In May, during the International Migration Review Forum (IMRF) IDC was excited to see Thailand’s global leadership, and welcomed Thailand’s pledge to improve the lives of people who migrate. Alongside progressing birth registration for migrant children and universal health coverage, Thailand pledged to effectively implement ATD for migrant children and work towards ending child immigration detention. Thailand also pledged to engage the public towards ending discrimination and stigmatisation of migrant communities. IDC will continue to work in collaboration with Thailand to achieve these pledges.
Further in May, IDC’s Asia Pacific Programme Officer, Min Jee Yamada Park, presented at the ASEAN Workshop on Women and Children in the Context of Migration, and discussed key findings from IDC’s latest research report which maps the use of immigration detention and alternatives to immigration detention (ATD) in 19 countries across the Asia-Pacific region. You can find the new report here.
Mic Chawaratt, IDC’s Southeast Asia Programme Manager also took the stage at the ASEAN Workshop on Women & Children in the Context of Migration to reflect on the IMRF and the momentum it sparked for migration issues at regional and national levels. Mic highlighted that ending child detention was a key priority issue that could help GCM vision become a reality, and that the ASEAN Declaration of the Rights of Children in the Context of Migration and its Regional Plan of Action reinforce the GCM agenda. Mic urged ASEAN Member States to use ATD as a vehicle to end child detention in the region and further suggested how ASEAN governments and stakeholders can engage ASEAN mechanisms as well as the GCM to fulfil the rights of migrant children.
Lastly, Mic also represented IDC at a panel on ‘Human Rights, Assistance and Protection in the context of International Migration,’ which was co-organised by IOM Thailand, OHCHR Asia-Pacific Office, Thailand’s Immigration Bureau, the Canadian Embassy to Thailand, and the US Embassy to Thailand. Mic highlighted lessons from the implementation of the ATD-MOU and community-based case management in Thailand, and shared recommendations for the Thai government to strengthen laws, policies and processes to end immigration detention of children and their families. You can find the new report here.
IDC also proudly signed the joint statement coordinated by the Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network (APRRN) on World Refugee Day: Civil Society Calls for Urgent Measures to Protect Uyghurs at Risk of Refoulement.