The Council of Labor Affairs' (CLA's) plan to offer a NT$5,000 (US$161.29) reward for catching runaway migrant workers elicited an angry reaction Wednesday from labor rights groups, which accused the council of ignoring the root of the problem. 'The CLA has failed to resolve the crux of the matter, which is the heavy exploitation that many migrant workers are subjected to. Putting a reward on those who run away will not solve the problem, ' said Son You-lian, secretary- general of Taiwan's Labor Front. The CLA on Tuesday said it plans to revamp its reward system by giving informants the NT$5,000 reward for each person they help catch rather than for confirmed reports on runaways. The council also plans to raise the existing NT$2,000 reward for nabbing illegal employers and unscrupulous brokerage firms by 10 to 25 times. Bureau of Employment and Vocational Training Deputy-Director Liao Wen-jen said the policy's details will be announced in two weeks. Son and the Taiwan International Worker's Association (TIWA) also questioned whether the CLA had looked at the issue from the broader perspective of how many foreign workers should be in Taiwan. 'What we want the government to do is examine the legitimacy and practicality of the overall policy of importing workers into Taiwan. Do we really need that many foreign workers in Taiwan?' Son asked. Unless the CLA has enough safeguards in place to ensure the safety of the migrants' working conditions, he added, the government should think twice before opening Taiwan's doors to them. The dangers foreign workers face in Taiwan and the problem of runaway workers came into focus again last month when six Indonesian workers -- all undocumented -- were killed in an accident at a construction site off National Freeway No. 6 in central Taiwan. Speaking to reporters at the Legislative Yuan on Wednesday, Premier Wu Den-yih estimated that there were 30,000 undocumented foreign workers at large in Taiwan, According to the TIWA, there are actually 33,510 runaway foreign workers from 2005 to the present in Taiwan who are still unaccounted for. Wu told reporters that the Cabinet has already requested the CLA, the National Immigration Agency, and the National Police Agency to come up with suitable measures to locate the runaways. The premier added, however, that related government agencies should also handle the matter carefully to ensure that the workers are fairly treated, especially those who were exploited on the job. CLA Chairwoman Wang Ju-hsuan said at the beginning of October that the council will hold a meeting in two weeks to discuss the possibility of allowing migrant workers to change employers at will -- a policy strongly supported by labor groups. 