Thousands
of migrant children, including newborn babies, are being locked up in
squalid and cramped detention facilities each year in Thailand, enduring
serious physical and emotional harm, according to a new report.
“Migrant
children detained in Thailand are suffering needlessly in filthy,
overcrowded cells without adequate nutrition, education, or exercise
space,” said Alice Farmer, children’s rights researcher at HRW and
author of the report.
“Detention
lockup is no place for migrant children. The sad thing is it’s been
known for years that these poor detention conditions fall far short of
international standards but the Thai government has done little or
nothing to address them.”
Held indefinitely
The
report, which was based on interviews with 41 children and 64 adults
who were all detained or arrested by immigration officials, said those
affected — often from neighboring countries such as Myanmar, Cambodia
and Laos — can be held indefinitely with little or no legal support, in
violation of international law.
One
migrant mentioned in the report described how he and his family were
kept at a detention center in Bangkok for six months. “My
[five-year-old] nephew asked, ‘How long will I stay?’ He asked, ‘Will I
live the rest of my life here?’ I didn’t know what to say.”
The
rights group also said several children described being confined in
cells so crowded they had to sleep sitting up. Others reported sleeping
on tile or wooden floors, without mattresses or blankets, and surrounded
by strange adults.
“The
worst part was that you were trapped and stuck,” Cindy Y., a migrant
child held from the age of 9 to 12, told HRW. “I would look outside and
see people walking around the neighborhood, and I would hope that would
be me.”
According to Thai law, any migrant with an irregular immigration status, even a child, can be arrested and detained.
