The real immigration problem
Two related stories in Sunday’s Taipei Times (“Illegal overstays pose risk: lawmakers,” April 2, page 1, and “Senior citizens outnumber young people in Taiwan,” April 2, page 3) show that although Taiwan is not as big or rich as North America, Europe or Japan, it does share similar immigration and demographics concerns.
First, the unwarranted hysteria against immigrants in North America, Europe and to a much lesser extent, Japan, is also apparent in Taiwan: The page 1 story cites no evidence that undocumented immigrants pose a threat. Yes, there are people who illegally overstay their visas, but the story cites no evidence that these undocumented immigrants commit crimes at a higher rate than native-born Taiwanese.
The only crime undocumented immigrants are documented as committing is overstaying their visas. The real concern is human trafficking.
Brokers recruit migrant workers to work in Taiwan. They work unpaid overtime, are forbidden from leaving their dormitories at night and are often sexually assaulted. The brokers charge migrant workers so many different and expensive fees that workers cannot make enough money to pay them.
Authorities need to protect migrant workers from brokers who exploit them.
The story also claims that undocumented immigrants from China are Chinese government spies. Yes, China and Taiwan spy on each other and it must be addressed.
Soon Taiwan — like North America, Europe and Japan — will have many old people who are unable to work and fewer young people, and the economy might no longer function.
One temporary fix is immigration reform. Offer migrant workers citizenship. They are already allowed to legally stay here for more than a decade and it has not caused a flood of immigrants.
Foreigners make up less than 1 percent of the population. It might seem like there are many foreigners in Taipei and areas where migrants work in factories, but Taiwan is not a nation of immigrants.
Furthermore, migrant workers do not want to live here. They want to work here, send money home, save money and return to their home country to reunite with their families.
Migrant workers are not interested in staying in Taiwan or becoming citizens. Few are interested in marrying Taiwanese because of cultural differences, and many Taiwanese do not want to marry foreigners for the same reason
Migrant workers who are interested in staying learn Chinese, marry Taiwanese and have children — they become Taiwanese. Their children, who are half Taiwanese, grow up in Taiwan and are even more Taiwanese, so to speak — totally Taiwanese.
However, this is only a temporary solution.
When immigrants become Taiwanese, they will also do what Taiwanese do: They will not have many children and the nation will still have a low birthrate.
Andres Chang
Taipei
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