Liu Chia (
The nation's social welfare system doesn't do enough to help the physically handicapped, in terms of either monetary or substantive assistance. The same is true with those permanently bed-ridden due to old age or illness.
This in turn has created a situation in which a large number foreigners are needed to work as resident caregivers for these people. Foreign brides are another source of affordable help for the sick and the elderly. But the introduction of foreign workers and brides has created new problems, some of which are the government's own doing.
According to statistics from the Ministry of the Interior, there are about 600,000 foreign workers or brides in Taiwan. This does not include those who were smuggled into the country.
These migrants face immediate assimilation problems, largely due to the complete lack of willingness on the part of the host or mainstream society to allow their assimilation.
Some have observed that the Taiwanese appear to have a very bad case of collective amnesia for the poverty this nation endured in the immediate aftermath of World War II, when it too had to export brides and workers. Otherwise, it seems difficult to explain the Taiwanese' discriminatory attitude, their almost deliberate ignorance and lack of tolerance for migrant groups.
Under the circumstances, no wonder so many of these migrants find themselves either accused of crimes or the victim of crimes. Stories of runaway workers have become commonplace. Interior ministry statistics show at least 8,000 migrant workers have fled their jobs.
In the case of foreign workers, the situation is further complicated by at least two factors -- this nation's relationship with the workers' home countries and the hatred of local workers who fear the competition. The proposal to link the introduction of foreign workers with the attitude of their home countries toward Taiwan is being mentioned -- and discussed -- with increased frequency. For example, when Thailand refused to issue an entry visa to the Legislative Yuan deputy speaker Chiang Ping-kun (江丙坤), several lawmakers suggested an embargo on hiring more Thai workers. Such talk makes the already difficulty situation of foreign workers even more difficult.
In view of the rising unemployment rate in the past few years, foreign workers have often been accused of stealing jobs from the Taiwanese. But, people seem to conveniently forget that most of the jobs taken by these migrant workers are those with such low pay and so physically demanding that virtually no domestic workers want them.
It is hoped that the episode involving Liu Chia will at least increase the government's awareness of the problems involving these migrants.
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