“Every child has the right to be protected from abuse, neglect and exploitation and to be supported by robust social safety nets and justice systems.”
UNICEF
More than one tenth of the population of Thailand is still living below the poverty line. Inequality is most noticeable across ethnic groups, with hill tribe people, ethnic minorities, and migrant workers facing the greatest inequalities.
Thailand’s law on child protection is enshrined in the Child Protection Act of 2003. The Act has no reference to non-Thai children, migrants, or refugees. We work with a range of local partners to ensure that all children in Thailand are able to access the support services they need to go on to live a happy, fulfilled life
Thailand is home to an estimated 4 million migrants from neighbouring countries who have fled conditions of poverty and conflict. Migrants without documentation have no access to the Thai justice system, healthcare, education or welfare.
Myine is a young boy from a minority hill tribe, who left his village at the age of 15 to move to the city in search of a job.
Without a Thai ID, Myine was not able to find an employer willing to hire him. Myine had no choice but to work in the only place that didn’t require an ID: a massage parlour. Myine worked in the sex industry for four years.
Our local partner met Myine during one of their many outreach efforts at this massage parlour. During the day, Myine would start to visit their drop-in centre and share his dreams with the team. One day, after hours of talking to his case manager, he decided to go back to his village to live and find work. He plans to grow crops that he will sell to local restaurants with the help and support of the team at the drop-in centre.
Myine wants to get his whole family involved in farming, in order to protect his younger siblings from being pushed towards the sex trade. Myine continues to visit the drop-in centre to meet with the team to learn more about how to run his business. With the help of the team there, Myine is now able to thrive in his village and have a life beyond the massage parlour.
Many children born in rural villages or migrant communities may not have their births registered as they don’t have access to hospitals or maternity care. Obtaining identity documentation later in life is extremely difficult without proof of birth or parentage. This puts them more at risk of trafficking and exploitation.
We work to protect the child victims of trafficking and exploitation and also work within migrant communities to help families who are most at risk protect their children through our Birth Registration Programme.
You support:
- Projects that promote the rights of migrants and refugee children living in Thailand and offer these groups access to opportunities and services available.
- Projects that work to eliminate statelessness and provide legal safety nets for trafficking victims and marginalised migrant communities.
- Projects that that register migrant children’s births, allowing them to access vital education and healthcare services and safeguarding them against trafficking and exploitation.
- Projects that provide victim support, counselling and rehabilitation of victims of human trafficking and exploitation.
- Research and advocacy projects related to trafficking, migration and statelessness.
Thanks to your donations we have helped support and protect thousands of at-risk children
Read our anti-trafficking report
Research and Evidence
Research and Evidence
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