Thailand’s proposal to register migrant children welcomed

by Usa Pichai
Thursday, 08 October 2009 18:45

Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – The International Rescue Committee (IRC) has welcomed Thailand’s proposal to register children of migrant workers from Burma, Laos and Cambodia pointing out it is a positive sign in terms of rights of children.

“The registration will provide opportunities for them [the children] to access more public services such as medical service and education. However, we have to wait for the details of the regulation,” Adisorn Kerdmongkol, Advocacy and Research Officer of IRC said on Thursday.

Sompong Srakaew, Director of Labour Promotion Network, Samut Sakorn-based organization, who works closely with migrant workers in the area, said they have urged the government of Thailand to proceed with the plan for a while and admitted that there has been some progress in management of migrant workers.

The views came after a meeting of Foreign Workers Administration Committee, led by the Ministry of Labour agreed to propose to the cabinet to start migrant children’s registration.

Phaitoon Kaewthong, Thailand’s Minister of Labour, said the committee had a meeting on Tuesday. The meeting was chaired by Maj. Gen Sanan Kajornprasat, Deputy Prime Minister.

The group agreed to start registration of children of migrant workers in the country under the age of 15. However, it needs approval from the Thailand government’s cabinet. The committee has decided to submit a proposal in the weekly cabinet meeting in the coming week.

“However, the committee proposes that the registration should be completed within a week to prevent the possibility of bringing children from outside the country for registration,” Phaitoon was quoted as saying in a report in the Thailand National News Bureau website on Wednesday.

He also added that registered children, living with their parents, will have to leave Thailand when the working documents of the parents expire.

The minister said the policy is ‘according to humanitarian principle’ and would allow registered migrant children to access basic education and medical services, adding that the main responsibility of implementing the plan will be taken up by the Minister of Interior.

In 2004, the Thai government had taken up registration for family members of migrants, but later it withdrew the policy, causing about 200,000 migrant children to live in Thailand illegally. According to the registration since 2004, it is believed that the number is on the rise.

Despite of the government’s earlier announcement to provide education to all stateless and migrant children, so far the children are still unable to access public services and continue to hide from officials because they lack any kind of status to live in the country.