The Thai government’s decision to provide legal assistance to determine ‘refugee’ status of fifty- nine Rohingya is notable. Earlier this month, the Royal Thai Navy discovered 31 men, 23 women, and 5 children on Koh Dong Island near Satun province in southern Thailand. Initial questioning revealed that they started the voyage from Bangladesh and had been deserted by their handlers who had promised to take them to Malaysia. Each passenger had paid about 60,000 Thai baht (US$1,750) for the voyage.

The above incident prompted the Thai government to launch investigations into the incident and determine lapses in maritime surveillance. The investigations would also help rule out any official complicity in trafficking Rohingya migrants. In 2015, a former Thai general along with 60 other people (Thais and Malaysians) were awarded 27 years in jail for trafficking Rohingya and Bangladeshi migrants into Thailand.

Meanwhile the Thai Navy has intensified patrolling in the Andaman Sea and around islands adjoining Malaysian waters to prevent such incidents given that more such boats carrying Rohingya migrants could be arriving in the coming months.

It is important to recall that the Thai Navy had been accused of intercepting migrant boats, and directing them to stay away from Thailand shores. They would however provide these migrant boats with critical necessities such as fuel, food, water, and other supplies so that they continue to their destination or return back home. Those boats that managed to reach Thailand’s shores undetected and were intercepted, the occupants were treated as illegal immigrants, and as per domestic law they were placed under indefinite detention.

The Thai government’s current decision to provide legal assistance, and Thai Navy’s policy of ‘no pushing back’ boats carrying Rohingya refugees into the sea, is in line with the 2019 “three-step action plan” announced by Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha who also chairs the Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC). The ISOC guidelines with regard to the Rohingya are three fold (a) intercept the boats carrying the Rohingya if they approach the Thai coast; (b) provide fuel, food, water, and other supplies on the condition the occupants agree to travel onward; and (c) in case any boats manages to reach Thai shores it is to be seized, occupants to be apprehend by the immigration officials and placed under indefinite detention.

The Rohingya illegal migrants (who have either travelled by the sea route or through land borders) are intercepted and sent to Thai prisons/lockup/detention centers. There are nearly 100,000 illegal migrants in Thai custody. The government has announced severe penalties that range from 10 years in jail and the people who harbor them can face up to five years term. The Thai prisons are known for squalid conditions, the food is limited, children lack amenities and some prisoners even suffer from mental depression leading to cases of attempted suicides.  

There have been calls for unrestricted access to screen all Rohingyas’ arriving in Thailand and determine their ‘refugee status’ by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the principle of non-refoulement (non-return) are noteworthy instruments of law to manage the affairs of illegal migrants and in this context of the Rohingyas’.

Thailand has a progressive treaty ratification record and the country is party to “seven core international human rights instruments”. Furthermore, it is party to the UN Convention against Transnational Organised Crime (UNTOC) and its Protocols on Trafficking and Smuggling. It has consented to numerous non-binding ASEAN human rights related document which places enormous responsibility on the country to protect the rights of refugees and stateless persons on its territory and those subject to its jurisdiction. The country is also State-party to several international maritime laws and therefore has obligations to assist persons in distress at sea.

However, Thailand is not a State party to international refugee law notwithstanding the fact it has been receiving-dealing with refugees. Consequently, the “refugees are treated under ad hoc decisions” which results in “no legal status” for the refugees. Also, Thailand has been treating illegal immigrants “under existing immigration law” which is skewed towards “harsh measures towards refugees, with arrest, detention and deportation common practices”.

Finally, being human and when combined with human dignity, is a right afforded by humanity-society. In this context, the Thai government’s decision to accept the Rohingya migrants and provide legal assistance is reflection of the country’s approach to valuing human rights.

Dr Vijay Sakhuja is Consultant Kalinga International Foundation, New Delhi.