CITIZEN RIGHTS IN LIMBO
Although progress has been made in giving Thai freedoms to stateless migrants, the progress has been slow
Born in Myanmar’s Shan state, stateless migrant Yod Pong has called Thailand home since the age of eight, when he fled with his parents to Chiang Rai province due to armed conflicts in his birthplace.
Two decades on, Yod Pong, who is from the ethnic-minority tribe Dara-ang, has managed to fight the odds set against him to become a teacher at a private school in Chon Buri province. He has a bachelor’s in education from Burapha University. Not having Thai nationality means he can only work for private schools on a temporary basis.
The feisty educator, who has been vocal in his efforts to garner rights for stateless migrants in the Kingdom, continues to call on the government to exercise leniency on measures regulating stateless migrants by allowing them to work outside their home provinces and obtain better job opportunities.
Under the Alien Working Act 2008, the government has the power to approve a permit that allows stateless people to travel freely and work legally in the country. Stateless people are generally allowed to work in 27 low-level jobs. Sharing stats from the Department of Provincial Administration, he said that a report that came out in March of last year stated that there are more than 480,000 stateless people here.
“Progress made through the years to better equip stateless migrants to reside in Thailand has been tedious and often frustrating,” said Yod Pong, who holds a Non-Thai National ID Card (O), allowing him free education, the ability to work outside his home province, a job of his choice and free hospital treatment.
“In all frankness, I feel on one hand there is an effort being made to give us rights, but on the other hand not enough for us to actually experience the independence we desire. There are still many among us who do not know about the rights stateless people have. Due to this ignorance, they are often swindled and left to fend for themselves. I hope to use whatever opportunities come my way to share with them updates on the progress we have made.”
His ultimate goal is to become a Thai national. Despite no definite assurance, he has already applied for a Thai-alien ID, bringing him closer to realising his dream. If and when he is able to achieve this, his hopes are that it will set a precedent for other stateless migrants.
Yod Pong admitted that stateless people still have a long way to go before they fully become part of Thailand.
In the last decade, the Thai government has introduced an ID-card system, with 13-digit numbers. This card serves as evidence of identity to those with no nationality, or whose Thai nationality is pending. It provides them with more rights than before, as shown in Yod’s case.
At a seminar held recently under the title “Legal Problems Relating To Nationality And Rights Of People Residing In Thailand”, Yod Pong proposed a couple of ways to address the stateless migrant issue in Thailand, saying: “Permits for stateless migrants who wish to travel within the country have from the beginning been an issue, largely because they are very impractical. The time-frame options include 15 days, six months, six months and a year. These travel permits are not only pricey, but time-consuming. I would need to leave Chon Buri, where I teach, and go to Chiang Rai, my place of residence, to get my travel permit extended.”
In his opinion, what this does is breed corruption, largely because a significant number of local officials are only too happy to expedite this oftenlengthy process for a fee that they then pocket. He suggested the government totally scrap this procedure and allow the stateless to travel freely within the country, given that tracking their whereabouts can be carried out through the ID card.
“I would also like to suggest that the future of Non-Thai National ID Card (O) holders be clearly defined. I have a professor friend at Payap University in Chiang Mai who has been a stateless migrant for half-a-century and does not have any knowledge of how the rest of his life will turn out.
“Moreover, it would be of benefit to all concerned if a proper procedure were put in place to expedite the application for a Thai-alien ID card. Today, what we have has done little to help our cause. It has been a couple of months since I have filed my application, and my case is still in limbo.”
Yod Pong’s determination derives from his difficult childhood, when he helped support his family by working in a factory making birdcages.
It was only when he started school that he realised what education meant to him.
“Being stateless, I was not able to get accepted to any government school, so I eventually began my education at a temple school in Samut Sakhon, where my family moved to find work. The school took pity on me and allowed me to study, but without the prospect of getting a high-school diploma. People thought I had Myanmar nationality, but as a minority-tribal group, we are not given Myanmar nationality.”
Yod Pong enjoyed learning from the start. He became student president in Grade 9 and since then he knew education was his ticket to becoming a Thai national one day. He realised soon after that being stateless put him at a great disadvantage, especially during interschool competitions.
“There were a lot of missed opportunities because I was not Thai. In a handful of royal-sponsored competitions the judges did not consider me when they found I was the child of stateless migrants. That made me depressed, and I longed to become Thai. I put a lot of pressure on myself to integrate. It was a really difficult period in my life.’’
Yod Pong’s determination eventually bore fruit, when in ninth grade he found, on the web, Phunthip Kanchanachittra Saisoonthorn, a law professor at Thammasat University, at the time collecting information on stateless migrants. Yod Pong called her the next day and this encounter set in motion the chain of events bringing him to his present status.
Yod also credits Tuenjai Deetes, commissioner and chairperson of the subcommittee on rights and personal legal status of ethnic groups and the indigenous, who has played a pivotal role in his ability to share the needs of other stateless people.
While his struggle to become a Thai national still looks like a pipe dream, he is confident that with the right people backing him there will eventually be a breakthrough.
“I have so many people to thank for being able to reach the position I have today. This has definitely been a team effort. I am confident about what the future holds for me.’’
In a handful of royalsponsored competitions the judges did not consider me when they found I was the child of stateless migrants