migrant workers in Taiwan

Party Arrests in Taoyuan Point to Larger Issues Facing Migrant Workers During COVID-19

Brian Hioe
Police cracked down on a party at a Vietnamese restaurant in Taoyuan on Sunday, finding that 102 migrant workers were gathered on the premises. While four of the individuals present were restaurant workers, 98 were customers—most of which were migrant workers. Police found the party while conducting door-to-door inspections, patrolling on the search for runaway migrant workers...
EnglishLaborRaceSeptember 2021Social Movements5 min read

Indonesian Sailors Unable to Return Home for Over a Year Points to Larger Issue During COVID

Brian Hioe
105 Indonesian sailors returned home by plane after close to half a year of being stranded at sea on August 21st. The sailors were unable to enter Taiwan because of border restrictions that prevent merchant vessels registered to a different country from docking in Taiwan, only allowing ships owned by Taiwanese nationals and registered to Taiwan to dock. Likewise, maritime conventions dictate that it is the responsibility of the owner of a vessel, the nation to which the vessel is registered, and the nation to which the sailors come from to provide for repatriations...
August 2021EnglishLaborSocial Movements6 min read

Advocates Criticize New Plan to Regulate Employment Transfers for Migrant Workers

Brian Hioe
Migrant worker groups have criticized a new plan by the Ministry of Labor to require migrant workers transferring jobs to go through employment agencies run by the government. Likewise, jobs transfers will give greater priority to workers that remain in their occupational category, rather than workers trying to change between different forms of employment, and take the form of a three-way agreement between the former employer, the new employer, and the agency...
August 2021EnglishLaborSocial Movements5 min read

Lessons from the Miaoli Lockdown: The Truth About Racism in the Asia Pacific

Alec Stimac
If level three advisory alert has shown us anything, it is that Taiwan has made clear its two-tier, bilateral approach to its foreign residents: one composed of lack of labor, discrimination, and equity protection. Notably, the majority of Miaoli’s Han residents were able to shop for groceries out and about while “second-tier” and “lesser” Southeast Asian migrant workers remained locked inside of their home quarantines after being blamed and scrutinized for the outbreak of COVID in the area...
COVID UpdatesEnglishJuly 2021LaborRaceSocial Movements9 min read

Miaoli Clusters Show That Attention to the Plight of Migrant Factory Workers Is Long Overdue

Brian Hioe
There has been increased international attention to the plight of migrant workers in Taiwan, after clusters broke out among migrant workers at eight electronics factories in Miaoli over the last month. The Miaoli clusters consisted of a total of 471 individuals, of which 400 were migrant workers, and of which 71 were Taiwanese...
COVID UpdatesEnglishJune 2021LaborSocial Movements8 min read