A band of elderly leprosy survivors descended upon the Legislative Yuan and Executive Yuan yesterday in a bid to prevent the planned destruction of their home and former prison of the past 50 years in Taipei County.
Waving fists and chanting slogans, over twenty wheelchair-bound seniors and their supporters camped outside the Executive Yuan early yesterday afternoon, Cheered on by supporters from over twenty social groups, the seniors called on the government to stop their home, Lo-Sheng Hospital, from being torn down next month to make way for the Taipei City Hsinchuang MRT factory while they are forcibly moved to a nearby high-rise.
PHOTO: CHRN TZE-MING, TAIPEI TIMES
The Executive Yuan told protestors that it would enter negotiations with the groups this coming Monday on the issue. But the seniors responded that the meeting was not enough and moved their protest to the Legislative Yuan, where Premier Yu Shyi-kun was being questioned.
After calling for Yu to come out, the protestors were met by Taipei County Legislator Wang Tuo (王拓), who promised to relay their message to Taipei City Ma Ying-jeou (
Protestors emphasized yesterday that Lo-sheng Hospital and its residents should be given special consideration from the government because of the important and tragic role they have played in Taiwan's medical history.
The hospital was created as the nation's sole government-supported home for leprosy victims in 1930 during Japanese rule in Taiwan, explained protest co-organizer and Youth Lo-Sheng Alliance founder Fan Yen-chiou (
Given the stigma about leprosy, residents at Lo-Sheng were essentially placed in a government-enforced quarantine for the past fifty years, said Fan, also a history professor at National Taiwan University for Science and Technology.
Medical advancements have cured the 300-odd seniors of their condition, although most still bear disfiguring marks from the disease. However, the fifty years that most residents spent at Lo-Sheng have made them consider the hospital their home, and it's unfair of the government to kick them out, Fan said yesterday.
"These seniors have been forced to sacrifice for the public good. The government should respect their wishes and make it up to the residents for their years of isolation," said Fan.
The government's decision to tear down Lo-Sheng and move the seniors to a nearby high-rise may at first glance seem humane. But the residents and their supporters say it's actually unfair to them, since many have physical handicaps as a result of leprosy and use four-wheel scooters. Besides having established their lives in the local community surrounding Lo-Sheng, the new set-up will inconvenience many of the seniors, who should be allowed to just live their lives in peace, said Taiwan Association for Human Rights (TAHR) director Wu Hau-jen (吳豪人) yesterday.
The protest, organized by university students in the Youth Lo-Sheng Alliance, the Lo-Sheng Rescue Alliance, the TAHR, and other groups, called for the government to first, guarantee the human rights of the seniors and not remove the residents from their home. Second, the government should assume responsibility and classify Lo-Sheng as a protected national historical site. Third, the government should coordinate with Taipei City's Department of Rapid Transit Systems (DORTS) to postpone construction on the MRT factory until the hospital's classification has been finalized. And fourth, the government should establish a committee to determine an alternate plan for construction that will satisfy both the DORTS and the residents.
Despite the Executive Yuan's promise that it will meet with the groups Monday, the prospects look bleak for Lo-Sheng, said Wu Jaizhen (
"We will keep protesting if the government does not stop construction," Wu said. "However, the seniors have no power at the ballot box. It is unlikely that they will be heard."
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