Ex-gov't, school officials given jail time for Ugandan student forced labor case

Changhua, June 26 (CNA) Two former university officials and an ex-Miaoli County official were among those hit with jail terms for their involvement in a labor scam that forced Ugandan students to toil in factories instead of studying in Taiwan, the Changhua District Court said Wednesday.

In 2019, then dean of student affairs at Chung Chou University of Science and Technology (CCUT) in Changhua County surnamed Chai (柴) and the head of the school's extension education center surnamed Lan (藍) lured 16 Ugandan nationals into coming to study at the university.

They did so by lying that they would be given hefty scholarships and paid internships in the hi-tech industry during a recruitment event run by a hotelier surnamed Lin (林) at his hotel in Uganda, the district court said in a press release.

However, they hid the fact that the students would have to cover their living costs and that there was no guarantee of finding work.

Upon their arrival in Taiwan, the students were told they owed the school money for their expenses and would have to do long hours of labor-intensive factory work to repay their debt.

The work was organized at various factories through a broker surnamed Chen (陳).

After the case came to light in January 2022 following media reports, in a bid to avoid penalties, Chen met with Tu Jung-hui (涂榮輝), then deputy head of the Miaoli County Labor and Youth Development Department.

Tu subsequently pressured a staffer surnamed Liao (廖) not to issue fines and thus help conceal the repeated contraventions by the labor agency and the factories.

Chai, Lan and Lin were found guilty of running a labor trafficking scheme and of exploitation, according to the district court ruling handed down on June 20.

Tu and Liao were convicted of seeking unlawful gains for themselves or others as stipulated in the Anti-Corruption Act.

Tu was handed a seven-year sentence and a fine of NT$2.4 million (US$73,846) and deprived of his civil rights for five years.

Chai was sentenced to a jail term of five years and six months and hit with a fine of NT$500,000 for violating the Human Trafficking Prevention Act.

Meanwhile, Lan was given a five-year sentence and a fine of NT$700,000. Lin got two years and 10 months and a fine of NT$300,000.

Chen was sentenced to two years in prison and given a fine of NT$600,000 for his role in labor exploitation under the Human Trafficking Prevention Act, according to the district court decision.

Given Liao confessed during the investigation, did not profit from his crime, and engaged in illegal behavior under pressure, the court exempted him from punishment, according to the press release.