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Locals key to dealing with stateless issue


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Locals key to dealing with stateless issue

By Pratch Rujivanarom 
The Nation 
Mae Hong Son

 

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Up to 1.8 million people still do not have nationality; volunteers seen playing critical role
 

COMMUNITY empowerment is a sustainable solution for mitigating statelessness, human-rights group, International Justice Mission (IJM), said recently.

 

Khemachat Saksakunmong-khon, IJM field office director, said that even though Thai authorities were earnestly trying to solve the problem of statelessness, many stateless people in Thailand were still facing difficulties. He put this down to complicated nationality verification procedures and insufficient staffing in state agencies. 

 

Khemachat was speaking at a talk entitled “New Life of Stateless” in Mae Hong Son last Friday.

 

“Since stateless people are normally descendants of ethnic minorities or refugees from neighbouring countries, and most of them live in remote areas, local authorities get overwhelmed with the number of nationality applications and do not have enough staff to deal with all. This is why each applicant has to wait for a year or more before becoming a Thai national,” Khemachat said.

 

“Moreover, nationality verification also requires documents such as the birth certificate and other supplementary documents to prove the applicant is eligible for Thai nationality. It is difficult for most applicants to provide these documents.”

 

As one of the civil-society organisations working on citizens’ rights and statelessness issues in Thailand, IJM has come up with a solution – recruiting and training local volunteers to help both the authorities and applicants. 

 

“We are training local people in communities that have stateless people to understand the law and the procedure of nationality verification. This way, they can advise people in their community about nationality issues and help stateless people gather and prepare documents needed to apply for nationality,” he said.

 

“With the newly gained knowledge and skills, these volunteers can also lend local authorities a hand in dealing with applications and verifying the evidence, which makes the procedure faster.” Khemachat said that since the project began two years ago, more than 200 volunteers had already been trained and currently worked alongside stateless individuals in their community and related state agencies. 

 

Aware of the problem

 

He pointed out that many of the volunteers were themselves stateless once, so they are well aware of the nature of the problem and are able to provide assistance to others. 

 

The National Statistical Office estimates that up to 1.8 million people in Thailand still do not hold a nationality. 

 

Kantaphong Chongphan, a local volunteer based at Ban Huai Khan in Mae Hong Son’s Muang district, said he was proud to help stateless members of his community gain their status and rights as Thai citizens. 

 

“Every stateless person suffers due to the lack of nationality, as they are not entitled to fundamental rights and welfare, such as healthcare. They also lose many job and education opportunities, because these are restricted to Thai citizens only,” he said.

 

Kantaphong explained that many stateless persons were born in Thailand and were thus eligible for Thai citizenship from the first day of their life. However, many people living in remote areas are born outside a hospital, which means they do not have a birth certificate – the most important proof to show they are entitled to a Thai nationality. 

 

He also said that mistrust between stateless people and officials caused by the language barrier was also another big problem, as many indigenous people cannot speak Thai. 

 

Therefore, he said his work is to not just facilitate the nationality verification process, but to also help bridge the gap between indigenous people and the authorities. 

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30361009

 
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-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-12-24
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5 hours ago, webfact said:

He put this down to complicated nationality verification procedures and insufficient staffing in state agencies. 

So long as the State will not effectively and timely resolve the problem of Stateless peoples in Thailand, there can be no mitigation much less a sustainable solution.

I appreciate the humanitarian efforts of NGO's, local authorities and civic organizations to assist Stateless peoples. But it's ineffective from a national policy perspective.

5 hours ago, webfact said:

many stateless people in Thailand were still facing difficulties. He put this down to complicated nationality verification procedures and insufficient staffing in state agencies. 

What's more complicated than the current implemented welfare and revised healthcare systems?

The reorganization of the nation's entire educational system?

Recent national compliance of the entire fisheries industry to international standards for vessels and workers?

National development of high speed rail systems and airports throughout the nation?

Reorganization of the nation's entire water management plan?

Development of the massive Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC)?

For the current government it's been a matter of priorities and thus far, there seems a reluctance and maybe disinterest towards addressing and resolving stateless people in Thailand. Such priorities seem at times to revolve about the instant benefit and sustainability of the current government leadership.

Remember - stateless people can't vote.

If they could vote as citizens, do you think it would be for a "hybrid regime" that doesn't even reach the level of a "flawed democracy" (ref. 2017 Democracy Index).

Would the Thai military want to conscript the young men of stateless people?

 

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5 hours ago, webfact said:

Kantaphong explained that many stateless persons were born in Thailand and were thus eligible for Thai citizenship from the first day of their life.

Unless they have a Thai Parent , they wouldnt be automatically eligible for Thai citizenship

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No problem at all to resolve the statelessness! We just paid 300,000 baht, and were fast tracked through the system..

Mind you, my wife had been on the waiting list for 25 odd years, and was told it might be another 5-10 years, if at all. It did not long for me to make up my mind.

Best money spent, ever. We are finally able to leave this fine country behind us and emigrate to Europe in 2 months.

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