Legal Assistance Program

Kwah Dao officially launched its Legal Assistance Program in April 2022 led by a past scholarship recipient of Kwah Dao who is now a licensed lawyer. Kwah Dao has been involved in working with stateless and nationality-less families for over two decades in Northern Thailand and is aware of the necessity of providing legal protection to these people. In the first stage, we focus on the stateless or nationality-less students and families who are struggling with their complex civil registration status. We provide short-term legal training and workshops to these students and families aimed at raising awareness and addressing the process of applying for a better civil registration status such as Thai citizenship or permanent residency. Furthermore, we have taken steps to provide direct guidance and assistance to those individuals who made direct contact with us.

In the next stage, Kwah Dao has ambitious plans to expand its legal assistance program to support wider target groups. The organization plans to provide more training and workshops on a range of legal topics related to human rights law, family law, juvenile law, labor law, civil and commercial law, criminal law, and more. By educating individuals on their legal rights and responsibilities, Kwah Dao hopes to empower them to take control of their legal situations and be able to deal with all kinds of obstacles during the process until they succeed in solving their legal problems. To achieve this goal, Kwah Dao has planned to collaborate with other organizations working on similar issues by sharing knowledge, resources, and experience.

Who are stateless people? 

Stateless people are individuals who lack any kind of official identity document and are not recognized as citizens by any country in the world. As a result of being stateless, these people will also become nationality-less automatically. 

What are the major causes of statelessness in Northern Thailand?

The prolonged and ongoing civil war in Myanmar has caused significant hardship for its people. Since gaining independence in 1947, Myanmar’s military and ethnic armed groups have been in constant conflict for over seven decades. This has led to political, economic, and social instability, particularly in ethnic areas where there lack of human rights. To quash the ethnic armed groups, the military implemented a four-cut strategy in several states such as Shan State, Karen State, and other regions, which has resulted in widespread human rights abuses including rape, torture, and genocide. According to the Shan Human Rights Foundation, over 400,000 people from 1,800 villages in 15 townships in central and southern Shan State were forced to leave their homes during operations between 1996 and 1998. A large number of people fled to the border of northern Thailand and became refugees. 

There are many refugees from several conflict zones who flee to Thailand. Only a small number of these people are able to obtain refugee status and live in refugee camps. However, others are not that lucky and need to work as illegal migrant laborers in order to survive. Even though they can work for a living, but due to being stateless or nationality-less and lack legal protection, exploitation is found very often. Moreover, they have limited rights in traveling, picking careers as well as facing limitations in accessing basic services such as healthcare services, and educational opportunities. Thus, stateless or nationality-less are crucial issues that affect hundreds of thousands of lives. 

Are there still stateless people in Thailand nowadays? 

Yes, there are. However, the exact number can’t be verified because it depends on the political situation in Myanmar. In recent years, a new wave of refugees and migrants fled to Thailand because of the conflict between Myanmar’s military and pro-democracy protesters, Myanmar’s military and ethnic armed groups, and the conflict among ethnic armed groups. According to an anonymous source, these people need to pay around 7,000 – 12,000 baht per person to migrant smugglers to travel from Tachileik, Shan State of Myanmar to Chiang Mai or Bangkok of Thailand during normal situations. The rate goes much higher during special situations such as the Thai–Myanmar border closure, and the cracking down on illegal foreign labor which is occasionally conducted by the Thai Immigration Police. 

When will they become stateless people and what problems will they face after that? 

Once they successfully made an illegal entry into Thailand, the de jure statelessness for those who lacked any kind of identity document from Myanmar automatically started. Lacking identity documents has several causes such as 1) fighting, torture, and violation of human rights which forced these people to flee from their hometown to new places from time to time, generation to generation, and dare not or were unable to return home before they end up in a new country, Thailand, 2) people living in the very remote areas or in constant fighting zones where the government ignore to issue identity document. For those refugees or migrants who have identity document but unable to make a lawful entry into Thailand, they will become de facto stateless people because they no longer gain legal protection from their government for illegal entry into another country.

These people have to live in very difficult situations to avoid being arrested for illegal entry or working without a work permit. Some need to find a job with risky working conditions, face workplace abuse, or do not receive their wages. These problems happen because they have no access to legal protection and some employers take advantage of it. Their children too face a sad consequence because they won’t be sent to school for a year or longer unless the parents or guardians obtain some kind of identity documents from the Thai government or Myanmar government. Even though these children are entitled by international law that they have the right to education whether they are stateless or not, but the parents restrained themselves as they are afraid of being arrested and deported if they are found living in Thailand illegally when enrolling their kids in schools.

How long will it take to end their statelessness?

It depends on when will these people enter the legal process provided by both the Thai and Myanmar governments. They can decide to go with one of the following options.

1) Apply for a “Person with No Registration Status” ID Card
From May 15, 2019, onward, the Thai Central of Registration Office passed a new law allowing any individual who is living in Thailand without holding any official identity document from any country can apply for a “Person with No Registration Status” ID card also known as a “10 years” card. The process can take months or longer depending on which district office and how serious the corruption situation is in that office. According to the law, the applicant is required to pay the processing fee in a very small amount. In reality, it involves bribes and corruption which lead to a demand of money from the applicant up to 80,000 baht per person in 2023 in some district offices. The person who obtains this ID card can temporarily reside in Thailand with limited rights. Those who obtain the card less than 5 years from the date of issuance need to reside in a specified control area meaning they can’t request traveling permission to other provinces and won’t have the right to access free medical services during these 5 years.   

2) Register as “New Migrant Workers”
This is the MOU between the Thai and Myanmar governments in solving the illegal labor problems. Occasionally, the Thai government will announce for registration of new migrant workers and their children who have entered and worked in Thailand illegally. These people need to pass the nationality verification process to obtain a certificate of identity from the Myanmar Civil Registration Office for the initial step. This process can take up to three months to complete with expenses of up to 20,000 baht per person. These migrant workers can live in Thailand as long as the Thai government recognizes the necessity of these workers to Thai entrepreneurs. According to Foreign Workers Administration Office statistics in August 2023, there are 1,851,512 migrant workers from Myanmar excluding their children and followers.   

Who are nationality-less people in Thailand?

Nationality-less refers to 1) ethnic groups, hill tribes, refugees, and migrants, who fled CLMV countries because of the civil war, political conflict, and human rights violations, and have been residing in Thailand for a prolonged period (including their children who were born in Thailand) and have obtained a “Highlander Identification Card’ issued by the Thai Department of Provincial Administration from 1989 to 1999, 2) those who have obtained “Person with No Registration Status Card” issued from 2005 to 2011, and 3) those who have obtained “Person with No Registration Status Card” from May 15 2019 onward. According to the Department of Provincial Administration in 2022, there are 689,641 people who remain nationality-less among them are students.

These people cannot access the same level of services and benefits as fully recognized citizens. They must live in the specified control areas and request permission from the district official before traveling to other provinces. They can only work in the field specified by the Ministry of Labor, the students cannot access some educational opportunities such as student loans or scholarships provided by the Thai government agencies until they obtain Thai citizenship, and they cannot own land or house lawfully. 

How can they solve the nationality-less problem?

Solving this problem is challenging and exhausting because of its complexity and corruption. They are required by law to pay a small amount of fee, but due to corruption officials in some district offices, they need to pay a minimum of 25,000 – 35,000 baht per person to the officials in order to process their applications. Plus, each group has its requirements for applying for Thai citizenship as classified in the following.

1) Those who were born in Thailand (most targets are students) 
– If they are children of the 1st or 2nd group, they can apply for Thai citizenship immediately regardless of their education level.
– If they are children of the 3rd group, they can apply for Thai citizenship after they complete higher education. This condition also applies to migrant workers’ children who were born in Thailand.  

2) Those who were not born in Thailand (most targets are parents and some students) 
– The parents in the 1st and 2nd groups can apply for permanent residency in Thailand. Once they become permanent residents of Thailand for 5 years, then they can apply for Thai citizenship through naturalization. This condition also applies to students who were not born in Thailand but have obtained the identification card in the same period of time as the 1st and 2nd groups mentioned earlier. 

3) Those who are not in the groups mentioned above
– These groups of people and students have not obtained the right to apply for Thai citizenship and need to wait for the nationality law amendment in the future.