Taiwan's migrant workers scapegoated for spread of COVID
Canadian writer and Taiwan resident Joe Henley
says country operates form of 'apartheid'
TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Migrant workers in Taiwan have been exploited and treated as "scapegoats" for spreading COVID-19, a Taiwan-based Canadian reporter claims.
In early June, due to cluster infections, 202 of 249 confirmed cases in Miaoli County were migrant workers at high-tech factories. Locals accused workers of venturing out and spreading the coronavirus despite the Level 3 restrictions in place.
On June 7, the county government announced a lockdown for all migrant workers in the area, confining 22,952 people to their quarters except to go to work. The measure was condemned by local human rights groups.
In an Apple podcast called Excuse英國腔! ("Excuse English Accent") on June 24, Joe Henley, a writer and singer who has been living in Taiwan for 16 years, shared his perspective on the dilemma faced by migrant workers in this country.
Henley said it was poor treatment of migrants that led to the cluster infection in the first place. Dozens were forced to live in a "grossly overcrowded dorm," with narrow bunks, restrictions, and curfews. As a result, "one person in the room gets affected, then it spreads to the entire room," said Henley.
He added that migrant workers are exploited by being made to work long hours for low wages, with fewer freedoms and protections during the pandemic. Even so, they were turned into "scapegoats" as Taiwanese looked for someone to blame for the outbreak.
Compared with their Taiwanese coworkers, the unfair treatment of migrant workers is Taiwan's version of "apartheid," according to Henley. He continued that blue-collar migrant workers are a vulnerable minority in Taiwan and treated differently from white-collar, highly-valued Western professionals: “There is racism in Taiwan.”
He added that migrant workers in the social welfare and domestic helper industries are ignored and vulnerable. Up to 99 percent of caregivers and domestic workers are female and live with their employers, according to the Ministry of Labor.
The U.S. Department of State released a global report on Friday (July 2) on human trafficking. It said Taiwan meets the minimum standards but needs to improve labor laws to prevent exploitation.
Henley has focused on the plight of migrant workers as a journalist since 2015. He recently wrote a book about migrant fishermen called “Migrante.”
He has compared the treatment of migrant workers in Miaoli County to what happened in Singapore last year. He said people in both countries have a negative attitude toward migrant workers and try to “keep them separated from the society.”
He called for an improvement in the treatment of migrant minorities, as “it can help us do better in crisis.”
According to the Ministry of Labor, in May, there were 711,015 migrant workers in Taiwan, 467,763 of whom were working in industry, while 243,252 were caregivers and domestic workers. About 71 percent were from Indonesia and Vietnam, with around 21 percent from the Philippines and 8 percent from Thailand.
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