The Vietnamese Migrant and Immigrant Office (VMWIO) was founded on January 1 st , 2004 in Taiwan with the original name Vietnamese Migrant Workers and Brides Office (VMWBO) . Its founder is Father Nguyen Van Hung of Missionary Society of St. Columban from Sydney, Australia. Father Alex Doan Quang Truong, pastor of the Corpus Christi church, permitted the use of one room in the Parish House as the office space for VMWBO. It address at the time was 52 St. Paul St., Taoyuan City.
VMWBO rented a condo within 30 meters of the church to provide a shelter for female victims of trafficking. Male victims were housed in the office. The victims experienced sexual assaults, sexual harassment, beating, wage theft, removal to their country of origin before the expiration of their labor contracts, work injuries without compensation, etc.
This time saw the significant legal case of over 100 female domestic workers raped by Hong Ming You, head of a Taiwanese brokerage company, over nearly 3 years. When they were raped, Hong Ming You forced all of the women to sign a document stating their consent to “live” with him. After he raped them, he threatened to remove them to Vietnam if they told anyone about the abuse. He quietly returned some women whom he suspected of revealing the secret of his crime. Among them was a woman who sobbed at the airport and was brought to the Police Bureau.
The case started to unfold. The wife of a policeman contacted Father Hung, telling him about the crying woman, who did not speak any Chinese. Father Hung asked the woman to speak on her behalf. He had heard about the case for a long time but no one had approached him for help.
Meanwhile, the representative of Vietnamese labor at the Office of Vietnamese Economy and Culture was unable to protect the rape victims. Instead, they conspired with Hong Ming You, tricking and threatening the Vietnamese women. Some of the women who were deceived or threatened received a small sum of money and returned to Vietnam.
At its founding, Father Hung was VMWBO’s only staff. He wrote documents, attended meetings to help the victims, and raised funds to hire attorneys for them, all by himself. After that, the missionary society helped the office hire an additional staff.
At the start of 2005, thanks to Ms. Le My Nga, the office received attention from the Vietnamese diaspora communities in America, Australia, and Europe, where fundraisers were held on VMWBO’s behalf.
With the generosity of these communities of Vietnamese abroad, VMWBO continues to be able to assist Vietnamese trafficking and exploitation victims in Taiwan. Our team has gone from 1 to the 9 staffs we have today.
Hsinchu Diocese designated Father Hung as the pastor for the Church of Assumption. On 01.08.2005, Father Hung moved the office to his church, at 116 Zhung Hwa Rd., Bade Area, Taoyuan City where it remains until today. In 2008, Father Hung asked Father Nguyen Hung Cuong of the Missionary Society of Maryknol, to serve as his assistant. VMWBO runs a shelter for 60 men and women victims.
