The Fourth Stateless Children Day 2006

The Fourth Stateless Children Day: 6th – 8th January 2006  CCD Office, Mae Samlaeb Sub-District, Sobmoei District, Mae Hong Sorn Province, and three villages that did not exist in any official map of Thailand

  
Although some of stateless people had their legal personal status identified and recognized by the government, many more of them were still waiting for the process.  Work on legal status of person was a long process that required not a few days but years.  Progress had been made in some areas while nothing had been done in others.  This had become a mission of several NGOs that had to work continuously together with related government officials/agencies in the local areas.  Moreover, many stateless people still lacked knowledge and understanding of the legal process and various steps they had to go through to identify their status.

It was necessary then to use the fourth Stateless Children Day event to drum up public interest on statelessness again by organizing a ‘Visit to Villages That Are Not on the Map of Thailand’, visiting three villages that were communities of stateless people who had not benefited from any development by the government.  These communities were located in Thai territory but did not appear on any official map of Thailand.  They were Mae Due village in Mae Kong Sub-District, Mae Sariang District of Mae Hong Sorn Province, Thareur village in Sobmoei Sub-District, Sobmoei District of Mae Hong Sorn Province, and Mae Wei Pokee village in Mae Wa Luang Sub-District, Tha Song Yang District of Tak Province.

Stateless Children Day event in 2006 as honoured by Mr.Sitthichai Prasertsri, the then Provincial Governor of Mae Hong Sorn, to kick out a seminar, “What Would Be Our Future When These Children in Thailand Are Still Stateless?”, and Deputy Director of Mae Hong Sorn Province’s Second Education Zone who opened the Stateless Children Day event titled ‘Smart, Good and Happy Children Fair’.

The event was, similar to the previous years, full of activities, including a Karen traditional blessing ritual of wrist-tying and mini-concert by famous Karen folk singers and band.  With a large coalition of individuals and organizations that took part in and supported the event, stateless children again enjoyed receiving gifts and playing games, including quiz about children’s rights.  Stateless people again could receive a lot of information related to the issue of statelessness from the seminar.  They could make inquiries about problems related to various coloured cards issued to stateless people and other related problems from a booth that providing counseling service.  Other booths included, for example, those providing knowledge about human trafficking, knowledge about tribal / ethnic minority peoples, free local food from housewives group, and free clothes.

The same as in previous years, stateless children continued to ask for Thai nationality as a Children Day gift while the children drama group staged a play to reflect a problem of ‘people outside the map’.  Although they might not sing the Thai national anthem with good accent, their voices came out from their heart and it was the first Thai song they could sing, making participants in the event smile for the children’s attempt to communicate that they also loved Thailand.