•
10
International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced
Disappearance (‘ICPPED’ – Article 25) (signatory only).
Furthermore, the right to a nationality is protected under Article 15 of the Universal
Declaration on Human Rights.
11
Thailand has expressed reservations and made interpretive declarations to a number
of the above treaties. Most relevantly, Thailand has made a reservation to CRC Article
22, stating that its application is subject to national law and practices. Article 22
requires States to ensure that children seeking refugee status receive appropriate
protection and humanitarian assistance.
12
Thailand is also party to the 2012 ASEAN Human Rights Declaration, of which Article
18 protects the right to nationality.
13
In 2017, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (‘CEDAW
Committee’) recommended that Thailand:
a) Adopt further legislative amendments to ensure that women and men
enjoy equal rights to confer nationality on foreign spouses;
b) Ensure that women belonging to ethnic minority and indigenous groups
have equal access to nationality by eliminating obstacles relating to
language, bureaucracy, residential requirements and literacy;
c) Intensify efforts to facilitate the birth registration, especially in rural and
remote areas; and
d) Ratify the 1954 and 1961 Statelessness Conventions.8
14
In 2017, the Human Rights Committee expressed concern about the high incidence of
statelessness, particularly among indigenous and ethnic minority communities; the
detrimental impact their status has on access to basic rights, such as education; and
their increased vulnerability to involvement in criminal trafficking and prostitution
networks.9 Reports of discrimination against stateless people were also noted.10 The
Committee recommended that Thailand strengthen its efforts to reduce
statelessness, in particular:
a) Ensure that rural and isolated populations are informed of and have access to
the procedures relating to the acquisition of nationality; and
b) Ensure the promotion and protection of rights of stateless persons and
provide primary education to children and protection against trafficking.11
15
In June 2015, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights recommended
that Thailand “continue strengthening its measures to facilitate the naturalization and
integration of stateless persons, including by addressing remaining gaps in the
Nationality Act, as well as to ensure the enjoyment of their economic, social and
cultural rights”.12
8
Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, ‘Concluding observations on the combined sixth and seventh
periodic reports of Thailand’ CEDAW/C/THA/CO/6-7 (24 July 2017), para. 33.
9 UN Human Rights Committee, ‘Concluding Observations on the Second Periodic Report of Thailand’ CCPR/C/THA/CO/2 (25
April 2017), para. 41.
10 Ibid, para. 11.
11 Ibid, para. 42.
12 UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, ‘Concluding Observations on the Combined Initial and Second
Periodic Reports of Thailand’ E/C.12/THA/CO/1-2 (19 June 2015), para. 14.
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