Syrian and Palestinian refugees in Thailand … an endless tragedy

In light of the increasing systematic violations of the rights of refugees in the world, especially refugees from the Arab world, the situation of Palestinian and Syrian refugees in Thailand has worsened during the past few days due to security tightening and the cancellation of the guarantees granted to them, this was followed by the prosecution of Thai security for families, where hundreds of them were arrested in extremely harsh conditions of detention inside Thai prisons.

The arrests carried out by the Thai authorities included Entire refugee families on the pretext of the end of their stay, where the collective arrest caused panic, fear and tension among the refugees that led to the death of a young Syrian a few days ago. It is worth mentioning that the Thai authorities treat the Palestinian and Syrian refugees as tourists and not as refugees fleeing conflict zones and are threatened by poor security and living conditions. This violates the Human Rights Charter by intimidating and arresting them and threatening to deport them to the areas of danger from which they fled, while the witnesses confirmed that about 300 Palestinian refugees, Syrian and Iraqi detainees are held in the Thai prisons known as the Immigration Department “IDC” on the grounds of the end of their guarantees and their stay in the country and refraining from renewing them, including children and women and elderly and sick without regard to their conditions, or the Charter of Human Rights and international conventions with The Thai authorities are fully responsible for what is happening to the refugees, in contravention of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Bill, through its new measures against refugees and the detention of hundreds of them.

The plight of Palestine refugees continues in Thailand, with appeals by about 600 Palestinian refugees from Syria, Iraq and the Gaza Strip, with the hope that the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) will provide them with help, it is worth mentioning that the refugees hold UNHCR fully responsible for their legal status in the country. They are caught between the laws of the State of Thailand and the fact that UNHCR has abandoned them and neglected their protection and resettlement files.

It is noteworthy that many refugees fleeing Syria benefited from the sponsorship system for more than 3 years, until the Thai government abolished that system, and followed procedures to resolve the situation of illegal residents on its territory of all nationalities, including hundreds of Palestinians notified by the government to be reviewed, who faced either imprisonment until UNHCR took a decision to file their resettlement, or to pay a fine and leave the country at their own expense to the destination chosen by the refugee.
In this regard, Palestinian refugees have called for the resettlement of all refugees with UN cards and their passage to a safe and respectful country, and provide a more secure and stable life for their children and the exercise of their natural right to education and play, health care and psychological support for their children, who only knew from childhood their fear and repression under these bad conditions.

It is noteworthy that the prison of immigration in the Kingdom lacks the basic elements of healthy living sound and is in itself a violation of human rights, the prison is one of the worst detention centers for migrants and complain of refugees, overcrowded detainees, and large dirt, while preventing prison guards from the exit of migrants for ventilation where they have not seen the sun for long periods, resulting in skin diseases, in addition to suffering from high temperatures and lack of attention to detainees or health and disruption of contact with the outside world and the food they provide to detainees and poor quality and in very few quantities are not enough for detainees.

The absence of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the United Nations, whose duty it is to defend these innocent people and to provide solutions to them or to send them to other countries to receive them as refugees and provide them with the necessary means of livelihood and food, shelter, clothing, medicine and education increased the vulnerability of refugees to further violations and persecution.

The International Organization for Human Rights and international law calls upon the international community, in particular the UNHCR, to intervene urgently to stop the violations of Palestinian refugees in Thailand and to urge the Thai government to immediately release detainees and to settle their legal situation and respect their humanity, dignity and working under international instruments and conventions and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The International Red Cross also calls for attention to this issue on the grounds that it is responsible for the promotion and preservation of international humanitarian law and is the executive agency that provides protection and assistance to victims of armed conflict and internal strife.

The States parties to the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees on 28 July 1951 also demand the respect and protection of refugees, in particular those concerned with freedom of religion, freedom of religious practice, the right to education, travel documents, the acquisition of citizenship, and the non-refoulement or repatriation of refugees to a country where they fear persecution