Taipei, March 30 (CNA) A coalition of civic groups gathered at the Taipei Main Station on Sunday to raise public awareness of abuses against female migrant workers and the fate of Palestinians in the ongoing war in Gaza.
The rally, held in support of the “One Billion Rising” global campaign launched in 2012 to end violence against women, had the theme of “unite for a world free from war, exploitation and displacement,” the groups said in a press release.
Within that theme, female migrant workers’ rights were a key focus of Sunday’s activities.
Shouting slogans such as “migrant women, fight for equal workers’ rights,” dozens of migrant workers gathered outside Taipei Main Station marched around the building to mark the end of International Women’s Month.
They later rallied in the concourse of the station to make short speeches.
Balderama Francia from the Philippines, who is the chairperson of the National Domestic Workers’ Union, said she had been severely beaten while working as a domestic caregiver in Taiwan.
Earlier on, when she worked as a factory worker and fell ill, her recruitment agency in Taiwan did not provide her with any assistance even though they took more than NT$1,000 (US$30.15 at the current exchange rate) from her monthly salary as “service fees,” Francia said.
Migrant workers are often indebted due to the recruitment fees charged by recruitment agencies in their home country, she said.
Furthermore, live-in caregivers are not protected by Taiwan’s Labor Standards Act, she said, and she urged governments in Taiwan and the home countries of migrant workers to address these “injustices.”
Lennon Wang (汪英達), director of migrant worker policies at the Serve the People Foundation, said crews on fishing boats were also excluded from the Labor Standards Act and were also still treated unfairly.
In the more than 30 years since Taiwan first began recruiting migrant workers, NGOs have repeatedly petitioned the government to implement “fair recruitment principles” so that migrants do not have to pay for work, but their demands have fallen on deaf ears every time, Wang said.
Given the rally’s theme of freedom from war and displacement, the situation in Gaza and the fate of Palestinians were also highlighted.
Amel Eid, a Palestinian working as a psychologist in Taiwan, said female migrant workers and Palestinian women share common daily struggles for survival and dignity.
“Palestinian women wake up each day to the reality of displacement, war, and the relentless struggle for dignity,” Eid said.
“They raise their children in the face of destruction. They grieve, they heal, and they fight for freedom,” she said.
Laura Moye, Israel/Palestine coordinator for Amnesty International (AI) Taiwan, said her organization has concluded that Israel’s attacks on the Gaza Strip meet the threshold of a “genocide.”
Despite this, Taiwan’s government is still doing business with Israel’s government, and it “should not be business as usual,” Moye said.
