Thailand's concrete actions on asylum seekers, refugees urged
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Seven human rights organisations today has submitted recommendations on Thailand's handling of asylum seekers and refugees to the United Nations Human Rights Council.
They urged for concrete actions to respect, protect, and promote the rights of asylum seekers, refugees, and survivors of human trafficking as Thailand will undergo another review of its human rights record by the council in May.
The report provides 22 detailed recommendations for the Thai government to improve access to human rights for refugees and asylum seekers in the country.
Principal among the recommendations is for Thailand to pass legislation to provide refugees and asylum seekers with access to fair and robust asylum procedures, legal protection, and to ratify the 1951 Refugee Convention. Since 2011, Thailand has effectively denied at least tens of thousands of camp-based asylum seekers and refugees from Myanmar access to asylum procedures. Thailand also continues to arbitrarly detain refugees and asylum seekers.
“Thailand has an opportunity to demonstrate a commitment to human rights and improve its international reputation by ensuring asylum seekers and refugees have access to legal protections,” said Amy Smith, executive director of Fortify Rights - one of the seven organisations. “A key to minimising the abuse, exploitation, and human trafficking of displaced populations in Thailand is recognition and protection.”
The seven organisations with a mission to improve the rights of asylum seekers and refugees in Thailand are: Asylum Access, the Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network, Fortify Rights, the Human Rights Development Foundation, the Jesuit Refugee Service, the Migrant Working Group, and the People’s Empowerment Foundation.
They said Thailand is home to 3.7 million migrants, including an estimated 130,000 refugees and asylum seekers.
The submission to the UN documents how Thai authorities were involved in the trafficking of tens of thousands of mostly Rohingya Muslims who were tortured, held for ransom, and in some cases sold into situations of exploitation.
The submission also addresses the rights of survivors of human trafficking, many of whom are also asylum seekers and refugees. Thailand continues to treat survivors of human trafficking as “illegal migrants” and does not currently have proper screening mechanisms to ensure protection for trafficked persons, asylum seekers, or refugees, they said.
