Administration and Performance Management Committee.” Only some perfunctory review meetings were held. The legalization, rationalization and supervision of police performance are still on hold. National Police Agency should review the reason of improper investigations by the police. In other words, the current investigation policy and performance-reward system should be reviewed. National Police Agency and National Immigration Agency should jointly conduct a comprehensive review on its migrant policies, and abolish the rewarding program on checking on undocumented workers in order to avoid the discriminatory and arbitrary law enforcement practices.
National Immigration Agency should promote education on legal issues, strengthen its cooperation with Legal Aid Foundation, and assist migrant workers to build cases when encountering inappropriate investigations:

Migrant workers being randomly checked by the police is so common in Taiwan. However, it is extremely rare to obtain an effective judicial relief, such as this case, when encountering inappropriate investigations. It is difficult for migrant workers to preserve evidence, appoint lawyers, and seek for judicial remedies while they do not have proper language and judicial supports. As the competent authority for migrant workers issues in Taiwan, the National Immigration Agency should promote legal education regarding migrant issues, and assist migrant workers to obtain legal resources and provide judicial relief when needed. By doing so, we can really protect the rights of litigation and legality of human rights of migrant workers, which is written in our Constitution and the two covenants ICCPR and ICESCR.

The statement is jointly written by:

Domestic Caretakers Union Taoyuan 桃園市家庭看護工職業工會
Judicial Reform Foundation 財團法人司法改革基金會
Organization for Migrant Fishers’ Rights 外籍漁工人權組織
Taiwan Association for Human Rights 台灣人權促進會
Yilan Migrant Fishermen Union 宜蘭縣漁工職業工會
Serve the People Association 桃園市群眾服務協會
Listener-Migrants’ Legal and Community Health Platform 聽你說—移民工法律暨公共衛生諮詢平台
Khuôn viên văn hoá Việt Nam 越在嘉文化棧
1095 Culture Studio 1095文史工作室

Migrant Empowerment Network in Taiwan 台灣移工聯盟MENT
members：
– Stella Maris 海星國際移工服務中心
– PCT. Peace Foundation Labor and Migrant Workers Concern Centre, LCC 平安基金會所屬勞工關懷中心
– Hsinchu Migrants and Immigrants Service Center, HMISC 天主教會新竹教區移民移工服務中心
– Hope Workers Center, HWC 天主教希望職工中心
– Caritas Taiwan 天主教台灣明愛會
– Taiwan International Workers Association, TIWA 台灣國際勞工協會

Juridical Association for the development of Women’s Right in Pingtung, JADWRP 屏東縣好好婦女權益發展協會
Vietnamese Migrant Workers and Immigrants Office, VMWIO 天主教新竹教區越南移工移民辦公室
National Domestic Workers’ Union 全國家戶勞動產業工會
Ganas Community 印尼勞工團結組織
Migrante Taiwan 移工國際台灣分會

—-印尼文版聲明—-
Seorang Polisi Terpidana karena Memeriksa dan Memborgol Pekerja Migran. Ormas Mengimbau agar Kepolisian Menghentikan Penegakan Hukum Diskriminatif terhadap PMA

https://www.jrf.org.tw/articles/2314