8th Stateless Children Day

chomphu

2010 Feb 02

ฝ่ายระดมทรัพยากร

8th Stateless Children Day,2010 had took place on January9-13 at Baan Mephae, Saohin Sub-Dristric, Mesaring District, Mehongson Province Organised by Community and Child Development Center supported by Save the Children UK, Thai Fund Foundation and Terre des Hommes.

Mae Sariang district of Mae Hong Son province has seven principal subdistrict, covering 77 major villages and many house groups under its administration. Most villages are located far from the city whereas traveling between these villages is rather difficult. Over 80% of the population is Karen people, especially those living in Mae Khong and Sao Hin subdistricts, which have 17 villages and at least 50 house groups scattering around. These communities have settled in the areas for a long time and had their own unique way of life, tradition and culture. Most of them are isolated and inaccessible by road, thus the villagers are rarely in touch with the outside world. These Karen villagers live a simple and indigenous life and are not fully informed.

Activity before the event;Volunteering to help address stateless children’s problems. Each volunteer group, in cooperation with Mae Sariang district registration office, survey each local village to collect the information on stateless children and families and community backgrounds, as well as making a walking-route map (to give the collected information to the registration office so that the problems of stateless children and their families can be solved).

Mobile district registration

Activity before the event; each volunteer group, survey each local village to collect the information on stateless children and families and community backgrounds, as well as making a walking-route map (to give the collected information to the registration office so that the problems of stateless children and their families can be solved).

One of the important problems for the locals is their statelessness. In such villages that can be accessible by road as Ban Mae Phae, Ban Na Pa Pae, Ban Mae Lue, Ban E-lou, and Ban Mo Ko Cho, the authorities have managed to reach and collect necessary information about them. For a lot of the villagers living in remote and inaccessible communities, their life security is seriously affected because their basic rights are not protected. They are not provided with education, healthcare, employment opportunities and transport. Though attempts to survey the areas have been made, the authorities’ lack of access to the communities and vice versa made it impossible for the population registration to be undertaken.