FEATURE/Exhibition on challenges facing pregnant migrant workers opens in Taipei

Taipei, Dec. 19 (CNA) A five-day exhibition highlighting the perils facing pregnant migrant workers and raising awareness of their rights opened Thursday in Songshan Cultural and Creative Park in Taipei.

The exhibition, titled "Women no cry," features photographs of female migrant workers with their young children and pregnant migrant workers -- all taken by other migrant workers.

It details the protections pregnant migrant workers are entitled to in Taiwan and how the situation can be improved.

There is also a wall contrasting the likely paths of pregnant migrant workers working legally and those unaccounted for.

The exhibition includes information on legal matters and resources available to women when they find out they are pregnant. All information is in Chinese and English.

As of October this year, there were 89,666 unaccounted-for migrant workers in Taiwan, up from 85,797 a year ago, according to National Immigration Agency data.

"If we are posted in a different country to work overseas, we, too, might get into a relationship with a local and get married and become pregnant," said Lennon Wang (汪英達), a migrant rights advocate at Serve the People Association (SPA) in Taoyuan, which organized the exhibition.

"Therefore, we should empathize and ensure that all who come to work in Taiwan have access to fair and equal treatment," Wang said.

Being pregnant should be a time of joy, but due to "systemic challenges," it is a "time of problems" for female migrant workers in Taiwan, said Andreas Hofem, deputy director of the German Institute Taipei, which sponsored the exhibition.

"We as a foreign office are not aliens and are not detached from life in Taiwan. We also become part of this society for a certain time," Hofem said. "We want to contribute to this society, and contributing sometimes means addressing challenges and problems."

Meanwhile, a documentary short titled When The Plane Passes By (飛機飛過的時候), produced by Taiwan's Golden Horse Award-winning director Tsai Tsung-lung (蔡崇隆) premiered at the exhibition's launch.

The film, presented by the SPA and sponsored by the German Institute Taipei, follows four migrant workers and their children in Taiwan, documenting their day-to-day struggles.

There will be a free screening of the documentary (in Chinese, English subtitles) at 2:30 p.m. on Dec. 22 in Songshan Cultural and Creative Park. A discussion and question-and-answer session with the film crew will follow the screening.