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Trafficking woes taint Taiwan's economic miracle

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Yeni arrived in Taiwan expecting wedding bells and confetti. But instead of well-wishers and cake, all she got were 18-hour days in a tofu factory and a date with immigration police. Yeni, who like many Indonesians goes by one name, had fallen victim to a common scam used by human trafficking rings to lure women to Taiwan, and then into exploitative or forced labor — or worse still, prostitution. The husband Yeni thought she had arranged to marry through a broker in 2005 didn't exist, police said. In his place was an abusive “employer” at a tofu factory, who withheld her wages despite forcing her to work up to 130 hours a week.
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