Stateless: Being a Foreigner in a Country Where You Are Born and Speak the Language

Statelessness: Being a Foreigner in a Country Where You Are Born and Speak the Language

Thailand, known for its exotic beauty and culture, has been a travel destination for tourists all over the world. Its beauty is a charm to both tourists and locals. While the tourists can go around and explore with no constraints, it can be difficult for some locals because they are considered stateless.

“I have been born in Thailand and have lived in Thailand for years, but to be considered stateless is painful,” said Ms. Jahmang Saeyang, a client of ADRA’s Statelessness Reduction and Community Sensitization Project (CSP).

“Let’s forget about leisure travels; even traveling for work, I have to go to the district office and process paper that will permit me to travel. It’s like a document foreign tourists prepare before coming to Thailand. Besides having to process papers for travels, I have to get a work permit to work legally outside my village,” she continued.

The main reason that has led some people from smaller villages and towns to become stateless is due to a lack of knowledge and information in the need and requirement of family registration and birth certificate. Without having family registration and birth certificate, there is no way to proceed in obtaining a Thai ID. Pheeraphat Khachonsantikul, a community mobilizer in CSP, also mentioned that language barrier and a lack of education are the most common causes of statelessness in many of the cases ADRA is helping with.

“I was stateless before I got my Thai ID in 2008. Although I was born in Samutsakorn, I couldn’t be considered Thai without a birth certificate and ID. Starting a new life in Thailand without knowing the language was difficult for my parents, not to mention about knowing the need and how to get registration and ID,” said Pheeraphat.

Not knowing the need for birth certificate and ID has made Akha and Lahu tribe from Myanmar and Luah tribe from Yunan, China stateless. However, a lot of them do not know that they are stateless. Some children in school are not aware that they are stateless until they reach a certain age. “I never knew I was different from other Thai students until I turned fifteen,” said Rung Napa, a volunteer in CSP. “All along I always thought I was Thai since I was born in Thailand, but I found out I was not when my card turned to be pink while my friends’ were green,” she continued.

The pink card, also known as the stateless card, provides education benefits although they may be short of other citizen benefits. Some of the restrains include requirements for notification to the district office for travels, updates on work permit for switching jobs, and proof of being a Thai as one of the job requirements.

“I can’t wait to be considered as a Thai citizen and to be able to travel and work in different shops. Being considered an unwelcomed foreigner in a country where I was born and speak the language is just heart breaking,” affirms Ms. Jahmang Saeyang.

The Border Crisis

The Border Crisis

The Border Crisis

On September 12th 2016 armed conflict broke out in Karen State of Myanmar between a split group of DKBA and the Myanmar Government Army.

The initial affected area in Hlaingbwe Township, Hpa An District but has since spread over a larger area between Hliangbwe and Phapun townships. This has come when many villages are also experiencing food shortages, and farmers are unable to work in the fields due to the fighting and landmines placed by the DKBA split group.
This follows after decades of violence between the Karen National Union (KNU) and Burmese Army that has caused tens of thousands of Karen and Burmese people to flee to refugee camps in Thailand.

Karen villagers at the distribution point.

Photograph by Sarawut Tummati

Fighting has been significantly increasing in recent weeks and this has caused a displacement crisis. An estimated 3,800 individuals have now been displaced, forced to reside in the jungle along the Thai-Myanmar border. Initially these people were able to slip into the refugee camps in Thailand, though as numbers kept increasing the Thai Military closed the border and now they must make do in Myanmar. However, as the situation becomes more desperate, refugees may resort to drastic measures to survive which puts themselves and others at risk.
ADRA enacted emergency protocol alongside other NGOs coordinating through the Karen Refugee Committee (KRC), gathering funds from the ADRA Asia Regional Office, ADRA International and the Thailand Adventist Mission (TAM). We are working with NGOs and local authorities to supply aid. After an assessment of the situation, ADRA Thailand agreed to supply 120 bags of rice, tarps and mosquito nets, which helped approximately 748 individuals. The team travelled from Mae Sot on the 26th September to the distribution site, and hired boats to get the goods across the river as this was the only way to reach the affected areas; each boat could only carry 40 bags of rice so 3 boats were used. On the 27th they handed out the supplies to 120 families

Karen Refugees wait to be given supplies.

Photograph by Sarawut Tummati

ADRA distributes tarps, pots, rice and mosquito nets to the displaced families.

Photograph by Sarawut Tummati

After consideration ADRA Thailand agreed to supply 120 bags of rice, tarps and mosquito nets, which helped approximately 748 individuals. The team travelled from Mae Sot on the 26th September to the distribution site, and hired boats to get the goods across the river as this was the only way to reach the affected areas; each boat could only carry 40 bags of rice so 3 boats were used. On the 27th they handed out all of the supplies in 2 location, and ADRA is now evaluating if there is even more that can be accomplished with any extra funding provided.

Hopefully this will get some families through a few hard months before they decide what their next move is going to be. A big ThankYou to the distribution team at ground level and programs team for getting the relief effort moving so quickly, and to the Donors for their support.

The Breadwinner

The Breadwinner

The Breadwinner

Saw Htoo first joined ADRAs Vocational Training project in recent years, where she participated in the Cooking course. The course taught her hygienic food handling skills and how to make an assortment of Thai and Burmese dishes, including Padka Pow, Ejakway, Doughnuts, Cookies and Chicken Osa Rice. Before the course, she had never used flour. Now she uses it daily.

She chose to learn about cooking and baking as she previously ran a small Tea shop in Myanmar, and was familiar with customer service and running a food/beverage establishment. Now Saw Htoo has a greater understanding; and this has enabled her to open her own bakery with the help of her family.

“I can support my family with the bakery” mentioned Saw Htoo. “Before I had to buy from others to sell at a higher price. Now I can save money by making myself and get more profit”. The bakery finances help to pay for school fees for her two boys, the eldest of whom is now at University in Myanmar where he studies Business, and the general costs of living for the whole family. If she didn’t have these skills she might have to get work outside the camp in the fields in poor conditions. Her business has daily orders for specific dishes that they go and deliver around the camp, which her family helps to prepare and transport.

Saw Htoo was forced to flee Myanmar when the Government started investigating allegations that they were involved with the KNU, a rebel group of Karenese fighters. Her sister had moved away to another country but the official family registration stated she was supposed to be living with them and thus the whole family was suspected of conspiring against the Government. If they didn’t leave they were sure to be arrested for crimes they didn’t commit. Saw Htoo had already lost her parents and two brothers, and did not want to lose anyone else, and so her husband, son, and sisters family made their way over to Thailand and into the Om Piom Refugee Camp; the other four siblings remaining in Myanmar but in better circumstances than they had. She hopes that she can stay in Thailand and make business here, and send her boys to good schools, especially her son who has never known another way of life outside the camp because he was born a refugee. Most of all she would like to thank ADRA for their project. “Myanmar has no VT, when I come to Thailand I get skills to support my family, Thankyou ADRA”.

Saw Htoo outside her shop with some of her special order items.

Photography by Brittanie McLean

Some of the food they make at store (Samosas & Ejakway).

A traditional woodfire is used to create these delicious treats

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