Humanity and Education of Migrant Children

Abstract

It is acknowledged that education is for all. Therefore, all children should have access to quality basic education as a fundamental principle for their well-being in social, cultural, economic, and political aspects. Children (age under 18 years old) should be treated equally without being discriminated by their race and religion. 

For children on the move traveling from one country to another country, they normally travel either alone or with parents. Most of them have entered the country without permission and legal documents, especially civil registration papers. Thailand has shared the border with four neighboring countries for more than a thousand kilometers long, allowing children to cross the border through natural routes and become stateless children in Thailand. 

However, according to the Child Rights Convention (CRC) rectified by the Thai government, all children have the right to education, which was declared by a national education act and the cabinet resolution on July 5, 2005. Regarding the identity documentation and student history records, the Ministry of Education has registered them with identity numbers starting with the G letter (General) through the G-Code system since the academic year of 2018, and they will later consider conducting civil records with the Bureau of Registration Administration, Department of Provincial Administration, Ministry of Interior. Children qualified for civil registration according to the civil registration law should domicile in Thailand without having any identity number or name in a house registration document, including not holding any civil registration documents from other countries. 

Based on the result of the qualification assessment, it appears that some children cannot be registered because they do not have permanent residence in Thailand, and they return to their original country during school breaks. In addition, some children were born in Thailand without birth registration, and some children were accompanied by their migrant parents. 

Currently, even though children have a place to stay in Thailand, there is still a lack of evidence and documents to identify or categorize them into any type of immigration. Children are at risk of human trafficking from unsafe travel, especially unaccompanied minors. Hence, organizing children's movements and the safety measure system should be taken into account in close collaboration with both origin and destination countries. According to the case study of 126 students in Thairat Wittaya 6 school, Angthong province, it has received public attention from various perspectives. These cross-border students have been alleged of illegal migrants without permission, and they were repatriated as a result, while the person who brought and hosted those children is now under the prosecution process. Thus, this case study could be used for developing proper policies and practices and propose to the Thai government for further management.