IROSIN, Philippines/NEW TAIPEI, Taiwan, Oct 20 (Reuters) – Marian Duhapa kisses her quietly sleeping baby daughter Quinn goodbye as she prepares for a 16-hour bus ride from her remote village in the Philippines to Manila airport before flying back to Taiwan to work.
“I’m praying for me, the baby and my family. I’m praying to find a job so I can help my daughter and my family. This is my only option now,” Duhapa said.
For hundreds of thousands of migrant workers like 32-year-old Duhapa, moving to work overseas is a painful decision. While working abroad will give them enough money to support their families, they will also have to leave their children behind, often for years at a time. However, if they stay at home, they may struggle to cope.
“Life in the Philippines is so hard. Every move you make requires money. It’s poverty. Even if you earn, it’s still not enough,” said Duhapa, who is the main breadwinner for her family of 11.
Tech powerhouse Taiwan, whose capital Taipei is just a two-hour flight from Manila, is home to more than 150,000 Filipino migrant workers.
They mostly work in factories and as domestic helpers, caring for the young and old, taking on jobs that many Taiwanese on an island with a declining birth rate don’t want to do.
According to the Philippine government, around two million Filipinos work overseas, more than half of whom are women.
For some, Taiwan is a better choice than the Middle East, where human rights groups say many people are mistreated.
But activists say Taiwan must also improve protections for migrant workers and give them rights such as the ability to bring family members with them.
Duhapa lost her job when she became pregnant and lived in a shelter in Taiwan until she gave birth.
“They treat migrant workers as second-class people who are not entitled to basic human rights. This is completely inhumane,” said Lennon Wang of the Taiwanese migrant worker group Serve the People Association.
“Taiwan fundamentally fails to recognize migrant workers as fully human beings,” he added.
Taiwan’s Ministry of Labor official Su Yu-kuo said earlier this year that the government had issued guidelines to protect the rights of female migrant workers and their children, underscoring the government’s concern over the issue.
“Under the current legal framework, we provide equal treatment – what we call national treatment,” Su said.
“Some workers may decide, after discussion with their families, to return home to give birth or raise their children,” he added.
“This is understandable because the environment for childbirth and parenting in Taiwan is different from that of their home countries – mainly due to language and cultural differences. Ultimately, such decisions are deeply personal and made together with the family.”
Most Filipinos who work overseas head to the Middle East. Duhapa’s eldest sister, Loriza, worked as a domestic helper in Dubai for seven years, but said the conditions were tough and there was little time for rest, and she eventually decided to return to her home in the Philippines.
“What I missed the most in Dubai was my family – and being able to rest. It was so hard. I worked every day without a break. I cooked, cleaned and did it again every day. Now I can rest. I have peace,” she said.
Surrounded by rice fields and volcanoes, the family home in Irosin, on the far southeastern tip of Luzon, is prone to typhoons.
Unlike many other houses in the village, it is built of concrete rather than straw, and thanks to the money Marian sends home, there are plans to add a kitchen and bathroom. She earns around $900 a month, three times what she could get in the Philippines. The sisters’ parents are subsistence farmers.
Marian says being separated from her daughter is hard, but crucial for her future, even though it may be several years before she can see her again, given the cost of travel.
“I cried. My mother told me, ‘Your daughter will be fine. She will forgive you.’ But I said no. No, he won’t forgive me. My heart was so heavy. I wanted to go back. But I kept thinking: this is for my child. This is for my family. I want to help them live a smoother life.” (Reporting by Ann Wang; Writing by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Kate Mayberry)
