International Responsibility of Thailand towards Refugee and Asylum-Seeking Children

บทคัดย่อ

While Thailand is a State Party to the International Convention on the Rights of the Child (hereinafter the CRC), which came into effect in Thailand on the 26th of April 1992, it has a reservation on Article 22, which pertains to the protection of refugee and asylum-seeking children. Although Thailand maintains this reservation, despite recommendations to withdraw it, as a State Party to the Convention, it is obliged not to discriminate against any child within its borders. Therefore, it extends the same level of protection to refugee children and children who are seeking asylum as it extends to its own children. This is also because of the special circumstances of child refugees, who are fleeing from their country of origin due to a well-founded fear of being persecuted and are, hence, in need of special care, as guaranteed in the preamble of the CRC. While acknowledging that the withdrawal of this  reservation would reaffirm the CRC’s concrete goal to protect these children, the purpose of this article is to determine how Thailand can fulfil its international
responsibility to child refugees since the withdrawal of the reservation has been postponed. It will be argued that, in the context of Thailand, the national legislation for identifying ‘a child refugee and asylum-seeker,’ which is consistent with the minimum international standards, will be the key to the protection of these children. Meanwhile, there needs to be a holistic approach to providing child
refugees and asylum seekers with the appropriate means of protection by determining what constitutes their best interests. Moreover, there are potential solutions for Thailand to fulfil its responsibilities in respect of the child’s rights stipulated in the CRC within the framework of Article 22, which are the concerns raised by the CRC Committee and other UN committees.