South China Morning Post
Date: 26 Apr, 2020
By: Antonia Timmerman

While Taiwan has avoided a huge outbreak, activists doubt the government’s readiness to protect migrant workers, some of whom live in dorms of 30 people a room

Aside from the coronavirus, packed dorms located within factory grounds leave workers at risk of fire hazards

As Singapore sees a surge in coronavirus infections among its low-wage migrant worker community, questions have been raised about the living conditions of other workers doing jobs shunned by residents in developed Asian societies.

In Taiwan, there are more than 718,000 blue-collar migrant workers. The highest number – nearly 280,000, or about 40 per cent of the migrant worker community – comes from Indonesia, followed by Vietnam (221,400), the Philippines (158,700) and Thailand (58,700). They mostly work in the manufacturing and caregiving sectors, as well as agriculture, forestry and fishing.    [FULL  STORY]