Peter Nguyen Van Hung

Rev. Peter Nguyen Van Hung

Every year thousands of men, women, and children are exploited through human trafficking. In Taiwan, Reverend Peter Nguyen Van Hung is working to fight against the injustices of human trafficking.

Reverend Hung is a forty-eight year old Catholic priest who is a native of Vietnam but lives and works in Taiwan. He has established the Vietnamese Migrant Workers & Brides Office. The Vietnamese Migrant Workers & Brides Office (VMWBO) has worked to help over two thousand Vietnamese persons break free from sex and labor exploitation. This includes domestic workers, mail order brides, laborers, those forced into prostitution, and all others involved in labor and sex trafficking.

Hung and others at the VMWBO attempt to take legal action against the employers and traffickers involved in the transportation of persons from Vietnam to Taiwan. They involve the police and invoke the legal system, pushing for prosecution against employers and traffickers and fighting for compensation of stolen or unpaid wages, or lost wages due to injuries.

Since it is not possible to work while a case is being processed by the legal system, the VMWBO takes responsibility for these individuals by housing and feeding them in shelters until their cases are settled. These shelters, dubbed “Centers of Compassion” by a writer for Viet Voice Magazine, provide safety and support for individuals whose futures are uncertain.

Reverend Peter Nguyen Van Hung is taking strides to fix the severe trafficking problems that are facing Taiwan. Gi Estrada, a researcher for the Asia Pacific Mission for Migrants, said that Hung “is doing the work the Vietnamese government is supposed to do”. Hung and the VMWBO are speaking out on behalf of more than seven hundred thousand migrant workers and foreign brides in Taiwan when few others will. Through their work with these underrepresented peoples, the case against trafficking is slowly starting to gain more attention around the world.