Bangkok is home to a church where Vietnamese refugees find a momentary haven from lives fraught with concern of arrest or deportation. This is because Thailand, having not signed up for the UN Refugee Convention, doesn’t have a system in place to differentiate between refugees and different migrants, leading to thousands of individuals living under the radar.
Soon, a revamped system shall be carried out, designed to inform apart between people who would face danger if returned to their homelands and others who are in Thailand illegally. However, this new system is being greeted with unease by refugees and rights activists alike, who concern it could be misused or even result in expedited deportations.
Sung Seo Hoa, a Vietnamese pastor and member of Vietnam’s Hmong minority, expressed these fears. Having fled from pressure from the communist government in his homeland 12 years in the past, he now leads a lifetime of worry.
“We are afraid of police arrest, being put in jail and deported again to Vietnam. That’s what we are very afraid of, 24 hours a day.”
He doesn’t plan to go through the model new screening course of because of the dangers concerned.
The National Screening Mechanism, set to launch later this month, will see a system with Thai police display screen principally city refugees and asylum seekers. Those granted protected person standing will obtain temporary residence permits and entry to healthcare and colleges, but not the best to work.
However, there are issues about potential loopholes connected to nationwide safety, which could affect teams similar to Uyghurs from China, Rohingyas from Myanmar, and North Koreans, reported Bangkok Post.
Phil Robertson, deputy director for Asia at Human Rights Watch, warned that police heading the screening committee may result in potential abuse. He also cautioned about these loopholes lacking transparency.
“There are very broad undefined provisions related to national safety which the federal government might say ‘for nationwide security causes we don’t wish to display screen that person as a refugee and we don’t have to let you know why’.”
There are fears that the brand new system may turn into a pay-to-play sport, where those with cash can purchase status. Uncharted may also include legal background checks, which can ensnare Myanmar anti-coup activists with unfounded criminal charges against them.
Thailand’s historical past of deporting refugees, including 109 Uyghurs to China in 2015, has also bred mistrust in the system, says Patrick Phongsathorn of the campaign group Fortify Rights.
“We see there is a cooperation between repressive governments in this region in terms of taking out every other’s dissidents — a swap store if you will.”
The Thai Department of International Organisations has assured that respect for privacy and confidentiality are core principles and that it might not return rejected applicants to their international locations beneath the precept of non-refoulement. Applicants can enchantment towards rejection within the refugee system within 90 days.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees has performed screenings beneath the current system, but it is uncertain how for much longer this can proceed. The agency claims it has been working with Thailand to establish a good, efficient and clear protection mechanism according to worldwide requirements..