Thailand has withdrawn its reservation to Article 7 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), which guarantees the right of the child to be registered immediately after birth, the right from birth to a name, the right to acquire a nationality, and, as far as possible, the right to know and be cared for by his or her parents. The withdrawal has taken effect since 13 December B.E. 2553 (2010), which is the date when the instrument of withdrawal of reservation was deposited with the Office of the United Nations Secretary-General.
The Cabinet approved the withdrawal of Thailand’s reservation to Article 7 on 21 September 2010 as proposed by the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security based on the assessment that relevant laws and policies have already been put in place to fulfill the country’s obligations under Article 7 of the CRC. Such laws and policies are as follows:
1. The Nationality Act B.E. 2551 (2008), in particular, Article 23, which grants Thai nationality to a person whose nationality was revoked by the Declaration of the Revolutionary Party No. 337 or a person who was born in Thailand but did not acquire Thai nationality as a result of the Declaration, including their children.
2. The Civil Registration Act (No.2) B.E. 2551 (2008), which stipulates that all children born in Thailand shall be registered at birth. The birth registration records the relationship between a child and his/her father and mother, which will serve as an important piece of evidence for the child to obtain the nationality of his/her father and mother by virtue of jus sanguinis or the right of blood.
3. The National Strategy to Address the Problem of Legal Status and Rights of Individuals B.E. 2548 (2005), which provides that people who have migrated to Thailand and lived in the country for a long time, in accordance with the survey conducted, can obtain the status of a legal migrant and his/ her child born in Thailand is entitled to obtain Thai nationality.
4. Nationality Verification for Migrant Workers, which constitutes the first step towards enabling the children of those verified workers to obtain the nationality of his/her father and mother by virtue of jus sanguinis or the right of blood.
The withdrawal of the reservation to Article 7 presents one concrete realization of Thailand’s human rights pledges in connection with its membership of the United Nations Human Rights Council for the term 2010-2013. It should be noted that the CRC does not create an obligation on any State Party to grant nationality to every child born or living in its territory, and hence, by withdrawing its reservation, Thailand is not required to grant Thai nationality to every child born or living in Thailand. Any State Party to the Convention is, however, required to make the greatest efforts to ensure the implementation of all the rights under Article 7, including the right to have a nationality. In this regard, Thailand is committed to implementing such obligations under the Convention in accordance with its existing laws and policies as well as promoting international cooperation in order to guarantee the rights of the child under Article 7 of the CRC.
For further information, please contact the Press Division, Department of Information, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tel.02-6435170, Fax.02-6435169, E-mail: div0704@mfa.go.th