Twenty-One Months after the Coronavirus Outbreak:What to Learn from Migration Activism in East Asia and Italy
This is a roundtable where activists in East Asia and Italy will share their experiences and observations about how the pandemic has affected migrants and their families..
Personally involved in helping migrants in different industries or on different status, a total of 8 speakers, including a refugee and former mirant, will reflect upon how the deprivation of mobility and the halting of recruitment have lingering impacts on the wellbeing and health of migrants and their families back home.
Date: Tuesday 28th September 2021
Time: 16.00-19.00 (Taipei time)
Venue: WebEx
Registration: https://forms.gle/n87FRmJ9E1GzAHqB6
PROGRAMME
Co-Organisers
The International College of Innovation of the National Cheng Chi University
The European Association of Taiwan Studies
The Habibie Centre
Invited activists
East Asian Panel
。 Ying-da Wong, Serve the People Association (Taiwan)
。 Alex Au, Transient Workers Count Too (Singapore)
。 Sumitha Kishna, Our Journey (Malays)
。 Iweng Karsiwen, the Association of Indonesian Migrant Workers’ Families (Kabar Bumi) (Indonesia)
Italian panel
。 Cristina Bocchi, activist
。 Ziggy Weldeslassie, refugee and activist
。 Dorina Achelaritei, journalist and activist Mediterranea
。 Simonetta Jucker, activist NAGA
Programme (as in Taipei time)
4.05-4.10 Opening remarks (Dr. Tzu-chi Ou, the NCCU)
4.10-5.30 Panel I: migrants and the pandemic in East Asia
An overview of key issues during the pandemic (Isabelle Cheng, University of Portsmouth, EATS)
Topics: mobility and employment during the pandemic
Q1: Depriving mobility was adopted as a preventive measure, either in the form of national or local lockdown, or restricting people's daily activities. How did this affect migrant workers' health in different industries? Q2: Some governments have halted the recruitment of migrant workers, i.e. no new recruitment was available during 2020-21. How has this affected labour migration, e.g. did this encourage 'runaway'? Did this raise the wage level due to labour shortage? Did this moderate the restriction on the change of employer (i.e. workers can leave from one contract for another)?
Dr Mohammad Hasan Ansori’s comments (the Executive Director of the Habibie Centre)
15 min: Q&A
5:30-5:35 Break
5:35-06:45 Panel II: migrants and the pandemic in Italy
An overview of key issues during the pandemic (Dr Beatrice Zani (McGill University, EATS)
Topics: the impacts of Covid-19 on migrants in different industries and on different legal statuses
o Cristina Bocchi : care workers from Eastern Europe, the Philippines, and South America
o Ziggy Weldeslassie: agricultural workers
o Dorina Achelaritei: asylum seekers crossing the Mediterranean Sea
o Simonetta Jucker: access to healthcare
10 min: Dr Mohammad Hasan Ansori’s comments (the Executive Director of the Habibie Centre)
15 min: Q&A
06:45-06:50 Closing remarks (Dr Tzu-chi Ou, the NCCU)