Stateless babies born to migrant workers in Taiwan / 文山關愛之家 守護邊緣移工.愛滋寶寶　　　　　　　　　　

The founder of the Harmony House in Wenshan District, Taipei, Yang Chieh-Yu has spent decades on caring the AIDS patients and borderline migrants of different nationalities. Over the past years, the number of migrant babies continues to grow and most of them remain invisible due to the lack of identity. With chubby tiny hands and feet, this baby was born less than a month ago, while should have been in the comforting arms of the mother. But in fact, many babies were born neither knowing where their parents are, nor having papers for ID. In Harmony Home Association, Taiwan, there are hundreds of such babies of the migrant workers, and the number keeps growing. ==YANG CHIEH-YU, Founder of Harmony Home Association== Some foreign workers make friends easier via Line or FB. According to their employment contract, their status turns out illegal. Once illegal, they have nowhere to go but go home, facing the enormous debt, very often they can't even afford to pay the interest. To make matters worse, these women are often single. Over 10 years ago, Yang Chieh-yu founded the Harmony Home Association to house AIDS patients and foreign migrants. In these few years, through preventive medication, the probability of HIV transmission from mother to baby has been reduced by 70%, and as a result, the number of newborns with AIDS has been decreased. But at the same time, the number of the migrant babies shows a substantial increase in the past 2 years. ==YANG CHIEH-YU, Founder of Harmony Home Association== It's been over 20 years since the foreign workers were introduced to Taiwan. More than seven thousands of the female have had babies in Taiwan, according to the record of National Immigration Agency. However, in the past two years, I feel the number is scary. For instance, in Harmony Home, we receive 5 or 6, to 10 newborns each month now. Imagine how large the number is. While these babies are also born in Taiwan, they seem to be transparent. They have no ID, no legal residence permit, and do not even have the qualification to go to school. The daily consumption of diapers and infant formula, plus the mother's reproductive and medical expenses, put Yang Chiehyu under huge economic pressure. But the greater pressure comes from the inadequate generosity of the whole society. They are in desperate need of our people's empathy and the government's help. TRANSLATED BY：EMA FU 圓滾滾的小手和腳丫子，這個娃娃才剛誕生在這個世界上不到一個月的時間，應該是在媽媽懷抱裡最安心的日子，但實際上更多寶寶的父母在哪裡，沒有人知道，也沒有戶籍證明。在文山關愛之家裡，有上百名這樣的移工之子，而且人數越來越多。 ==文山關愛之家婦幼部 創辦人 楊婕妤== 一些外籍她們透過line 透過fb 交友的情況比以前容易 所以她們一旦懷孕了以後 等於變非法 因為雇傭契約就有簽 那變非法之後就無路可走 但她們如果回家 就要面對龐大的債務 連利息錢都付不出來 還有面對可能是未婚懷孕 這樣的情況 楊婕妤創辦關愛之家十多年，收容愛滋病人也收容邊緣移工，這幾年，透過事前服藥，愛滋媽媽傳染給嬰兒的機率可以減少七成，讓愛滋寶寶數量減少許多，但是外籍移工寶寶，卻在這兩年大幅增加。 ==關愛之家創辦人 楊婕妤== 二十幾年引進外勞 有七千多個外籍的婦女生孩子 這在台灣的移民署有註記 可是這一兩年我覺得 它的數量滿可怕的 就像我們家 我們每一個月 現在都會有五六個 十個的新生兒 你想它的量有多大 同樣出生在台灣、腳踩在這片土地，這群孩子在法律上卻彷彿是透明人，沒有身分、沒有合法居留證，更沒有就學的資格。寶寶每天須要的尿布和奶粉，加上媽媽生產和看病的費用，楊婕妤每天都面對龐大的經濟壓力，但是更大的壓力，是來自於整個社會的包容度不足，亟待台灣社會用同理心、還有政府出面，幫幫他們 ! 記者 朱鳳治 陳彥霖 台北報導