Thailand who have faced generations of statelessness. Over the last 15 years, the government of Thailand has taken significant measures to address statelessness and the rights of children by means of legislative amendments. While not characterized as addressing the needs of refugees, these measures have, in practice, provided benefits to refugee communities living in the country. The government of Thailand has largely sought to end domestic statelessness through the adoption of legislative reforms that expand eligibility for Thai citizenship verification, coupled with administrative efforts and cooperation with UNHCR to engage stateless populations in civil registration and verification procedures. This approach toward stateless populations should be contrasted with Thailand’s reception of refugees, which is governed completely by administrative discretion, as there is no distinction for foreigners with protection needs under the Thai Immigration Act. While this administrative discretion has recently been formalized through the implementation of a National Screening Mechanism in 2020 for identifying foreigners with protection needs, the mechanism falls short of codifying a transparent definition of “refugee” under Thai law, and advocates have criticized its lack of transparency and clear avenues for appeal.51 The government of Thailand has largely sought to end domestic statelessness through the adoption of legislative reforms that expand eligibility for Thai citizenship verification, coupled with administrative efforts and cooperation with UNHCR to engage stateless populations in civil registration and verification procedures. 14 UND OING PRECARIT Y: ELE VATING P OSITIVE PR ACTICES FOR REFU GEE PROTECTION IN SO U TH AND SO U THE AST ASIA

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