Miserable life of foreign children detained in Thailand: HRW

[Lite Beer]

IMMIGRATION
Miserable life of foreign children detained in Thailand: HRW
The Nation

Ethnic Rohingya refugees, including children, from Myanmar wait for registration after being rescued./EPA

BANGKOK: -- Immigration detention in Thailand violates the rights of both adults and children, said Human Rights Watch in a new report.

The report titled "Two Years with No Moon, Immigration Detention of Children in Thailand" claims Thailand holds thousands of migrant children in detention each year. It details dozens of cases after HRW interviewed affected children and parents.

It said that there are approximately 375,000 migrant children in Thailand, including children who work, children of migrant workers, and refugee and asylum-seeking children. Children constitute around 11 percent of Thailand's total migrant population of 3.4 million people.

HRW suggested the Thai government enact legislation and policies to expeditiously end immigration detention of children consistent with the recommendations of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child; and sign and ratify the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol.

It also noted that while this report was completed prior to the coup, its findings remain relevant. The National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) has instituted no major policy changes regarding detention of migrant children.

"Thailand's policy of detaining migrants has remained consistent across previous governments, including military governments," it said.

The bare and brutal existence for children in detention is exacerbated by the squalid conditions. Leander P, an adult American who was detained in the Bangkok IDC, said that one of the two available toilets in his cell, occupied by around 80 people, was permanently clogged, so "someone had drilled a hole in the side - what would have gone down just drained onto the floor." Multiple children we interviewed described cells so crowded they had to sleep sitting up.

Even where children have room to lie down and sleep, they routinely reported sleeping on tile or wood floors, without mattresses or blankets.

"The floor was made from wood, the wood was broken and the water came in," said one refugee woman detained for months in the Chiang Mai IDC with a friend and the friend's 6 and 8 year-olds. "While I was sleeping, a rat bit my face."

Severe overcrowding appears to be a chronic problem in many of Thailand's immigration detention centers. The Thai government detained hundreds of ethnic Rohingya refugees, including unaccompanied children, in the Phang Nga IDC in 2013. Television footage showed nearly 300 men and boys detained in two cells resembling large cages, each designed to hold only 15 men, with barely enough room to sit. Eight Rohingya men died from illness while detained in extreme heat with lack of medical care in the immigration detention centers that year, said the report.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Miserable-life-of-foreign-children-detained-in-Tha-30242392.html

-- The Nation 2014-09-02

[Cuchulainn]

Shame, shame, shame.

[trogers]

Why are they here in Thailand? Were they kidnapped and sent across the border into Thailand, and subsequently detained?

[Lowryder]

Why are they here in Thailand? Were they kidnapped and sent across the border into Thailand, and subsequently detained?

Read the article, it's all there.

[terryp]

Why are they here in Thailand? Were they kidnapped and sent across the border into Thailand, and subsequently detained?

Read the article, it's all there.

some people are not that smart and obviously live charmed lives

[trogers]

Why are they here in Thailand? Were they kidnapped and sent across the border into Thailand, and subsequently detained?

Read the article, it's all there.

some people are not that smart and obviously live charmed lives

And your are a refugee from?

[Lowryder]

Why are they here in Thailand? Were they kidnapped and sent across the border into Thailand, and subsequently detained?

Read the article, it's all there.

some people are not that smart and obviously live charmed lives

And your are a refugee from?

Your writings make me think that you are a refugee from some kind of institution and should get back for medication.

[jacky54]

Why should people have 'human rights' to turn up in another country and expect not to be detained, do they expect hotel accommodation?

[trogers]

Why are they here in Thailand? Were they kidnapped and sent across the border into Thailand, and subsequently detained?

Read the article, it's all there.

some people are not that smart and obviously live charmed lives

And your are a refugee from?

Your writings make me think that you are a refugee from some kind of institution and should get back for medication.

The jewels that come forth through your writings reflect the state of your spirit. Do most of your posts carry such precious intents to insult?

Try reading deeper into the words of others.

[lemonjelly]

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific-15196573

[iReason]

Simply, Barbaric.

This place has a long way to go...

[lemonjelly]

Why should people have 'human rights' to turn up in another country and expect not to be detained, do they expect hotel accommodation?

Ever try "putting yourself in their shoes" ?

what's happening to this forum?................ seems to be under invasion from knuckledraggers and mouthbreathers.

Edited September 2, 2014 by lemonjelly

[DogNo1]

The USA has trouble accomodating illegal immigrant children too. It is costly and a challenge to treat illegals humanely. It should be done but...

[jacky54]

Treating them with kid gloves only gives the signal for a lot more to turn up, you just have to look at the UK over run with 'asylum seekers and refugees' ie economic migrants trying to circumvent the visa rules.

[trogers]

Why should people have 'human rights' to turn up in another country and expect not to be detained, do they expect hotel accommodation?

Ever try "putting yourself in their shoes" ?

what's happening to this forum?................ seems to be under invasion from knuckledraggers and mouthbreathers.

First rule in solving a problem is to identify the root cause.

When a faucet is left turned on and water is flooding the basement, you would first turn off the faucet.

[BillyBobThai]

It is hell to be rescued, and then put in a detention center. Whoever reported this needs to be careful, to avoid a defamation suit.

Edited September 2, 2014 by BillyBobThai

[NeverSure]

The USA has trouble accomodating illegal immigrant children too. It is costly and a challenge to treat illegals humanely. It should be done but...

Treating them with kid gloves only gives the signal for a lot more to turn up, you just have to look at the UK over run with 'asylum seekers and refugees' ie economic migrants trying to circumvent the visa rules.

I seriously doubt that there are any kids in the UK or US who are living in utterly squalid conditions like that. Seriously.

That story infuriates me.

[HiSoLowSoNoSo]

Must be "Thainess" at it's lowest.

[Tokay]

No worries. I'm sure after a few years they are sent (willingly of course) to work on a fishing boat or some sweat shop factory.

[Somtamnication]

Why should people have 'human rights' to turn up in another country and expect not to be detained, do they expect hotel accommodation?

This is about CHILDREN! Can you really sit there in your high chair and say it is THEIR fault?

[Bender]

and they pretend to be budhist.. when in fact they are the most selfish nation in the world!

[BSJ]

Anyone of any age that comes here illegally is a criminal and NOT a migrant. They should be sent back to the country from whence they came. Of course 30 days in a detention centre, as described, should encourage them to return ASAP!

[bangkokheat]

out of sight, out of mind i guess

[trogers]

Seems quite a number of posters here are young, or ignorant about history.

Read up on the Boat People of the late 1970s, after the Vietnam War. Why are there none now? What closed that faucet?

[MJP]

Simply, Barbaric.

This place has a long way to go...

It is, but go into the villages of Issan. Although it has come a long way in the past decade many children still live in similar or worse.

[aussieinthailand]

Anyone of any age that comes here illegally is a criminal and NOT a migrant. They should be sent back to the country from whence they came. Of course 30 days in a detention centre, as described, should encourage them to return ASAP!

Do you know the difference between (migrant) and refuge? look it up and get informed.

[kimamey]

Why should people have 'human rights' to turn up in another country and expect not to be detained, do they expect hotel accommodation?

In the case of children it probably wouldn't have been their decision.

These cases are always difficult but it can't be that difficult or expensive to build basic detention facilities. If Thailand wants to be considered as something other than a third world country then tackling this should be seen as a positive move in that direction.

[klauskunkel]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

First rule in solving a problem is to identify the root cause.

When a faucet is left turned on and water is flooding the basement, you would first turn off the faucet.

Seems quite a number of posters here are young, or ignorant about history.

Read up on the Boat People of the late 1970s, after the Vietnam War. Why are there none now? What closed that faucet?

Are you a plumber, by any chance?

[Loles]

Is some-one surprised ?

[2fishin2]

Once they enter the border of Thailand, they become the Thais responsibility plain and simple. But problem is that this country just ignores the migrant's plight. They do absolutely nothing for them. They are abused everyday all day in plain site of anybody passing. I have observed 2 hotels being built first hand sear for past hear. Its disgusting how they are talked to and treated by the thai "site managers" who really are nothing but fat slobs who sit in the shade on their tush all day playing with their phones. On these sites their are young children and a pregnant female working. These are just some of the reasons the Thais are in trouble for these horrible human right violations. It will never get better because the thais to include the new boys dont care.

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