New Bloom (Taipei) — The arrest of a 28-year-old Vietnamese migrant for working jobs unrelated to his original employment has drawn attention to the inability of migrant workers to take on part-time work and other forms of employment, even when their activities may benefit Taiwanese society.

The migrant worker in question, referred to in news reports under the pseudonym of Ah-Shui, first came to Taiwan a decade ago at the age of eighteen. He was arrested for engaging in a number of forms of unauthorized work, such as making moonshine, working as a livestreamer and as a DJ, and starting a marriage introduction service.

Thirty cylinders of moonshine distilled by Ah-Shui were seized by authorities.

Media reports have called attention to Ah-Shui’s multi-talented nature. He proved able to successfully take on many forms of work in addition to his job at the factory.

Ah-Shui was originally a factory worker at a steel door manufacturing plant, employed legally. He made a mere NT$20,000 (US$650) per month, a salary which is below the minimum wage for Taiwanese workers, but is on par for migrant workers. Two years after his arrival, he began taking on other forms of work in order to make more money.

Migrant workers–as well as foreign workers in general–are allowed to take on only the work which they have work permits for, ostensibly to prevent competition with Taiwanese workers.

Despite spending a decade in Taiwan, Ah-Shui and migrant workers like him are unable to qualify for residency in Taiwan. They are paid dismal salaries, work for long hours, and take on the “dirty, dangerous, and demeaning” work that most Taiwanese themselves do not want to engage in, such as factory work or deepwater fishing.

At a time of declining birthrates and a rapidly aging population, migrants wield a large impact on Taiwanese society. Indeed, many migrant workers are in Taiwan to care for the island’s elderly.

The declining number of Taiwanese students, too, means that educational institutions need to search for students abroad to survive. There have been cases in which educational institutions force students from Africa, Southeast Asia, or other countries to work in factories and have threatened to send them back to their countries if they speak out about their circumstances.

Moreover, Taiwan is seeing significant outflow of talent, also known as “brain drain.”

Taiwan had the fourth longest-working hours in the world, according to statistics released by the Ministry of Labor in 2021. Long hours and low salaries do not encourage young and talented Taiwanese to stay.

In the meantime, efforts to attract foreign talent remain labyrinthine, and rarely take into account the fact that some foreigners may want to stay in Taiwan for the long term.

It is natural that Taiwan is turning towards Southeast Asia in an attempt to address its labor force woes. With close to 700,000 migrant workers–up to 4% of the island’s population–already in Taiwan, and with 10% of all elementary or middle school children having a foreign-born parent, the Tsai administration has frequently touted Taiwan’s growing diversity.

The government has tentatively considered new pathways to allow migrant workers to be granted permanent residency in Taiwan. At the same time, the present pathways to permanent residency require well over a decade of work in Taiwan, and they grant employers the ability to decide whether or not migrant workers qualify for the “intermediate skilled manpower” qualification that would allow them to stay, strengthening the hold that employers have over migrant workers.

But, as seen in the Ah-Shui case, clearly there are also individuals that are multi-talented and could contribute to society in the cultural sphere and in other ways. At present, there are no provisions that apply to them–a fact which damages the interests not only of the specific individuals concerned but also to Taiwan as a whole.

It remains to be seen if the Ah-Shui case leads the authorities to simply crack down unimaginatively on migrant workers who are engaging in activities outside of their original forms of employment, or rather to reconsider the laws which benefit neither the migrant workers nor society.

This article was originally published in New Bloom. Some edits for style.

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