Pongtheb Yangsomcheep. Human rights and personal legal status : case study of people at risk of persecution at Sangklaburi district, Kanchanaburi province . Master's Degree(Human Rights). Mahidol University. : Mahidol University, 2003.
Human rights and personal legal status : case study of people at risk of persecution at Sangklaburi district, Kanchanaburi province
Abstract:
Thailand is hosting hundreds of thousand of people at risk of persecution in
Burma divided into two categories, namely, in camp and outside camp. However,
there is no legal mechanism to deal with this imperative issue. As a consequence,
people at risk of persecution have no legal status in Thailand. Without legal status,
these people at risk of persecution are vulnerable to various forms of human rights
violations and their basic human rights are derogated.
The study attempts to establish a link between human rights and personal
legal status of people at risk of persecution; and to justify the need to recognize legal
status of people at risk of persecution in a form of legal mechanism. Based on
international principles of human rights, international laws and domestic laws, people
at risk of persecution are entitled to receive protection of their fundamental rights
from Thailand. Lack of legal status is deemed to be the root-cause of obstacles in
achieving effective human rights protection. However, there are practical challenges
in implementing the existing mechanisms, namely, the Royal Thai Government,
Hilltribes and Highlanders and UNHCR arrangements.
It was shown in the study that there is a possibility that various groups of
people at risk of persecution from Burma may at present be entitled to certain legal
status in Thailand. Given the possibility of obtaining legal status in Thailand, it might
bring about a durable solution for them. Nonetheless, most of these processes will
involve arduous efforts and legal expertise in trying to acquire the facts and determine
the applicability of legal status on people at risk of persecution under Thai laws