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COVID-19 puts Migrant workers & their children under Inhumane Conditions in Thailand!
#WhatsHappeningInThailand Migrant Workers in Thailand have consistently been brushed with a different eye: they generally don't have free access to employment, their families and themselves are not fully legally protected by Thai law, and they are also one of the first groups to suffer disproportionately from the COVID-19 outbreak. Learn more about our factsheet on #Migrants in Thailand and help us tell the truth to the world! 👇🏼
⚠️ Complex procedures and financial strain prevent many migrant workers from seeking legal status with the Thai government. Instead, many decide to enter the country illegally: out of 4 million migrant workers, less than a half is legally permitted to work in Thailand! They are consequently facing deportation and arrest. However, even migrant workers who are officially registered are in a vulnerable situation. They can't change their employer without authorization which might lead to labour and human rights violations.
🚫 The COVID-19 pandemic also deepened the existing marginalization of migrant workers. After the virus spread in several migrant worker camps, the Government responded with drastic measures, sealing the camps and deploying soldiers and security personnel to prevent anyone from leaving. The Government stated that it would supply food and drinking water to the workers for the duration of the lockdown but many workers were left out completely - unable to leave the camps and not even having enough money to buy drinking water! They were simply living under inhumane conditions.
🚫 Hundreds of thousands of migrant workers have also lost their jobs and they now struggle to get by. Their children are often forced to leave school to help the family earn money or the parents even get in debt to buy a new phone for the child so that they can participate in online classes. The right to education belongs to all children - including the ones from migrant families!
📍 On 10 November 2021, Thailand will undergo its 3rd Universal Periodic Review (UPR) — a comprehensive review of its human rights record where it will be held accountable for its human rights violations in front of delegations from the whole world. Each UN Member State, individual country, can make recommendations, and Thailand will accept or note those.
During its 2nd UPR cycle, Thailand received three recommendations regarding the necessity to ratify the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of Migrant Workers and their Families, of which it supported two and noted one. Furthermore, the Government received five recommendations directly addressing the protection of migrant workers’ rights, all of which it supported - but it did not effectively implement a single one of them! Thailand must not pull back from its promises!
#VoicesOfThailand 🗣️ To support the initiative, Manushya Foundation, the Women Workers for Justice Group (WJG) and our grassroots partners from the Thai BHR Network and the Thai CSOs Coalition for the UPR have prepared the UPR Factsheet on Migrant Workers' Rights in Thailand, which details 3 challenges faced by Migrant Workers, including a COVID-19 perspective.
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👉🏼 Access the UPR Advocacy Factsheet on Migrant Workers' Rights in Thailand here.
👉🏼 Access all the UPR Advocacy Factsheets on #WhatsHappeningInThailand here.
👉🏼 Learn more about the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) here.
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