Migrant bands highlight fishers’ plight

Filipino and Indonesian migrant workers boogied and sing their hearts out at the Sing for Fishers concert on Sunday in Cijin, Kaohsiung. The event to honor migrant #fishers called for government action to improve their rights. Migrant bands delivered electrifying performances, interspersed with speeches by migrant fisher groups. Yet the audience was made up almost entirely of migrants, meaning their message likely did not reach a key constituency, the Taiwanese public. Abuses of migrant fishers landed Taiwan-caught fish on the U.S. Department of Labor’s List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor in 2020 and 2022. If Taiwan remains on the next list to be published in September, it will amplify the message the migrant bands hope to convey through the concert: The rights of migrant fishers should be respected.