It is expensive to have a child, no matter where you live and your socioeconomic status. But, for some migrant workers, the cost is extremely high.
Reuters published an article a number of years ago telling Jasmine's - not her real name - story. Jasmine was a migrant worker from the Philippines working in Taiwan. She was about halfway through her contract of being a domestic worker for an elderly Taiwanese person when she was faced which a heartbreaking ultimatum.
When Jasmine found out she was pregnant, she informed her employers and the labor brokerage she was signed with got involved. She was told that she had to decide between her baby and her job. Her options were get an abortion or give up her position and buy out her contract. She and her husband, who also worked in Taiwan as a migrant worker found themselves in a terrible situation.
If she decided to keep the baby Jasmine would be forced to pay a $17,000NT (~$560USD) contract termination, return a cash gift she had received from her employer for the Lunar New Year, and purchase her own plane ticket back to the Philippines. She and her husband had taken out a loan to cover the brokerage fees when they first got placed in Taiwan, and so Jasmine would be returning to her home country without the income she had expected to have earned had she been able to finish her contract.
Jasmine's heartbreaking decision is not a one-off in Taiwan. While technically it is illegal for an employer to fire a worker for becoming pregnant, migrant workers have little power if their employers and brokers pressure them to do one thing or another. Between 2016 and 2019, almost three hundred foreign workers had informed the labor department of pregnancy discrimination. Jasmine did so herself, but the Taiwanese labor department said her case did not violate Taiwan's gender equality laws and so had no legal protection, and was only given two months of financial assistance.
Some migrant workers decide that rather than choosing between an abortion or returning their home country, they decide to run away from their brokers and employers, meaning they have broken the terms of their visa and now no-longer have legal status in Taiwan. Having no legal status means their employment opportunities all must be under-the-table, leading to even more uneven power dynamics between employers and foreign workers. Additionally, they are no longer able to access the National Health Insurance (NHI) and the medical system, making their pregnancies more risky.
For Jasmine, she ultimately decided that she only had one choice. She got an abortion in spite of her devout Catholic beliefs, and regrets her choice to this day. She said, "Every night I prayed. I always said 'sorry because I need to do this.' I had to pay all of that credit. I always wanted to have a baby boy. I don't know if God cursed me [because of my choice]."
Jasmine's story brings attention the greatly unjust system people like her are forced to operate within as foreign workers. Their brokers hold great power over them with their expensive fees and ultimatums and governments do not have robust protections in place for migrant workers, allowing brokers and employers to discard people and contracts at will.
Jiwa International, and other NGO's in Taiwan, such as Serve the People Association (SPA), are working to support the migrant worker population in Taiwan. Let us continue to support organizations like these as well as pray for people like Jasmine who find themselves in impossible positions.
Check out this and other articles in Issue 2 of The Jiwa Journal.
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