Myanmar kids need 'rights for all'

When armed conflict breaks out, it is the innocent and helpless, especially children, who suffer the most. Therefore, as we approach World Refugee Day tomorrow, Thai authorities must make a substantial effort to grant refugee children, and the parents who support them, equal rights and dignity in law and practice.

- PUTTANEE KANGKUN PATRICK PHONGSATHORN

In Mae Sot, a border city, you will see child refugees everywhere. The town, located in Tak province, has become a sanctuary for thousands of refugees fleeing violence and persecution in Myanmar. Some of these children have been ordained as Buddhist novices receiving alms in the morning market, many are uniformed students on their way to schools and learning centres. Deep down, many of them are scared and lonely people trying to stay out of trouble.

The presence of refugees in Mae Sot is politically inconvenient for the Thai government and is largely absent from public and official discussion. Acknowledging the scale of the influx means acknowledging the drivers of the problem — the Myanmar military regime's war crimes.

Acknowledgement would not only sour the cosy relationship between Bangkok and Nay Pyi Taw, but it would also oblige Thai authorities to act by offering real protection and equitable services to Myanmar refugees.

The Thai government is seemingly reluctant to do so. It even resorts to using a lexicographical term, referring to them as "Myanmar displaced persons" rather than the correct term — refugees.

The lack of appropriate legal status, for instance, has led Myanmar refugees in Mae Sot into a cycle of exploitation, arrest, extortion, and potential forced return at the hands of local law enforcement.