The 2022 Taiwanese serial killer thriller, The Abandoned (Cha Wu Ci Xin), follows an unlikely duo, a jaded police detective who’s lost her faith in the country she’s serving and a plucky broker who deals with migrant workers.
Throughout the film, viewers are kept on the edge of their seats as the pair track down a serial killer who exclusively targets migrant domestic workers in Taiwan. Especially those who have fallen under the government’s radar or entered the country through illicit means.
During the course of their investigation, the film’s narrative sheds light on the often gruesome treatment that migrant domestic workers in Taiwan have to endure, all to make a living and ensure that their families back home are taken care of. It helps tell the stories of domestic migrant workers in Taiwan to a large audience, advocates for better working conditions for them and reflects on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal of Decent Work And Economic Growth and Reduced Inequalities.
As of November 2023, there are over 750,000 registered migrant workers in Taiwan, and an additional 82,000 are estimated to be undocumented. The total number makes for almost 4 per cent of the total population of Taiwan, a country where so many of its factories and domestic households rely on the manual labour of foreign workers.
The serial killer depicted in The Abandoned (Cha Wu Ci Xin) especially targets foreign domestic women workers who are undocumented. A group of foreign workers, best known locally as “absconded,” a status given to workers who are forced to stay illegally in Taiwan after their contracts were not renewed by their employers.
Absconded workers also tend to have irresponsible agencies representing them. These agencies are oftentimes lone unregistered brokers rather than reputable institutions, a role which The Abandoned (Cha Wu Ci Xin) depicts by having broker Lin You-sheng as one of the film’s leads.
Though The Abandoned (Cha Wu Ci Xin) portrays Lin You-sheng as a caring broker who only wants what’s best for the workers who cross his path, migrant workers in Taiwan tend to face a completely different reality when it comes to their brokers.
In early December 2023, hundreds took to the streets of Taipei, Taiwan’s capital, to demand an end to the exploitation of migrant workers by their brokers. Far from being heroic and protective figures like Lin You-sheng, real brokers charge migrant workers exorbitant fees and engage in predatory practices. These include charging workers a monthly service fee even if little to no service was ever provided, to help them find employment and adjust to life in a new country.
Amidst international calls for workers' rights from European and American clients who are using Taiwanese manufacturing services, local governments are currently attempting to rectify the situation by introducing new regulations. Taiwan's Labour Ministry shared in a statement to Al Jazeera in July 2025 that it has taken steps like raising the minimum wage and conducting regular inspections of recruitment agencies, to better conditions for workers. Though simultaneously, Taiwan's government has significantly raised maximum fines for migrants caught overstaying visas to $1,657 from $330, putting workers in a more financially vulnerable position.
Hopefully, films like The Abandoned (Cha Wu Ci Xin), which share the plights of migrant workers in Taiwan, can help speed up the process to foster a more humane working environment.