An education foundation in Chiang Rai province in northern Thailand will allow 18 of 126 undocumented Myanmar children from a school in Ang Thong province to be given the choice of being sent back to Myanmar or to continue their studies in the kingdom, according to a report in the Chiang Rai Times on 7 July.
A school close to the foundation’s office has agreed to accept the children, if they want to study there, said the official.
Thai PBS reported on 6 July that the National Human Rights Commission is working to prevent the repatriation of 126 undocumented Myanmar students, aged from 7 to 16, who were studying at Grade 1 and Grade 2 of primary education at the Thai Rath Witthaya School, in Pa Moke district of Ang Thong in northern Thailand, Chiang Rai Times reported.
The plight of children came to light when the director of the school sought to register the children with the provincial primary education office to secure financial support.
However, the registration office filed a complaint with the Pa Moke district police against the director and ordered all the children from Myanmar to be sent to the immigration police for repatriation.
The report, quoting the superintendent of the Pa Moke district police, Pol Col Sakchai Kraiveeradechachai, said that that there is no evidence that the school director was involved in human trafficking in any way, and the children who were born in Thailand to documented migrant workers have the right of access to education in Thai schools, but not the undocumented children.
Htoo Chit, the executive director and founder of the Foundation for Education and Development (FED) said, “This case should be considered seriously as it is also concerned with tens of thousands of children at Myanmar migrant schools throughout Thailand.”
He quoted the policy of Thai Ministry of Education that all children in the kingdom, including the stateless, have the right to free education, under the “Education for All” policy adopted in 2005, a policy that has won international praise.
Htoo Chit, said the possible lawsuit against Thai citizens who are helping in the education of migrant children could tarnish the dignity of Thai government and its nationals.
