If I asked you to name a few racist countries, what would you say? Perhaps the United States, Japan, or Qatar would make your list. I can’t be sure of what you’d answer, but Taiwan probably wouldn’t pop up in your mind.

While Taiwan is definitely more racist than you think, racism is not something often associated with the country. However, that’s the scariest part. Because Taiwanese people have internalized their own racism, they often overlook many things that are blatantly racist.

Taiwanese oversight of racism is especially evident in the brokerage system, which is the system migrant workers from Southeast Asia find themselves in when coming to Taiwan for work.

Migrant workers in Taiwan are exploited. Taiwanese people are blinded by their own internalized racism and ignore this, but it’s time we look at how problematic our treatment of migrant workers is.

How the brokerage system exploits migrant workers

Taiwan, with an extremely low birth rate and high level of brain drain, relies heavily on migrant workers. In fact, about one in every 33 people in Taiwan is a migrant worker from Southeast Asia. Despite the fact that they contribute so much to the economy, the system is exploitative and unsupportive of these essential workers.

Migrant workers in Taiwan generally arrive through the brokerage system, which takes advantage of migrant workers’ vulnerability.

In this brokerage system, migrant workers have to pay a significant amount of money before they can fly to Taiwan. They first have to pay “service fees” or “pre-employment fees” to brokers or agencies, which is their fee for processing the workers. This payment can range from 60,000 to 200,000 NTD, which often puts workers into long-term debt.

Next, migrant workers are charged “service fees” every month, which is usually 1500 to 1800 NTD. With an already low wage and pre-existing debt, migrant workers earn hardly any money to send home or use.

Taiwan’s laws also fail to protect migrant workers’ rights. For instance, employers can immediately fire their employees if they contract any disease. The medical treatment law for migrant workers in Taiwan states that workers have to get their employer’s consent to receive medical treatment. However, more often they will just choose to fire their workers and find new ones since medical treatment can be expensive. This is glaringly immoral, yet Taiwanese laws allow migrant workers to be treated this way.

There have also been multiple instances where brokers force their employees to choose between abortion or losing their job, a galling violation of Taiwan’s gender equality law, yet the government seems to not be doing enough to prevent it.

Workers live and work under terrible conditions

Migrant workers are often mistreated, causing both physical and mental damage.

In 2019, a worker died of severe chemical burns all over her legs. Later investigations revealed that the company failed to follow correct equipment and safety procedures.

Many migrant workers who work at fisheries are physically abused. In fact, there are cases where workers suffer fatal wounds and die at sea. Their captains have been known to throw their bodies into the ocean to avoid responsibility.

Low quality buildings are built with combustible material which makes them prone to fire. 11 migrant workers have passed from this in the past two years. Many factories and companies fail to follow building code laws and regulations, which is extremely dangerous for migrant workers.

COVID-19 has only made matters worse. During the height of the pandemic, migrant workers were forced to stay in unsanitary and crowded rooms 24/7. They could only commute to and from their jobs, and could not step out of their housing for any other reason. They faced constant quarantine because of lack of better accommodation, and they are also under constant fear of catching the virus.

Because they were stuck in an unsanitary environment and jammed together with all of their coworkers, it was easy for them to contract COVID-19. When they did, they faced losing their jobs and had to pay for all medical fees by themselves, even though most of them couldn’t afford it.

Casual racism

The brokerage system and Taiwanese laws are racist towards migrant workers — but that’s not all. The reason barely anyone speaks up for them or tries helping them is because of Taiwanese people’s internalized racism.

Three years ago, Han Kuo-yu (Kaohsiung’s mayor at the time) said that he feared hiring Filipinos as education workers because it would cause “psychological shock”. According to Mayor Han, Taiwanese students would think to themselves, “How did a “Maria” become our teacher?”

“Maria” is a derogatory epithet used towards Filipino workers, especially caregivers. Someone in such a position of power generalizing migrant workers as “Marias” just goes to show how normalized casual racism is in Taiwan.

Furthermore, Southeast Asians are stereotyped as only working in jobs seen as lower class, like as domestic helpers, caregivers, and industrial workers. These jobs are also generally jobs the average Taiwanese person doesn’t want, so many Taiwanese associate migrant workers with these “low status” jobs.

Stereotypes surrounding migrant workers makes it hard for Taiwanese people to realize how terribly these workers are treated under the law. Despite the fact that they contribute so much to Taiwan, they are still mistreated, labeled, and abused.

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How can we make the situation better? There are currently groups that advocate for more migrant workers’ rights, including the workers themselves, but just a few people caring about the issue is not enough.

As average citizens, we have to stay alert about this issue. We should also, if we can, donate to non-profit organizations.

By protesting and voicing our opinions, we can ensure that people, especially policy-makers, get our message.

Adjusting our mindsets and spreading awareness is also helpful. If Taiwanese citizens continue to view migrant workers the way they do now, it’s hard for change to happen.

Southeast Asian migrant workers have come to Taiwan in hopes of finding better opportunities and contributing to society. However, we have too often greeted them with abuse, deception, and exploitation. Inhumane treatment on the part of Taiwanese people has long been recognized, but we are not doing enough to help. Let’s not mistreat other human beings so terribly just because of our internalized racism. Taiwan can do better.