Help for Thailand's most marginalised - Bangkok Post

[admin]

The magnitude of the problem doesn't excuse the inadequate policies of successive Thai governments, nor does it absolve the business sector of its responsibility to treat the workforce it depends on with fairness and respect

The release on Friday of two stateless children, their mother and another family member had been released from the Suan Phlu immigration detention centre was rightly hailed by local and international human rights groups. The four had spent 20 months in detention since they were arrested in May 2010 in Chiang Mai where they had settled after they migrated in 2008 from Vietnam through Laos and then to Thailand. It was reported that when they lived in Vietnam they faced persecution, harassment and discrimination in regular interrogations by government officials and police.

Their release was fought for by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), which appealed for assistance from the Thai Committee for Refugees Foundation. The Refugee and Stateless Persons Freedom Fund put up the bail for the four family members.

The children, a boy and girl, were unidentified but a photo shows them looking healthy. The family was given one million baht by the UK-based Cognita private school group so the children can attend its local school before resettlement in a third country.

The case is shocking and many questions need to be asked in the coming days to shine light on the indefinite detention of undocumented aliens, especially children, in Thailand, and to determine how widespread it is. Because Thailand is not a signatory to the 1951 United Nations Refugee Convention, its 1967 Protocol, and the 1954 and 1961 Statelessness Convention and does not have domestic laws related to asylum, refugees and stateless people, undocumented aliens drop into a black hole. The Thai Committee for Refugees Foundation (TCRF) and the Refugee and Stateless Persons Freedom Fund therefore deserve commendation for the compassion and hard work they do to provide legal and social assistance as well as reliable information on Thailand's most marginalised.

The NHRC also deserves credit and support in its national campaign against the detention of children. Friday's decision by the Immigration Department marks the first time stateless children arrested in Thailand have been allowed to go free and it is hoped that this signals a move toward a more humanitarian policy in dealing with refugees and asylum seekers.

Most undocumented aliens in Thailand are of course from Myanmar, fleeing political repression, a bleak economy or a combination of the two.

Approximately 140,000 are living in refugee camps they are not allowed to leave and have their basic needs and education taken care of through an alliance of NGOs.

Many more thousands _ it is impossible to know exactly how many _ live in urban areas performing low paying but essential jobs, often taken advantage of by employers or officials and living with the anxiety of knowing they may be picked up by the police at any time and deported.

Despite the failure to acknowledge international conventions on stateless people, Thailand has in some respects done well in shouldering a massive illegal immigration problem brought on mostly by the instability and turmoil inside Myanmar. Hopefully the issue of illegal immigration will be easier to tackle now that Myanmar seems at long last to be getting on track to a much improved political and economic picture. Ideally most immigrants will want to return home to take part in rebuilding the country.

But the magnitude of the problem doesn't excuse the inadequate policies of successive Thai governments, nor does it absolve the business sector of its responsibility to treat the workforce it depends on with fairness and respect.

The 20-month detention of the two children and their family members who were finally released on Friday is a glaring example of Thailand's failure in this area, and hopefully it will act as a catalyst to improving the lot of stateless people in the country, especially children.

In promoting this idea whose time has come, the TCRF website says: ''We believe that it is the right time for initiating the mission of Thai people, by Thai people and from Thai people for refugees. We envision that refugees could live in dignity while they are in transit in Thailand ... Our goals are to realise that the refugees would be able to study in the same school with Thai children, use the healthcare services at Thai hospitals and work alongside Thai people for serving the interests of both populations.''

More...

Edited January 29, 2012 by FarangFarang