Written by Vanny El Rahman. This article describes the volunteer work of Indonesian migrant workers in Hualien in the aftermath of Typhoon Ragasa. It illustrates the collaboration and organisation of these workers from all over Taiwan, inspired and mobilised by social media. They showed that they can become a reliable partner for the government and local communities.
Written by Renee Te-Jung Chen. This article looks beyond the numbers of Taiwan’s Small-Amount Remittance Services for Foreign Migrant Workers from a gender perspective. It argues that the milestone of becoming the primary remittance channel obscures the gendered patterns in adopting the new platform. It suggests that the collection of sex-aggregated data is necessary.
Written by Mark Hsiang-Yu Feng. Drawing on field notes on punk and metal musical performances by Indonesian migrant workers in Taiwan, this article reveals racism and stereotypes in the music scene. The author calls for a critical examination of multiculturalism to address the structural inequality and racial hierarchy in Taiwanese society.
Written by Isabelle Cockel. This article reviews the case of Nguyen Quoc Phi, an undocumented Vietnamese worker who lost his life to a police constable’s gunshots on 31st August 2017. It reveals the online ethnic trolling of migrant workers and the discrimination they face institutionally.
Written by Hang-Tang Chen; translated by Yu-Chen Chuang. Taiwan needs to refine its migrant worker policies to focus not only on labour contributions but also on the well-being and dignity of the workers. Personal stories of migrant workers in this article reveal the necessity for comprehensive policies that address the physical and mental health needs, acknowledging the humanity behind the workforce.
Written by Bonny Ling. A few months before the presidential elections, I gave a talk in Taipei on the responsible recruitment of migrant workers, where they do not bear the cost of their job recruitment and begin their employment saddled by debt. Afterwards, a participant came up to ask me which presidential candidate I thought would stand the best chance to reform Taiwan’s labour recruitment system towards the Employers Pays Principle, where the costs of recruitment are borne by the employers. I was asked this from time to time in the runup to the January 2024 elections, so this alone did not surprise me. What did was his next statement: “And I will vote for them.” I studied his face to see if he was serious. Not sure. Had I just met my first single-issue voter on migration in Taiwan? Are there more?
