Longshan Temple and Menga Park in Taipei City's Wanhua District are gathering places for homeless people. These homeless people have been subject to discrimination, exclusion from citizens, and lack of resources for many years. Many social welfare groups are concerned about the living conditions of the homeless. Today (9th) ) released a survey and found that 75% of the homeless people's household registrations are from the Kitao one-day living area in Beibei, and only 25% are from other counties and cities. They called on Jiang Wanan, Shen Boyang and other mayoral candidates to put forward political opinions on how to solve the issue of homelessness.
Wang Jinwei, policy advocacy specialist of the Taiwan Miscanthus Charity Association, pointed out that from June to August this year, through blanket surveys, 132 homeless people were contacted in Wanhua District. After deducting the number of refusals and other factors, a total of 92 people completed the questionnaire, of which 38% had their household registration in Taipei City, 29.3% in New Taipei City, and 6.5% in Taoyuan. Yuan City and 1% of Keelung City are equivalent to 75% of the people living in Keelung City, North and North. It is obvious that the Taipei City Social Affairs Bureau used the name of "assisting return home" to exclude people in the past, which is not feasible because their job opportunities, social circle, living habits and relief supplies are all here. "They came back the next day after being expelled!"
Wu Yande, deputy secretary-general of the Life Baiwei Cultural Construction Association, said that Japan's bill to establish self-reliance support for the homeless has reduced the number of people sleeping on the streets from more than 25,000 in 2003 to 2,591 in 2025, a drop of more than 90%. Several social welfare groups have proposed six measures based on Japanese experience and on-the-ground observations. The policy commitment letter for the homeless includes: not using eviction as the main means, assisting in obtaining social assistance resources, establishing a consultation mechanism between the city government, local residents and NGOs, etc. It is provided for reference by mayoral candidates Jiang Wanan, Shen Boyang and others. However, no response has been received yet. The two people are called on to propose relevant policies and respond positively to the demands of the people.
Xiaopang, who was once homeless, said that he once worked at a construction site and suffered a leg injury after being hit by a car. His registered permanent residence is in New Taipei City, but there are no job opportunities in his hometown and relevant subsidies cannot be obtained. He has been desperate and has been sleeping rough in Menga Park since 2023. There are dragons nearby. There are more resources and job opportunities in the mountain temple, but the park was renovated a year ago. Many people were driven away by the police and the public, and it was impossible to hide in the arcade on rainy days. "Who wants to be homeless if there is a home to return to?" I hope the government will provide rental subsidies and more job opportunities in the future.
DPP Taipei City Councilor Hong Wan-zhen said that the homeless have been labeled negatively, and he hopes that all bureaus will take action to help improve the environment in Wanhua and allow the homeless to return to normal life. For example, if they are unable to apply for low-income households, is there a special counseling mechanism to help them become independent. Wang Zhenting, a candidate for Taipei City Council of the Taiwan Green Party, also said that driving homeless people into dark corners and out of sight is the most terrifying thing, but it is the most terrible thing to see, which will instead cause crises and greater holes in the social security network. The two also signed a policy commitment letter on the six major demands of the civil society today to show their support.
