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Everyone shall have the right to recognition
everywhere as a person before the law.
All persons are
equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to the equal
protection of the law. In this respect, the law shall prohibit any
discrimination and guarantee to all persons equal and effective protection
against discrimination on any ground such as race, colour, sex, language,
religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth
or other status.
87. While the preceding
discussion is applicable to the entire population of Thailand, the Asian Legal
Resource Centre is aware that certain groups in the country are faced with
greater obstacles in obtaining their rights as stipulated under the Covenant
relative to others. In particular, certain non-Thai ethnic groups suffer from a
lack of recognition before the law and discrimination as they have not been
recognised as citizens, or denied full rights of citizenship. Additionally, both
legal and illegal migrants from neighbouring countries, particularly Myanmar
(Burma), suffer myriad forms of discrimination that impinge upon their ability
to effect their rights as envisaged under the Covenant.
89. Reasons for
the continued statelessness of large numbers of persons in Thailand, most of
them belonging to minority upland communities, are complex and closely related
to the historical development of the Thai state and concepts of identity, which
are beyond the ambit of this discussion. The consequences of statelessness are
easier to identify. They include denial of rights to movement—both within the
country and abroad—ownership of property, education and a vote. They seriously
impinge upon the survival of entire communities. For instance, in 2004 the Asian
Human Rights Commission reported that on 23 July 2004, 34 men and 14 women from
Pang Daeng community were arrested and charged with forest encroachment and
illegal entry into the Chiang Dao national reserved forest.[12]
According to the Central Registration Bureau, Department of Local
Administration, the affected persons have not been included in the list of
ethnic groups that are eligible for citizenship. Therefore, despite the fact
that they have occupied the same area for in excess of some 20 years, and have
been involved in government development projects in the region, they are unable
to approach the courts for redress. It should also be noted that there were
allegedly numerous irregularities in the procedure of arrest. These included
that the police did not inform the persons that they were going to be arrested
and did not obtain the proper warrants from the court as required by sections
237?8 of the Constitution.
90. Migrant
workers in Thailand face numerous obstacles in securing their rights as
envisaged by the Covenant, and have over many years been subjected to torture,
extrajudicial killing and other gross abuses. The Asian Legal Resource
Centre is aware that police and immigration officials routinely abuse migrant
workers at time of arrest, in detention centres and during deportation, and also
knowingly allow, and sometimes profit directly from, the promotion of illegal
labour practices, the trafficking of women and children, and related
prostitution. Extortion of money from migrant workers by the police and
immigration officials is extremely common, and the primary motivation for
conducting searches and carrying out arrests targeting migrants. Money is
invariably extracted through the use of verbal threats and where necessary,
torture. Women in police and immigration detention are also routinely raped and
otherwise sexually threatened and abused. The arrests are very often arbitrary
and without due legal process: migrants are frequently held without ever being
brought before a court, or held even after being ordered released by a court.
Senior officials tolerate and often cultivate the climate of impunity in which
abuse and exploitation of migrants persists. Human traffickers, brothel owners,
employers of illegal workers or state officers who kill migrants are rarely
subjected to prosecution, or if so, found guilty. Migrant workers also face the
same obstacles in lodging complaints and obtaining redress as envisaged by
article 2 as their Thai counterparts. In addition, they face numerous other
obstacles, such as the lack of a common language and lack of awareness about
their basic rights. They may be confined to their workplace or in a
geographically remote location.
91. Among the large numbers of migrant
workers in Thailand, the vast majority is from Myanmar. There are no reliable
figures on the actual number of these people in Thailand; some estimates suggest
as many as two million. Over 350,000 have been registered, although the system
for registration of migrants and the number of persons eligible changes
frequently. Most people coming into Thailand from Myanmar enter at various
points on the border, and are employed in industries and activities in border
areas as well as in and around Bangkok. They are extremely vulnerable to all
types of human rights violation, ranging from denial of wages and police
extortion to assault, rape and murder. Murders of Burmese migrants are rarely
investigated properly: a number of cases contained in Annexe 14 illustrate.
92. Human rights defenders working on
behalf of migrants have also been targeted. For instance, in December
2003, employers had posters of the leaders of the Yaung Chi Oo Workers
Association plastered around Mae Sot, Tak province. The police were reported to
be looking for the men, who were forced into hiding. The men are exiled
activists from Myanmar, who, if deported would certainly face lengthy prison
terms and torture. On 14 December 2004, a volunteer interpreter working for a
non-governmental group recording and lodging complaints by migrant workers
against their employers was arrested and charged with working
illegally.[13] The said person, a Mr A Salam (a.k.a. Ko Kabar) has
legal status in Thailand, holding a Burmese displaced person card; in fact he
was born in Thailand in 1986 after his parents had migrated in 1975 but has not
been recognised as a citizen. However, holders of this card are not entitled to
work, and so Mr Salam was charged as an alien without a working permit under
articles 7 and 34 of Foreign Workers Act 2521 (1978). The matter is pending in
the court. Again in this case, there were numerous procedural irregularities at
time of arrest: the police, immigration and labour officials entered the
premises without warrants; rifled through and removed large numbers of documents
without permission; and failed to inform the accused that he was being arrested.
93. The Asian Human Rights Commission also pointed to discriminatory
treatment of Burmese migrant workers in the aftermath of the devastating Indian
Ocean tsunami relief effort.[14] At least 120,000 registered Burmese
migrant workers were in areas affected by the tsunami; the total number of
Burmese, accounting for estimates of illegal persons, may have been double that
figure. Many of these persons lost all of their possessions, including work
permit cards, in the disaster. While the Thai authorities were quick to assist
Thai citizens and foreign tourists in the affected areas, the Burmese workers
were not taken properly into consideration. Ministry of Labour officials
announced that only those with work permits would be entitled to assistance, and
it was reported to the AHRC that even these persons faced great difficulties in
obtaining access to government assistance. Meanwhile, the authorities began
rapidly rounding up Burmese persons and forcibly deporting them to their country
of origin, after allegations of theft levelled against them. These included
legal workers who had lost their registration cards during the tsunami or whose
employers were killed. The consequence was to force a large number of Burmese
migrant workers into hiding, under miserable conditions. Another consequence was
to hamper the enormous task of identifying all the recovered bodies of the dead,
as the affected persons did not dare to approach the authorities to report and
identify lost friends and relatives. After considerable domestic and
international protest over the treatment of the affected Burmese migrants,
international agencies intervened, including the International Organisation for
Migration, and government authorities went some way to relaxing the
discriminatory relief policies.
____
[12] AHRC Hunger Alert
HA-02-2004: THAILAND: Hunger caused by mass arrest of villagers, 15 September
2004.
[13] AHRC Urgent Appeal UA-178-2004: THAILAND: Migrant workers?rights
activist facing legal prosecution and death threats, 21 December 2004
[14]
AHRC Urgent Appeal UA-10-2005: THAILAND: Discriminatory relief operations and
forced deportation against Burmese migrant workers affected by the tsunami, 19
January 2005; AHRC Urgent Update UP-13-2005: THAILAND: Updates on the
tsunami-affected Burmese migrant workers, 16 February 2005.
Posted on 2005-03-22
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