Thailand’s recent decision to withdraw its reservation to a key provision in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child appears to support its status as a “champion country” of the Global Compact for Migration. However, many rights observers say Thailand continues to detain children—as well as other at-risk migrants and refugees—in often paltry, […]
Asylum Seeker’s Death Highlights Brutal Impact of Thailand’s Detention Policies
The recent death of a Uyghur asylum seeker detained in the Bangkok Immigration Detention Centre (Suan Phlu) has prompted renewed calls for Thailand to release a group of 49 ethnic Uyghurs who have now been detained in the country for nine years. Aziz Abdullah, 49, died on 11 February after he collapsed in a cell […]
Thailand: Covid-19 and Detention
As of 30 November 2021, Thailand had registered more than two million cases of COVID-19 and more than 20,000 related deaths. The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) reported that in September 2021, there were a total of 28,810 cases among migrants from Cambodia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, and Myanmar (CLM) in the country. The number […]
Thailand: Covid-19 and Detention
In March 2021, a number of immigrants became infected while detained by Thailand’s Immigration Bureau, including 77 migrant workers held at detention centres in Bangkok’s Bang Khen and Lak Si districts. Most of the detainees were Burmese, Laotian and Cambodian nationals. The Bangkok Post reported that based on data from the Centre for Covid-19 Situation […]
Thailand: Covid-19 and Detention
In mid-May, the governor of the Tak Province in Thailand issued a warning about the movement of Muslims from Myanmar and Bangladesh entering Thailand, stating that this posed a purported Covid-19-related threat. The announcement stated: “Tak is a province bordering the country of Myanmar that has movements of [migrant] workers, and also the COVID-19 pandemic […]
Thailand: Covid-19 and Detention
As of 4 May 2020, Thailand had recorded 2,987 cases of Covid-19 and 54 deaths related to the disease. Among those with the infection are immigration detainees. On 25 April, 42 detainees in the Sadoa Immigration Detention Centre tested positive. The Immigration Police Chief told the press that 73 migrant detainees (out of a total […]
Thailand: Covid-19 and Detention
A group of civil society organisations issued an open letter on 15 April to the Department of Corrections urging the release of certain categories of prisoners and immigration detainees to address overcrowding. The letter requests that prisoners over the age of 60; sick prisoners; prisoners awaiting trial; prisoners sentenced to terms of up to two […]
Thailand: Covid-19 and Detention
Despite severe overcrowding characterizing Thailand’s immigration detention facilities, the GDP has been unable to find any reports indicating that authorities have taken steps to protect, or release, immigration detainees. While the country has drafted measures which remove the need for foreign tourists, stuck in the country due to airline cancellations, to apply for visa extensions, […]
Last updated: February 2016
Thailand Immigration Detention Profile
Thailand is an important destination for migrant workers and asylum seekers from across the Greater Mekong Delta region as well other parts of Asia. Like many of its neighbours, Thailand is not a signatory to the Refugee Convention and does not have a formal asylum framework in place. Asylum seekers and refugees are generally treated as unauthorized immigrants, charged with crimes, and sent to detention centres. Rohingya Muslims fleeing persecution in Myanmar are particularly vulnerable to arrest and detention as are Christian asylum seekers from Pakistan.[1]
Thailand hosts approximately four million international migrants, an estimated 1.5 million of whom are undocumented.[2] Approximately 80 percent of the migrants and asylum seekers in the country are from Myanmar while the remaining 20 percent come mainly from Laos and Cambodia. The country has undertaken various regularization and registration operations since the early 2000s within the framework of bilateral labour agreements with Laos, Cambodia, and Myanmar. Nearly 1.6 million irregular migrants (including dependents) were registered during a four-month period in 2014.[3]
Despite these regularization exercises, both documented and undocumented migrant workers and asylum seekers remain at risk of arrest, detention, and deportation, as advocacy groups like the Mekong Migration Network have documented.[4] Migration policies in Thailand often lead to confusion and migrant workers live under the constant threat of deportation.[5] This is due to several factors, including dependency on a single employer, costly and complicated bureaucratic procedures, restrictions on freedom movement, as well as police corruption and collusion with traffickers.[6]
Some 110,000 Myanmar refugees have been allowed to stay in nine camps on the Thai-Myanmar border by executive discretion. There is also an unverified number of refugees and asylum seekers from dozens of other countries, who reside outside camps.[7] There are often long delays in processing asylum claims, which for those living outside official refugee camps can mean extended periods in immigration detention while awaiting resettlement.[8]
Thailand’s treatment of Rohingyas has been widely condemned. In 2013, after the Myanmar government refused to accept Rohingyas being deported from Thailand, journalists uncovered a secret Thai Royal Police policy called “option two,” which was reportedly designed “to remove Rohingya refugees from Thailand's immigration detention centres and deliver them to human traffickers waiting at sea.”[9] Reporters interviewed Rohingyas who had been sold to human traffickers by immigration officials and quoted official sources who said that of the two thousand Rohingyas held in Thai detention centres as of early October 2013 only 154 Rohingyas remained in detention some two months later.[10] Since these initial reports were published there have numerous reports by Human Rights Watch (HRW) and others documenting mass graves at camps run by migrant traffickers in Thailand.[11]
More recently, in early 2016, there were numerous reports concering the mistreatment of Christian asylum seekers from Pakistan. A January 2016 article in the Christian Post reported that a 30-year-old Pakistiani Christian woman died in Thai police custody on "Christmas Eve after she was arrested and prevented from taking much needed medications." The article cited a British Pakistani Christian Association that claimed Thai authorities had launched "a crackdown against Pakistani Christians who've overstayed their visas in Thailand." A February 2016 BBC report stated that those arrested in the raids were being charged with "illegal immigration, fined 4,000 Baht (£90), and then sent to Bangkok's Immigration Detention Centre."
The Immigration Act, B.E. 2522 (1979), provides police officers and immigration officials broad discretionary powers to detain foreigners. The law does not set a maximum length of time that a person can remain in administrative immigration detention.
The Immigration Act also criminalizes unauthorized stay, which is punishable by up to two years imprisonment. The Ministry of Justice’s Department of Corrections is responsible for monitoring prison and detention facility conditions, however its mandate does not include administrative detainees. The Immigration Police Bureau of the Royal Thai Police administers the country’s approximately 15 dedicated immigration detention centres (IDCs), which are spread out across Thailand’s land borders and along the Andaman Sea and Gulf of Thailand.[12] The detention centres are not subject to many of the regulations that govern the regular prison system. As a result, both the procedures and conditions of immigration detention can vary greatly.[13]
The costs of deportation are to be covered by the person being deported, a policy that the Global Detention Project has found common in other countries as well (for example, in Lebanon and Egypt). In addition, as in Australia,[14] immigration detainees in Thailand have to pay for the cost of detention, leading to an increased likelihood of lengthy or indefinite detention.[15] Human rights groups have emphasized that this is a discriminatory practice that contravenes international human rights norms and standards.[16]
Although there are no official statistics on the numbers of people placed in immigration detention, human rights groups have attempted to document the prevalence of certain practices, like the detention of children. According to HRW, “approximately 100 children per year are detained on a long-term basis (that is, for a period of longer than one month). Meanwhile, at least 4,000 children are thought to move through the immigration detention system each year for shorter periods (days or weeks).”[17]
In 2012, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child reminded Thailand that children should only be deprived of liberty as a last resort and for as short a time as possible. The committee also underscored that when children are detained they must be confined separately from adults and in “a safe, child sensitive environment” that enables regular contact with their families.” The committee urged Thailand to “Promote alternative measures to detention such as diversion, probation, counselling, community service or suspended sentences, wherever possible.”[18]
According to a 2014 Amnesty International report, official regulations in Thailand allow for cell sizes in detention centres to be a minimum of 1.19 metres per person, “which does not allow detainees to lie down to sleep.”[19] HRW has also reported on the abysmal conditions in detention centres, “including severe overcrowding, putrid sanitation, and an atmosphere of violence.” Detainees have repeatedly complained of overcrowding and extremely poor hygiene. In 2013, journalists found 276 male Rohingyas detained in two small “cages” meant to hold no more than 15 people at the Phang Nga detention centre on the coast of the Strait of Malacca.[20] At the time, Thai authorities acknowledged that they were “aware of the overcrowding issue at the existing immigration facilities” and that alternative arrangements were being made. According to the journalists, the head of Thailand’s parliamentary Border Affairs Committee commented that “The conditions you have seen would even be difficult for animals.”
International agencies and organisations have been given access to immigration detention centres (IDCs), including the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), which carried out “The first immunization programme for Myanmar Muslims from Rakhine State and Bangladeshis in all IDCs and Shelters” in October 2015. According to an IOM report, “Myanmar Muslims from Rakhine State in Phang-Nga IDC conducted two series of hunger strikes to express their frustration at their period of detention.”[21] Human Rights Watch has asked IOM to provide more reports immigration detention in Thailand and urged UNHCR officials to “intervene promptly to seek the immediate release of refugees and asylum seekers when they are arrested.”[22]
[1] United Nations High Commissionner for Refugees. 2015 UNHCR country operations profile – Thailand. http://www.unhcr.org/pages/49e489646.html; BBC, "The Christians held in Thailand after fleeing Pakistan," 26 February 2016, http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-35654804.
[2] Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division, United Nations, International Migration 2015 Wallchart, http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/publications/http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/publications/migration/migration-wallchart-2013.shtml, United Nations, 20135.
[3] International Labour Organization (ILO). Review of the effectiveness of the MOUs in managing labour migration between Thailand and neighbouring countries. Tripartite Action to Protect the Rights of Migrant Workers within and from the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS TRIANGLE project). Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific. 2015. http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---asia/---ro-bangkok/documents/publication/wcms_356542.pdf
[4] Mekong Migration Network, Website, "Arrest, Detention, and Deportation," http://www.mekongmigration.org/?page_id=126.
[5] International Labour Organization (ILO). Review of the effectiveness of the MOUs in managing labour migration between Thailand and neighbouring countries. Tripartite Action to Protect the Rights of Migrant Workers within and from the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS TRIANGLE project). Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific. 2015. http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---asia/---ro-bangkok/documents/publication/wcms_356542.pdf
[6] International Labour Organization (ILO). Review of the effectiveness of the MOUs in managing labour migration between Thailand and neighbouring countries. Tripartite Action to Protect the Rights of Migrant Workers within and from the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS TRIANGLE project). Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific. 2015. http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---asia/---ro-bangkok/documents/publication/wcms_356542.pdf
[7] United Nations High Commissionner for Refugees. UNHCR's new biometrics system helps verify 110,000 Myanmar refugees in Thailand. 30 June 2015. http://www.unhcr.org/55926d646.html
[8] United Nations High Commissionner for Refugees. 2015 UNHCR country operations profile – Thailand. http://www.unhcr.org/pages/49e489646.html
[9] Jason Szep and Andrew R.C. Marshall. Special Report - Thailand secretly dumps Myanmar refugees into trafficking rings. Reuters. 5 December 2013. http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/12/05/uk-thailand-rohingya-special-report-idUKBRE9B400920131205
[10] Jason Szep and Andrew R.C. Marshall. Special Report - Thailand secretly dumps Myanmar refugees into trafficking rings. Reuters. 5 December 2013. http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/12/05/uk-thailand-rohingya-special-report-idUKBRE9B400920131205
[11] Human Rights Watch, “Thailand: Mass Graves of Rohingya Found in Trafficking Camp,” 1 May 2015, https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/05/01/thailand-mass-graves-rohingya-found-trafficking-camp.
[12] Mekong Migration Network. Arrest, Detention and Deportation. Map of IDCs. 2012. http://mekongmigration.org/add/?page_id=33
[13] United States Department of State. Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2014. http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/humanrightsreport/#wrapper
[14] Beyderwellen & Company. Removal from Australia. http://www.beyderwellen.com/immigration-practice-areas/unlawful.htm
[15] Immigration Act, B.E. 2522 (enacted on 24 February 1979, amended in 1992) Sections 54 and 55. Thailand Law Forum. http://www.thailawforum.com/database1/immigration-law-mejesty.html
[16] Human Rights Watch. Two Years With No Moon Immigration Detention of Children in Thailand. 1 September 2014. https://www.hrw.org/report/2014/09/01/two-years-no-moon/immigration-detention-children-thailand
[17] Human Rights Watch. Two Years With No Moon Immigration Detention of Children in Thailand. 1 September 2014. https://www.hrw.org/report/2014/09/01/two-years-no-moon/immigration-detention-children-thailand
[18] Committee on the Rights of the Child. Consideration of reports submitted by States parties under article 44 of the Convention. Concluding observations: Thailand. CRC/C/THA/CO/3-4. 17 February 2012. http://uhri.ohchr.org/document/index/976dcd33-b7f5-4d94-b473-cb4c07d99275
[19] Amnesty International, “Thailand: submission to the United Nations Committee against Torture,” 52nd Session, 28 April – 23 may 2014, ASA 39/003/2014.
[20] Sparks, John. The plight of Burma's Rohingya Muslims in a Thai Camp. World News Blog. Channel 4. 31 May 2013. http://blogs.channel4.com/world-news-blog/the-plight-of-burmas-rohingya-muslims-in-a-thai-camp/24226
[21] International Organisation for Migration, “Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea Crisis - Situation Report October 2015.”
[22] Human Rights Watch. Two Years With No Moon Immigration Detention of Children in Thailand. 1 September 2014. https://www.hrw.org/report/2014/09/01/two-years-no-moon/immigration-detention-children-thailand
DETAINEE DATA
DETENTION CAPACITY
ALTERNATIVES TO DETENTION
ADDITIONAL ENFORCEMENT DATA
PRISON DATA
POPULATION DATA
SOCIO-ECONOMIC DATA & POLLS
LEGAL & REGULATORY FRAMEWORK
Do Migration Detainees Have Constitutional Guarantees?
Regulations, Standards, Guidelines
Immigration Order 21/2545 on Regulations and Measures Regarding the Receiving and Detention of an Alleged Offender or a Detainee
Immigration Order 148/2553 (18 August 2010) on Standards in Immigration Detention Centres
(2010)
GROUNDS FOR DETENTION
LENGTH OF DETENTION
DETENTION INSTITUTIONS
Custodial Authorities
"Competent Officials" including from Immigration Bureau, Royal Thai Police and National Security Officials
(Ministry of Interior)
Interior or Home Affairs
"Competent Officials" including from Immigration Bureau, Royal Thai Police and National Security Officials
(Interior Ministry)
Interior or Home Affairs
Detention Facility Management
PROCEDURAL STANDARDS & SAFEGUARDS
COSTS & OUTSOURCING
COVID-19 DATA
TRANSPARENCY
MONITORING
NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS MONITORING BODIES
NATIONAL PREVENTIVE MECHANISMS (OPTIONAL PROTOCOL TO UN CONVENTION AGAINST TORTURE)
NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATIONS (NGOs)
NGO Immigration Detention Monitoring Reports
Joint Submission Universal Periodic Review of Thailand, Thailand Cycle 3, 39th Sessions
GOVERNMENTAL MONITORING BODIES
INTERNATIONAL DETENTION MONITORING
INTERNATIONAL TREATIES & TREATY BODIES
International Treaties Ratified
Ratification Year
Observation Date
CAT, Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
2007
2007
Ratio of relevant international treaties ratified
Ratio: 15/19
Relevant Recommendations or Observations Issued by Treaty Bodies
Recommendation Year
Observation Date
Committee on the Rights of the Child
§71"the Committee recommends that the State party treat the asylum-seekers and refugees according to their status and do not subject them to detention or deportations to a country where their lives might be in danger. In this regard, the Committee encourages the State party to seek technical assistance from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The Committee also recommends that the State party ratify the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol and establish a national legal and institutional framework for protection of refugees." § 80 [...] (a) Raise the minimum age of criminal responsibility to an internationally acceptable age and in no circumstances below the age of 12 years; (b) Ensure that children deprived of liberty are held in detention only as a last resort and for as short a time as possible and that their detention is carried out in compliance with the law; (c) Ensure that children are detained separately from adults as recommended by the Working Group under the universal periodic review, that they have a safe, child sensitive environment and that they maintain regular contact with their families; (d)Promote alternative measures to detention such as diversion, probation, counselling, community service or suspended sentences, wherever possible;"
2012
2012
Human Rights Committee
§ 30. The State party should:
(a) Refrain from detaining refugees, asylum seekers and migrants and implement alternatives to detention, including before deportation. In cases where the individual is detained, the State party should ensure that the detention is based on individual circumstances that are reasonable, necessary and proportionate, and that the cases are reassessed over time. There should also be effective access to judicial review;
(b) Ensure that children are not deprived of liberty except as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time, taking into account their best interests as a primary concern, and that they are segregated from adult detainees who are not their family members;
(c) Ensure that the living conditions in immigration detention centres are in compliance with the Covenant.
2016
2016
Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
34. The Committee reiterates its previous recommendation that the State party take legislative measures for the protection of refugees and asylum seekers, and ensure in law and practice full respect for the principle of non-refoulement. The Committee also recommends that the State party take the measures necessary to develop alternatives to the detention of undocumented migrants, asylum seekers and refugees, including children, and ensure that living conditions in places of detention are adequate and in accordance with international standards.
2022
2022
Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
28. The Committee recommends that the State party:
... (b) Ensure that asylum seekers, refugees and migrants are detained only when absolutely necessary and that the time of detention is limited to a strict minimum;
(c) Ensure adequate living conditions in detention centres, provide adequate access to health care, including reproductive and sexual health care, and combat malnutrition by increasing the resources allocated to this end, including through international cooperation and assistance
2015
2015
Global Detention Project and Partner Submissions to Treaty Bodies
> UN Special Procedures
Relevant Recommendations or Observations by UN Special Procedures
Recommendation Year
Observation Date
Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
"72. [...] corruption in law enforcement, particularly at the provincial and local levels, is deep rooted and has diluted the efficacy of Government policies and programmes in combating human trafficking. As a result, many trafficked persons are not properly identified, leading to cases of wanton arrest, detention and deportation throughout the country [...] §74 [---] The Special Rapporteur has serious concerns that the stay in the shelters amounts to detention and, in addition to infringing fundamental human rights relating to freedom of movement and protection from arbitrary detention, presents a risk to the well-being of trafficked persons [...] §77(p) "ensure that raids and rescue operations are victim-centred and do not cause any discriminatory impact on victims and those who are not victims of trafficking. upon being rescued, trafficked persons should be provided with information about their rights and appropriate counsel ling in a language they understand. further more , in accordance with the a nti-trafficking in persons act, victims should not be criminalized or penalized, including through detention for status-related offences such as violations of immigration laws and other crimes that directly result from their situations as trafficked persons ;
2012
2012
2012
> UN Universal Periodic Review
HEALTH CARE PROVISION
HEALTH IMPACTS
COVID-19
Country Updates
As of 30 November 2021, Thailand had registered more than two million cases of COVID-19 and more than 20,000 related deaths. The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) reported that in September 2021, there were a total of 28,810 cases among migrants from Cambodia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, and Myanmar (CLM) in the country. The number of positive cases among CLM migrants accounted for 9 percent (138,487) of all cases in Thailand.
The Ministry of Public Health Immunisation Centre reported that on 30 September 2021, 1,339,761 vaccine doses had been administered to foreign nationals in the country, representing 3 percent of the total number of doses administered by that time. On 22 September 2021, Thai authorities informed the IOM that immigration detention centres throughout the country had been experiencing an increase in positive COVID-19 cases (see also the 9 August 2021 Thailand update on this platform). According to the IOM, In addition, vaccine doses were provided to detainees in the Phangnga immigration detention centre. The IOM also said that is has provided medicines, hygiene items, and PPE at 11 immigration detention centres in the provinces of Ranong, Songkhla, Phangnga, Chiang Rai, Trat, Chanthaburi, Nonthaburi, Kanchanaburi, Prachaud Khiri Khan, and Tak.
As part of a US initiative to donate vaccine doses in conflict zones, Johnson & Johnson doses went to the border of Thailand and Myanmar in December through the COVAX programme, with many doses going to individuals in refugee camps on the border.
Earlier, in late 2020, the Thai government reported that it had put in place some precautions to reduce the risk of the virus spreading. Immigration officers were ordered to wear face masks or face shields and gloves, to check the temperature of new arrivals and observe whether they display symptoms, and new detainees were to be placed in a reception cell for 15 days to observe whether they had any COVID-19 symptoms and visits were to be suspended. However, NGO reports indicated that the centres remained overcrowded and social distancing was virtually impossible. Detainees were not provided with masks, soap or hand sanitisers in several of the detention centres across Thailand, including Suan Phlu, Prachuap Kirikhan, Maesot, and Ranong.
According to the Refugee Rights Network (RRN), reforms in the treatment of asylum seekers and migrants that could serve as additional safeguards during the pandemic have not been properly implemented, including with respect to the use of non-custodial measures. A Memorandum of Understanding on the Determination of Measures and Approaches Alternative to Detention of Children in Immigration Detention Centres (ATD MOU) resulted in the release of some 230 women and children from immigration detention during 2019-2020. However, according to RRN, officials inappropriately referred to use of a “Day Care Centre” within an immigration detention facility as an “alternative to detention.” Also, certain Rohingya children as well as other children whose asylum cases at UNHCR are closed are being excluded from community-based ATDs and as a result, many of them are held in government shelters without any other solution. According to the International Detention Coalition (IDC), during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Thai government did not increase the use of non-custodial alternatives to detention and kept the same bail policy as before: only those with serious medical conditions, and mothers and children can be successfully bailed out of detention (through the ATD MOU). From May 2020 to November 2020, the IDC said that there had been no children who are persons of concern to UNHCR held in immigration detention. This nonetheless excludes the Rohingya women and children detained in Songkhla detention centre as reported by Human Rights Watch in May 2020.
Thailand has also continued to arrest and detain refugees under the Immigration Act B.E. 2522 and refugees have not benefited from visa amnesties for foreigners whose visas expired from 26 March 2020 as these do not apply to refugees who had already entered Thailand before January 2020. In July 2020, the Thai Immigration Bureau warned non-nationals stranded in the country who cannot leave before their visas expire to seek a letter from their embassies as otherwise they could be subject to overstay fines as well as arrest and detention by Thai authorities.
Thailand has continued issuing deportation orders in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Reuters, Thai authorities have continued deporting people from Myanmar, arguing that it would curb the spread of the virus. Yet, many are believed to be refugees from the Rohingya ethnic minority. Meanwhile, Myanmar has reported cases of COVID-19 among people held in quarantine after being deported from Thailand.
On 9 November 2021, Thai immigration officials forcibly returned two Cambodian refugees to their country, putting them at risk of unfair trials in Cambodia. Thai police arrested both registered refugees, took them to a detention centre in Bangkok, and subsequently deported them the following day. UNHCR intervened on behalf of the two refugees to the Royal Thai Government prior to their deportation, with the expectation that the refugees would continue to receive protection in Thailand. UNHCR’s Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific said: “while we are seeking further clarifications on exactly what happened, we are deeply troubled by this deportation. I strongly urge the Thai authorities to investigate this matter. I appeal to Thailand to honour its fundamental international obligations, notably the principle of non-refoulement, and to refrain from such deportations in the future.” Human Rights Watch stated that “Thailand’s forcible return of these two refugees shows a blatant disregard for fundamental refugee protection principles. The Thai government’s actions make it complicit in the Cambodian government’s persecution of its political opponents, which appears to extend beyond Cambodia’s borders.” On 22 November, Reuters reported that both registered refugees had been jailed in Cambodia on charges of conspiracy and incitement. Cambodian police said that the refugees had violated immigration law in Thailand and Cambodia had not sought their deportation.
According to UNHCR data, in 2020, there were 96,179 refugees, 852 asylum seekers and 480,696 stateless persons in the country. Mid-year 2021 data demonstrates a large increase in the number of stateless persons: UNHCR estimates that there were more than 554,000 stateless persons in Thailand by July.
In March 2021, a number of immigrants became infected while detained by Thailand’s Immigration Bureau, including 77 migrant workers held at detention centres in Bangkok’s Bang Khen and Lak Si districts. Most of the detainees were Burmese, Laotian and Cambodian nationals. The Bangkok Post reported that based on data from the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) “almost 300 foreign immigrants at the Immigration Bureau's detention centres in Suan Phlu and Bang Khen have contracted COVID-19.” A CCSA spokesperson said that “98 out of 1,888 foreign immigrants at the immigration detention centres tested positive from March 11 to Saturday (March 20).” As a result, “The detention centres had stopped accepting new detainees,” and, according to the Commissioner-General of the Royal Thai Police, “the infected detainees would be transferred to the field hospital for treatment by physicians and nurses from the Police General Hospital.”
According to UCANews, the main reason why the number of migrant workers infected with COVID-19 increased dramatically in March was due to immigration detention centres’ poor conditions and overcrowdedness. There was inadequate sanitation and hygiene at the facilities, which enabled the virus to spread quickly. UCANews also reported that “many rights advocates have been calling on the Thai immigration authorities to improve conditions at immigration detention centers.” These groups pressured the government to release some detainees to reduce virus exposure. In response, the Thai authorities have promised to improve the conditions of immigration detention centers. One observer, however, suggested that “Once the public outrage [of the infection in the detention centres] in the wake of such publicity dies down ... things return to business as usual.”
In mid-May, the governor of the Tak Province in Thailand issued a warning about the movement of Muslims from Myanmar and Bangladesh entering Thailand, stating that this posed a purported Covid-19-related threat. The announcement stated: “Tak is a province bordering the country of Myanmar that has movements of [migrant] workers, and also the COVID-19 pandemic in Myanmar and Bangladesh is still happening, and patients are still being found. Muslim people from both countries are expected to move to Tak Province.”
The announcement coincided with stepped up efforts in Tak Province to arrest undocumented migrants and refugees. Between 7 May and 1 June, Thai security arrested 35 Rohingya, including six women and 16 children, in the town Mae Sot in Tak Province, at the border of Thailand and Myanmar. They were being held at Tak Immigration Office in Thailand. Thai authorities have denied that the detainees are ethnic Rohingya, instead alleging they are “Myanmar Muslims.” However, the human rights organization Fortify Rights claims to have verified that the 35 people are Rohingya from Myanmar, and had previously travelled overland for approximately one to three months from Rakhine State and camps in Cox’s Bazar before arriving in the country. At least four Rohingya reportedly died en route. Reportedly, brokers collected payments of 500,000 to 900,000 Myanmar Kyat (about US$350 to US$645) for transportation to Malaysia and required some to provide further payments upon arrival in Malaysia.
Human Rights Watch estimates that approximately 200 Rohingya are being held in immigration detention and other facilities across Thailand. In May, it called on the Thai government to allow the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) unhindered access to Rohingya from Myanmar to determine whether they qualify for refugee status. Fortify Rights have called on the Thai government to protect Rohingya refugees from forced return and indefinite detention, and to screen them to determine if they are survivors of trafficking.
On 8 May, Human Rights Watch reported that at least 65 (out of 115) detainees in Thailand’s Songkhla immigration detention center – including 18 ethnic Rohingya women and children – had tested positive for Covid-19. At least 18 of these detainees are refugees who have been detained since 2015. Officials traced the infection cluster to an immigration officer who worked at Sadao border checkpoint and visited the center, who later tested positive for the virus. Songkhla governor Jaruwat Kliangklao said that the infected detainees would be treated until fully recovered before being deported to their respective countries. He said that the detention facility would be turned into a field hospital for the purpose of providing medical treatment to infected detainees.
As of 4 May 2020, Thailand had recorded 2,987 cases of Covid-19 and 54 deaths related to the disease. Among those with the infection are immigration detainees. On 25 April, 42 detainees in the Sadoa Immigration Detention Centre tested positive. The Immigration Police Chief told the press that 73 migrant detainees (out of a total 115) still had to be tested, including children.
Thailand’s 22 detention centres house “illegal immigrants,” a category that ranges from visitors who have overstayed a 90-day tourist visa, to asylum seekers and refugees. Amnesty International reported that official regulations allow for cell sizes to be a minimum of 1.19 meters per person. According to the NGO Fortify Right, “detention centres were meant for people to stay for 15 days, and then leave. But in Thailand, you can stay there for years, and it’s not designed for that.”
The Global Detention Project previously reported that the length of stay for detainees in Thailand ranges from 3 days to 12 years, with asylum seekers and refugees having been detained for periods of over two years. Several reports of lengthy detention periods originate from Bangkok’s Detention Centre: Suan Phlu. The centre is reported to have the highest number of detainees in the country. While NGOs and detainees maintain that there are over one thousand detainees in the centre, the government has refused to publish official statistics.
A former detainee in Suan Phlu stated that the centre “was so crowded, some of us slept standing up, or in turns. If you turn your legs, you will lose your space.” In addition, detainees have revealed that they are separated by gender and perceived ethnicity: “room 8 for the black people, Room 11 for the brown people.” Certain measures have been put in place to remedy this, including the expansion of Sadao detention centre with a new building and the relocation of certain detainees from the Suan Phlu centre.
While officials maintain that they are conducting widespread testing in detention facilities, other healthcare provisions are limited. Former detainees have said that there is only one nurse in Suan Phlu detention centre. On 25 April, the government stated that detainees, mostly from Myanmar and others from Vietnam, Cambodia and Malaysia, would receive proper treatment in accordance with humanitarian standards.
A group of civil society organisations issued an open letter on 15 April to the Department of Corrections urging the release of certain categories of prisoners and immigration detainees to address overcrowding. The letter requests that prisoners over the age of 60; sick prisoners; prisoners awaiting trial; prisoners sentenced to terms of up to two years; prisoners detained for immigration offences and pregnant women be prioritised for release.
The same day that the open letter was issued, the Thai Department of Corrections suspended jail sentences for more than 8,000 inmates nationwide to ease overcrowding in prisons during the Covid-19 crisis. The Director-General of the Department of Corrections said that he has sped up the process of granting suspended sentences or cutting the prison term for qualified inmates, including those facing minor offences and/or exhibiting good behaviour. However, no similar measures were announced as regards immigration detainees.
According to advocates in the country that are members of the International Detention Coalition, immigration detention centres remain crowded and detainees at risk of infection, and that authorities have started shifting detainees to different facilities to assist social distancing. The IOM reports that it has been distributing information, education and communication materials in immigration detention centres to help prevent the spread of Covid-19.
The Border Consortium (TBC) released a statement on 2 April 2020 on the impact of Covid-19 on refugees and conflict-affected communities in the country. TBC stated that the 90,000 refugees from Myanmar in the country have become even more marginalised in camps along the Thailand border and that “restrictions on movement in and out of the camps have eroded refugees’ limited opportunities for informal income, making them solely dependent on humanitarian assistance for their essential needs.” Although no Covid-19 cases have been confirmed in the camps, TBC, the Committee for Coordination of Services to Displaced Persons, and UNHCR are coordinating a Covid-19 outbreak response.
TBC is undertaking a series of measures, including:
- Working with suppliers and vendors to ensure a three-month stockpile of rice, tinned fish, cooking oil and charcoal is available in all camps
- Undertaking public awareness campaigns about washing hands thoroughly, maintaining social distance, and other preventative communications have been disseminated in local languages
- Distributing personal protective equipment including face masks, hand gloves, thermometers and handwashing facilities to community health workers.
Despite severe overcrowding characterising Thailand’s immigration detention facilities, the GDP has been unable to find any reports indicating that authorities have taken steps to protect, or release, immigration detainees.
While the country has drafted measures which remove the need for foreign tourists, stuck in the country due to airline cancellations, to apply for visa extensions, migrant workers in the country must continue to regularly report to immigration authorities. New legislation, meanwhile, requires foreigners entering the country to show medical certificates stating that they have tested negative for Covid-19, as well as evidence of health insurance coverage. Those arriving without such paperwork risk detention and deportation.
All visits to prisons have been suspended from 18 to 31 March 2020. Families can bring money and food to prisoners but may not enter the premises. On 29 March 2020, fears of the virus’s uncontrolled spread within prisons prompted inmates held in Buriram Prison to protest their confinement. During the ensuing violence, several persons escaped.
Government Agencies
Immigration Bureau: http://www.immigration.go.th/nov2004/en/base.php
Immigration Bureau: http://www.imm.police.go.th/nov2004/en/base.php
International Organisations
UNHCR: https://www.unhcr.or.th/en
IOM: http://th.iom.int
Media
Bangkok Post: http://www.bangkokpost.com
The Nation: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/index.php
NGOs and Research Institutions
Mekong Migration Network: http://www.mekongmigration.org
