Taiwan Immigrants' Global News Network-Outbreak Among Migrant Workers in Miaoli County Factories

King Yuan Electronics Corp. (KYEC/京元電子公司), a major local packaging and testing company is located in Zhunan Township and an outbreak of the Covid-19 virus among migrant workers occurred recently. 45 people have been diagnosed as of June 3 and KYEC will conduct screening services for 3 days since then. The emergency automatic screening station is in the Zhunan Zhonghua Plant in Miaoli County.

The screening services lasted until 11 o’clock in the evening on the first day. A total of 51 people were confirmed to be positive cases, all of whom were migrant workers. They were sent to the hospital to receive the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test and afterward, they will be sent to quarantine. It is reported that KYEC has more than 2,000 migrant workers, including those stationed at 7 factory branches in Hsinchu, Zhunan, and Tongluo. This mass infection and spread which occurred in the dormitories of the Zhunan factory raised concern for a lot of people. On June 4, they continued to carry out the screening procedure aiming to complete the screening of 7,300 employees by June 5.

Miaoli County councilor, Tseng Wen-hsueh (曾玟學), shared a post regarding the epidemic. (Photo / Retrieved from Facebook: 曾玟學)

"Migrant workers are more afraid to contract the virus than we are. I hope that everyone will continue to stay healthy." Miaoli County councilor, Tseng Wen-hsueh (曾玟學) said bluntly. He posted on Facebook "Ignore stereotypes and let's work through this difficult time together." A public statement was issued expressing the worries of migrant workers in the KYEC Zhunan plant. Employees from the Tongluo plant collectively requested a 2-week leave hoping that they will stay safe from the epidemic.

Deputy secretary-general of the Yilan Migrant Fishermen Union (YMFU/宜蘭縣漁工職業工會), Li Li-hua (李麗華)who has been an advocate for the rights of migrant workers for a long time, believes that reducing gatherings would be the solution to the problem. "I knew that Singapore experienced the same issue before so I believe that we should be and manage the situation of the fishermen better. We should help them instead of questioning them. These fishermen are not living in decent residential spaces in the first place, how do you think they can stay safe from the epidemic? Hopefully from this incident, authorities can reconsider the problems concerning migrant workers, not just factory workers."

Migrant workers, councilors, and the authorities gather together to discuss solutions to the epidemic outbreak. (Photo / Retrieved from Yilan Migrant Fishermen Union (YMFU)

The YMFU was established in Nanfang'ao harbor back in 2013. It was the first professional trade union in Taiwan composed entirely of migrant workers. Most of the members are Filipinos and Indonesian migrant fishermen. The leader of this organization, Li Li-hua is a local Taiwanese and is also the person responsible for the formation of this organization.

In Miaoli County, where the breakout occurred, the magistrate of the county, Hsu Yao-chang (徐耀昌) announced on Facebook on the morning of June 4 that the local government is conducting screening services for migrant workers in the factories. There was also a request for the police to enhance stricter supervision for public areas that migrant workers often visit. 8 new measures are implemented, so there is no need to worry too much.