“Living in a foreign country is very difficult. But no matter whether you are lucky or unlucky, life goes on,” said migrant worker Rhoda Cocjen Bergante, whose story, along with those of many others, is told in a month-long photography exhibition organized by the Taiwan International Workers’ Association (TIWA).
The exhibition, which relates the difficulties faced by migrant workers, opened yesterday at a temporary home provided by the association.
The photographs were taken by Chang Jung-lung (張榮隆), who before becoming a photographer was injured while working as a construction worker.
Rhoda’s story is one of the many told by Chang’s pictures. In 2008, she came to Taiwan from the Philippines and worked as a caregiver in Taipei County. She was forced to work from morning until night every day, barely getting five hours rest each day, until her sister, also a migrant worker, filed a complaint with the Council of Labor Affairs.
When Rhoda first arrived at the temporary home provided by TIWA, she was timid and filled with questions about her future.
However, she soon began to feel at home after making friends with some of the many Filipino workers staying there.
“We should fight for our right to be treated fairly, like Taiwanese workers. When I think about how my former employers treated me, I am filled with anger,” she said.
“I know what I went through, so I don’t want the same thing to happen to others,” Rhoda said.
China has reserved offshore airspace in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea from March 27 to May 6, issuing alerts usually used to warn of military exercises, although no such exercises have been announced, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported yesterday. Reserving such a large area for 40 days without explanation is an “unusual step,” as military exercises normally only last a few days, the paper said. These alerts, known as Notice to Air Missions (Notams), “are intended to inform pilots and aviation authorities of temporary airspace hazards or restrictions,” the article said. The airspace reserved in the alert is
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