Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya used the opportunity on the sidelines of the 16th Session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva on 28 February — 1 March 2011to reassure the heads of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) that Thailand is committed to the human rights of all migrants and promised to take steps to improve management of temporary shelters for displaced persons.
During separate meetings with Navanethem Pillay, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, William Lacy Swing, Director-General of the IOM, and Ant?nio Guterres, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, the Foreign Minister noted the sensitivities involved in handling border activities with Thailand’s 3 neighbouring countries of Laos, Cambodia, and Myanmar, expressing how good relations with immediate neighbours was at the heart of Thailand’s best interests.
On the issue of the return of Hmong, the Foreign Minister expressed confidence in the government of Laos that the return process would recognize the human rights of all those involved.
With regards to Myanmar, the Foreign Minister expressed confidence that Myanmar would follow through on their commitments to ASEAN, which meant that the Myanmar government would not take punitive actions against their own nationals. He also said that Thailand was not pushing back displaced person from Myanmar, and that a number of international media and civil society organizations were witnesses that Thailand had always upheld the human rights of those displaced persons.
During his discussions with the OHCHR, IOM, and UNHCR, the Foreign Minister also promised to take steps to improve management of temporary shelters for displaced persons from Myanmar, which would assist the work of the consortium of NGOs. Furthermore, Thailand has also improved measures to support migrant workers by providing registration and verification of migrant workers as well as the matching of supply and demand of labour.
The UNHCR’s assistance in upgrading health conditions, vocational training, and education in those temporary shelters along Thailand’s border would be appreciated, Foreign Minister Kasit said. Further inputs regarding experience in migration management from the UNHCR and developed countries was also needed in Thailand, he added.
Guterres, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, welcomed Thailand’s new mechanisms, and said he supported voluntary return when the conditions in the home country were considered to be suitable. He also suggested that in addition to the experience of developed European countries, Thailand might also study the experience of Latin American countries as well as that of South Africa.
Foreign Minister Kasit also expressed support through UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Pillay to Special Rapporteurs interested in visiting Thailand, noting that the visits would help in raising awareness of human rights, good governance and democracy among Thailand’s government agencies as well as be helpful in the HRC’s Universal Periodic Review of Thailand.
Thailand was proud of the steps the government had taken in ensuring human rights as well as social equality and welfare, Foreign Kasit stressed during his discussions. This was especially evident in the various institutions established to protect human rights, increase transparency, and promote democracy in Thailand during the past 2 years.
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