Refugees in Thailand accuse the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) of failing its missions of refugee’s protection.
Refugees seeking asylum at the UNHCR ‘s office in Bangkok said that, they are advised by the office to hide as the office cannot protected them in case they are arrested by the Thai police for not having the correct immigration document.
“i sought political asylum at the offices of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Bangkok. I was advised by the UNHCR to hide as much as possible from the Thai police because if I were arrested without visa I would go to prison, and there is almost nothing that the UNHCR can do to get me out ‘ said John (not his real name), 33, a Cameroonian refugee.
‘’ i sought asylum in 2016, and my asylum interview was scheduled for August 2029’’, John added.
Thailand does not recognize the status of refugee as it has not yet ratified the UN 1951 Geneva Convention. Refugees in Thailand with no correct immigration document are considered as irregular immigrants and are treated as such: arrests, indefinite detention and in very bad conditions, until they pay a fine of 500bath for every day illegally spent in Thai territory and must also pay, the costs of their deportation, otherwise they will languish in prison and sometimes are imprisoned in Bang Kwang, one of the worst prisons in the world.
refugees in Thailand
A director of a non-governmental organization in Thailand who did not want his identity disclosed said, the UNHCR itself is vulnerable to threats from the Thai government.
‘’ The Thai government can request the UNHCR to leave at any time. Thailand is not member of the 1951 Convention. There is nothing the UNHCR can do to change the precarious and dangerous life of refugees in Thailand’’, said the director.
Refugees have also complained about the poor services and treatment in regards with the asylum application process at the UNHCR’s office in Bangkok.
Sandjo, 30, a female Nigerian refugee and mother of two, describes the process of seeking asylum at the UN office in Bangkok
‘’When we go to the UNHCR’s office for information, we are not even allowed to enter. We are received through the hole on the door by arrogant armed guards who do not speak English. The asylum application form is passed to us through the hole and there is no chair or table outside. Women carrying their babies on their backs complete the form while standing then they return it back through the same hole on the door. After submitting the form, the guards would ask us to go home and wait to be called. Which home they ask us to go to? We left our homes, we are refugees and we are homeless in Thailand. Still the guards would insist that we go home and wait for someone to call us. we sleep on the floor, at the entrance of the big United Nations building in Bangkok under the indifference of United Nations humanitarians who enter and exit the building in luxury cars, escorted and passing refugees lying on the ground.’’
Tamoua ( not his real name), 40, refugee from Sri Lanka said:
‘’ We are called for a primary interview several months after having submitted our asylum application form. It is the chance for us to enter the UNHCR office and let them know that we have been homeless. We are received without coffee, juice, biscuits and there is hardly a water machine for little children, who come with their parents. After answering few questions, giving our fingerprints and pictures, we leave the big United Nations building with a refugee card but with no help. This is not the worst, the most shocking part is that, after the primary interview, the UNHCR will schedule our next meeting in 4 years and recommend us to hide from the Thai police’’
We were not able to get the UNHCR to comment on this matter.
MASSOCKI MA MASSOCKI