In Thailand, hundreds of thousands of members of minority ethnic groups legally have no national affiliation to Thailand. The Thai government officially recognizes only nine of the tribes in the remote highlands, leaving the rest without Thai citizenship. Because they have no legal national affiliation to Thailand, these groups have no right to education, employment, healthcare, or even freedom of movement.
Although stateless people have a right to attain citizenship under Thai law, the process is extremely difficult. Thai law states that eligible applicants can obtain citizenship within 90 days, but in reality, the process often takes as long as three years or more. Additionally, in many cases, government officials are reluctant to help stateless people proceed with the application process due to corruption, which further slows the process.
Lehmann says lack of citizenship makes stateless people vulnerable to human trafficking in several ways.
No comments:
Post a Comment