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Indonesian migrant fishers launch campaign for workers' rights

Indonesian migrant fishers in Pingtung County launched the 'Freedom for Fishers Campaign' on Indonesia's 81st Independence Day, demanding fair wages, contracts, Wi-Fi access, and the right to organize. The union FOPSI-PMFU cited ongoing abuses, retaliation, and poor infrastructure, contrasting government claims of improvement.

By Tertius News AI Desk 2 outlets · 2 articles Version 1 Coverage Aug 23, 2026 Published 1d ago

Campaign Launched at Donggang Fishing Harbor

Indonesian migrant fishers on Sunday launched the "Freedom for Fishers Campaign" at Donggang Fishing Harbor in Pingtung County, coinciding with celebrations marking Indonesia's 81st Independence Day on Aug. 17. The event, reported by both Focus Taiwan and Taipei Times, began with attendees singing the Indonesian national anthem before the Forum Silaturahmi Pelaut Indonesia-Pingtung County Migrant Fishers Union (FOPSI-PMFU) announced its demands.

The union's demands include fair wages, employment contracts, and guaranteed access to Wi-Fi on all vessels. They also appealed for the right to organize and join a union free from intimidation and retaliation, a transparent and fair grievance mechanism, and healthy and safe working conditions.

Union Leader's Remarks

FOPSI-PMFU Chairman Rojani addressed the nearly 100 attendees, saying that Indonesia's Independence Day is a day of pride and solidarity for Indonesians. However, for migrant fishers, independence means more than raising the national flag—it means being able to live and work with dignity, speak without fear, and be free from forced labor, exploitation, intimidation, and retaliation, he said.

Government Claims vs. Labor Department Listing

Taiwan's government has repeatedly insisted that many of these issues have been addressed and improved. However, the US Department of Labor placed Taiwan on its biennial "List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor" in 2021, and it remains on the list today.

Union Reports Ongoing Abuses

FOPSI-PMFU Secretary-General Achmad Mudzakir said the abuses continue, citing a recent report from a fisher who said he had been subjected to violence while working on a distant-water fishing vessel. According to Mudzakir, after the union reported the incident to the Fisheries Agency, the broker and employer fired and repatriated the fisher after learning of the complaint, without allowing time for reporting and response procedures to be completed.

Mudzakir also highlighted infrastructure shortcomings at Donggang harbor, noting there were only two bathrooms on shore, each with about five stalls, for roughly 4,500 fishers in the area. He called for Wi-Fi hotspots to be installed at the harbor so that fishers aboard distant-water vessels can access the internet when they return to shore.

Supply Chain Responsibility

The union hopes through the campaign to reach a binding and implementable agreement with companies in the international seafood supply chain to better protect the rights of migrant fishers. The union stated that migrant fishers are at the bottom of the supply chain, and meaningful change can only take place when companies and brands at the top of the supply chain take responsibility.

How each outlet told it

Focus Taiwan as of Aug 23, 2026, 12:31 PM UTC

Framing: Headline emphasizes the campaign for workers' rights by Indonesian migrant fishers, identical to the other source. It does not mention the specific context of Indonesia's Independence Day or the union's name. — Descriptive and sympathetic: The tone is factual but leans toward the union's perspective, as seen in quoting Rojani's framing of independence as freedom from forced labor and exploitation, and Mudzakir's account of retaliation.

Facts Included:

Campaign launched at Donggang Fishing Harbor in Pingtung County on Sunday (Aug. 23, as per dateline) — article states 'on Sunday' and gives Taipei dateline of Aug. 23
Coincides with Indonesia's 81st Independence Day on Aug. 17
Attendees sang the Indonesian national anthem
Union FOPSI-PMFU announced demands including fair wages, employment contracts, guaranteed Wi-Fi access on all vessels
Also appealed for right to organize, join a union free from intimidation and retaliation, transparent grievance mechanism, healthy and safe working conditions
FOPSI-PMFU Chairman Rojani addressed nearly 100 attendees, said independence means living and working with dignity, speaking without fear, freedom from forced labor, exploitation, intimidation and retaliation
Taiwan's government has repeatedly insisted issues have been addressed and improved
US Department of Labor placed Taiwan on its 'List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor' in 2021 and it remains on the list
Secretary-General Achmad Mudzakir told CNA on Sunday that abuses continue, citing a fisher who reported violence on a distant-water vessel
After the union reported to the Fisheries Agency, the broker and employer fired and repatriated the fisher without allowing time for reporting and response procedures
Mudzakir said only two on-shore bathrooms (about five stalls each) for roughly 4,500 fishers in the area
Called for Wi-Fi hotspots at the harbor for distant-water fishers when they return to shore
Union hopes to reach a binding and implementable agreement with international seafood supply chain companies
Union stated migrant fishers are at the bottom of the supply chain and meaningful change requires top companies to take responsibility

Read the source article →

Taipei Times as of Aug 23, 2026, 5:31 PM UTC

Framing: Headline emphasizes the campaign for workers' rights by Indonesian migrant fishers, highlighting the collective action aspect. It does not mention the specific context of Indonesia's Independence Day or the union's name. — Descriptive and sympathetic: The tone is factual but leans toward the union's perspective, as evidenced by quoting Rojani's framing of independence as freedom from forced labor and exploitation, and Mudzakir's account of retaliation against a fisher.

Facts Included:

Campaign launched at Donggang Fishing Harbor in Pingtung County on Aug. 17, coinciding with Indonesia's 81st Independence Day
Attendees sang the Indonesian national anthem
Union FOPSI-PMFU announced demands including fair wages, employment contracts, guaranteed Wi-Fi access on all vessels
Also appealed for right to organize, join a union free from intimidation and retaliation, transparent grievance mechanism, healthy and safe working conditions
FOPSI-PMFU Chairman Rojani addressed nearly 100 attendees, said independence means living and working with dignity, speaking without fear, freedom from forced labor, exploitation, intimidation and retaliation
Taiwan's government has repeatedly insisted issues have been addressed and improved
US Department of Labor placed Taiwan on its 'List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor' in 2021 and it remains on the list
Secretary-General Achmad Mudzakir said abuses continue, citing a fisher who reported violence on a distant-water vessel
After the union reported to the Fisheries Agency, the broker and employer fired and repatriated the fisher without allowing time for reporting and response procedures
Mudzakir said only two on-shore bathrooms (about five stalls each) for roughly 4,500 fishers in the area
Called for Wi-Fi hotspots at the harbor for distant-water fishers when they return to shore
Union hopes to reach a binding and implementable agreement with international seafood supply chain companies
Union stated migrant fishers are at the bottom of the supply chain and meaningful change requires top companies to take responsibility

Read the source article →

What was claimed, and who backed it

Each row is one claim, attributed to the outlet whose wording states it most clearly. Confidence rates how directly the source text states the claim — explicit and unhedged rates high; hedged, pieced-together, or internally inconsistent statements rate lower. It does not measure whether the claim is true. Status counts the distinct outlets we found asserting it — so a single-source claim can still show high confidence, and a multi-source claim can show medium. Every one of those outlets is named beside the status, so you can check the count against the list. For claims extracted before we began storing that list, the row says so: it names the outlet the claim is quoted from and states that we have not recorded which outlets backed it. Outlets wrote at different times, so a figure that evolves — a casualty count, for example — can legitimately differ between rows; check the "as of" time next to each claim's source.

Claim	Confidence	Status
ClaimThe Freedom for Fishers Campaign was launched at Donggang Fishing Harbor in Pingtung County, coinciding with celebrations marking Indonesia's 81st Independence Day on Aug. 17.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets) via Taipei Times as of Aug 23, 2026, 5:31 PM UTC, Focus Taiwan as of Aug 23, 2026, 12:31 PM UTC
ClaimAttendees at the campaign launch sang the Indonesian national anthem.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Taipei Times as of Aug 23, 2026, 5:31 PM UTC
ClaimThe Forum Silaturahmi Pelaut Indonesia-Pingtung County Migrant Fishers Union (FOPSI-PMFU) announced campaign demands including fair wages, employment contracts, and guaranteed access to Wi-Fi on all vessels.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Taipei Times as of Aug 23, 2026, 5:31 PM UTC
ClaimThe union also appealed for the right to organize and join a union free from intimidation and retaliation, a transparent and fair grievance mechanism, and healthy and safe working conditions.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Taipei Times as of Aug 23, 2026, 5:31 PM UTC
ClaimTaiwan's government has repeatedly insisted that many of these issues have been addressed and improved.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Taipei Times as of Aug 23, 2026, 5:31 PM UTC
ClaimThe US Department of Labor placed Taiwan on its 'List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor' in 2021 and it remains on the list today.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Taipei Times as of Aug 23, 2026, 5:31 PM UTC
ClaimFOPSI-PMFU Secretary-General Achmad Mudzakir said the union recently received a report from a fisher who said he had been subjected to violence while working on a distant-water fishing vessel.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Taipei Times as of Aug 23, 2026, 5:31 PM UTC
ClaimAfter the union reported the violent incident to the Fisheries Agency, the broker and employer fired and repatriated the fisher without allowing time for reporting and response procedures to be completed, according to Mudzakir.	ConfidenceMedium	StatusSingle-source via Taipei Times as of Aug 23, 2026, 5:31 PM UTC
ClaimMudzakir said there were only two on-shore bathrooms, each with about five stalls, for roughly 4,500 fishers in the area.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Taipei Times as of Aug 23, 2026, 5:31 PM UTC
ClaimMudzakir called for Wi-Fi hotspots to be installed in the harbor so fishers aboard distant-water vessels can access the internet when they return to shore.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Taipei Times as of Aug 23, 2026, 5:31 PM UTC
ClaimThrough the campaign, the union hopes to reach a binding and implementable agreement with companies in the international seafood supply chain to better protect the rights of migrant fishers.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Taipei Times as of Aug 23, 2026, 5:31 PM UTC
ClaimThe union said that migrant fishers are at the bottom of the supply chain, and meaningful change can only take place when companies and brands at the top of the supply chain take responsibility.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Taipei Times as of Aug 23, 2026, 5:31 PM UTC

Transparency & Audit Trail

2 outlets · 2 articles consulted: Focus Taiwan, Taipei Times 12 claims extracted Version 1 Written 2026-08-23