The nation’s largest railway operator yesterday said it is considering making permanent a ban on people sitting on the floor in the main hall of the Taipei Railway Station.
The hall is a popular gathering place for migrant workers in the city, particularly for some who have used it to celebrate Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
During the festival, people often meet inside and around Taipei Railway Station to talk and eat together. These events have been used by government officials to show that Taiwan is a Muslim-friendly nation.
Photo: Hsiao Yu-hsin, Taipei Times
However, the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) has since February prohibited people from sitting in the hall to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Eid al-Fitr is on Sunday this year, but the railway operator said it is not opening the space for public gatherings any time soon.
When the temporary sitting ban would end is dependent on guidance from the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC), the TRA said, adding that the hall at the Taipei Railway Station was never designed for people to sit down.
It said that permanently banning people from sitting on the ground would help keep the area clean.
The policy is not meant to discriminate against Muslim migrant workers, the TRA said, adding that the station has service personnel who speak Southeast Asian languages and it serves Muslims and people from countries covered by the New Southbound Policy.
If migrant workers want to meet and celebrate Eid al-Fitr, they can still gather outside the station, it said.
As the CECC has yet to ease restrictions on large gatherings, government agencies have canceled all Eid al-Fitr events, it said.
Because people are still likely to gather at the station on Sunday, the TRA said it would dispatch personnel to entrances and escalators to facilitate the flow of people through the station.
The Expatriate Care Association is to station translators at the Railway Police Bureau’s office to assist in communicating with migrant workers, the TRA added.
It said that people who do not follow social distancing guidelines or gather and sit on the hall floor would be asked to leave.
Station staff are to hold signs in various languages to inform people about the importance of avoiding cluster infections, it said.
The Taiwan International Workers’ Association said that there are not many places in Taiwan for migrant workers to spend their holidays, and the main hall at the Taipei Railway Station is one of the few places available for them.
The TRA should not institute discriminatory policies, and it should respect the nation’s diverse cultures, the association added.
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