Holding up signs that read “Say No to Forced Eating of Pork” and shouting slogans such as “Not eating pork is my freedom” and “Religious freedom, basic rights,” dozens of foreign workers yesterday protested their lack of religious freedom in a demonstration in front of the Bureau of Consular Affairs in Taipei.
Led by the Taiwan International Workers’ Association (TIWA), the protesters hoped to draw attention to social problems following the recent indictment of a Taiwanese employer who forced Indonesian Muslim workers to eat pork.
Chang Wen-ling (張雯琳), wife of Shin Hua Hang Fashion Co’s owner, was recently charged with forcing three Indonesian workers who had been hired as caregivers to eat pork and work long hours in a factory for seven months. The case prompted condemnation from Jakarta, which urged Taiwan to pay attention to foreign workers’ rights.
One of the protesters, Tiwi, an Indonesian Muslim caregiver who has been in Taiwan for more than seven years and worked for three different employers, yesterday said that all of her employers have tried to convince her to eat pork and did not respect her religious practices.
“Whenever we eat together, my boss tells me, ‘Even if you eat pork, your Allah will still love you,’ but I always politely tell my boss: ‘Thank you, boss, but I can’t eat pork,’” she said.
Tiwi and the other workers said their employers wanted them to eat pork so they would have more energy to work, but said they wished their employers and the rest of society would hear their pleas for religious freedom and not pressure them to do things that their religion prohibits.
“Many people in Taiwan don’t eat beef because of religious beliefs. How would you feel if someone forced you to eat beef?” she asked. “When we eat pork, our hearts are filled with guilt.”
Yohana, an Indonesian Muslim caregiver who has worked in Taiwan for eight years, said that in addition to being forced to eat pork, she was ordered to sign a contract that required her to take care of dogs, or be sent back to Indonesia.
For a majority of Muslims, taking care of dogs is against their religious beliefs because dogs are considered unclean.
TIWA chairperson Ku Yu-ling (顧玉玲) said the root of the problem lay in the government repeatedly delaying including migrant caregivers under the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法) to protect their basic working rights.
As a result, caregivers are often forced to put up with poor working conditions, such as doing things that are against their religious beliefs or working for long periods of time with no days off or adequate time to rest.
“We need to establish legislation to prevent such cases from happening in the future and to encourage employers and migrant workers to have mutual respect for each other’s cultures,” Ku said.
Chinese spouse and influencer Guan Guan’s (關關) residency permit has been revoked for repeatedly posting pro-China videos that threaten national security, the National Immigration Agency confirmed today. Guan Guan has said many controversial statements in her videos posted to Douyin (抖音), including “the red flag will soon be painted all over Taiwan” and “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China,” and expressing hope for expedited reunification. The agency last year received multiple reports alleging that Guan Guan had advocated for armed reunification. After verifying the reports, the agency last month issued a notice requiring her to appear and explain her actions. Guan
A preclearance service to facilitate entry for people traveling to select airports in Japan would be available from Thursday next week to Feb. 25 at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Taoyuan International Airport Corp (TIAC) said on Tuesday. The service was first made available to Taiwanese travelers throughout the winter vacation of 2024 and during the Lunar New Year holiday. In addition to flights to the Japanese cities of Hakodate, Asahikawa, Akita, Sendai, Niigata, Okayama, Takamatsu, Kumamoto and Kagoshima, the service would be available to travelers to Kobe and Oita. The service can be accessed by passengers of 15 flight routes operated by
GIVE AND TAKE: Blood demand continues to rise each year, while fewer young donors are available due to the nation’s falling birthrate, a doctor said Blood donors can redeem points earned from donations to obtain limited edition Formosan black bear travel mugs, the Kaohsiung Blood Center said yesterday, as it announced a goal of stocking 20,000 units of blood prior to the Lunar New Year. The last month of the lunar year is National Blood Donation Month, when local centers seek to stockpile blood for use during the Lunar New Year holiday. The blood demand in southern Taiwan — including Tainan and Kaohsiung, as well as Chiayi, Pingtung, Penghu and Taitung counties — is about 2,000 units per day, the center said. The donation campaign aims to boost
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) said a magnitude 4.9 earthquake that struck off the coast of eastern Taiwan yesterday was an independent event and part of a stress-adjustment process. The earthquake occurred at 4:47pm, with its epicenter at sea about 45.4km south of Yilan County Hall at a depth of 5.9km, the CWA said. The quake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in several townships in Yilan and neighboring Hualien County, where it measured 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the CWA said. Lin Po-yu (林柏佑), a division chief at the CWA's Seismological Center, told a news conference
RSS