GIRL'S WISH FOR STATEHOOD : Karen writes Children's Day letter to PM, asking for a chance

GIRL'S WISH FOR STATEHOOD : Karen writes Children's Day letter to PM, asking for a chance.

ANCHALEE KONGRUT, SOP MOEI, MAE HONG SON

Aeso, a 12-year-old student from Sam Laeb school in Sop Moei district, has a wish for the prime minister this Children's Day. ''I wish the prime minister and his family happiness. I wish them good health,'' the ethnic Karen student wrote in a letter that will be delivered to Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont at Government House today, among others written by stateless children in Mae Hong Son province and delivered by cyclist Timo Mueller, a volunteer for Amnesty International under a campaign to improve the welfare and education of stateless children.

The daughter of a displaced immigrant family in Ban Sam Laep on the Thai-Burmese border, Aeso does not exist in the Interior Ministry's database.

She has no birth certificate, nor household registration. The girl has not asked for anything from the land of her birth.

''But if I can ask for a gift, I wish that Mr Prime Minister could give me Thai nationality or an identity card,'' said Aeso. She has no family name.

Aeso is not alone in her plight. At her school, only nine students are Thais and the other 211 are ethnic Karens. Although they were born on Thai soil, these children will not get citizenship under present law as their parents are listed as ''stateless''.

The Interior Ministry says the country has 200,000 stateless children. Most live in remote villages along the Thai-Burmese border in Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Mae Hong Son and Tak provinces. The others are children of sea gypsies in Phangnga and Ranong provinces in the South.

''These children are vulnerable to human trafficking. Girls are at risk of being sold into the sex trade since they have no legal identity. They do not exist under the law, and people can do anything to them,'' said Santipong Moonfong, director of Development Centre for Children and Community Network.

Giving basic education to stateless children would help develop human resources since these children will grow up in Thailand.

''These kids are real fighters. Some travel a long way, and work hard just to go to school,'' he said.

For most, advanced education is only a dream.

However, Madue Nawanart, a 20-year-old stateless woman from a nearby village in Sop Moei district, has every reason to hold out hope.

She is now a freshman at Payap University, studying under a university scholarship.

Ms Madue said she is determined to study law and work as a human rights lawyer. Education was a bridge to a better life, she said.

Although born and educated in Thailand, Ms Madue still has no identity card, and has to follow the law controlling where she can go.

This means she has to take a seven-hour trip back to her hometown every six months to renew a permit allowing her to leave her village to study.

Despite these hardships, she never gives up. ''We are in Thailand, speak Thai, and do not intend to go elsewhere.''

Bangkok Post
Saturday January 13, 2007