Published : 08-10-2019
Some 50 Palestinian families who fled war-torn Syria to Thailand continue to appeal for humanitarian action over the squalid conditions they have been facing in the country, to which they headed in quest of safe housing and better economic opportunities. Soon after they landed in Thailand, the refugees were ordered to leave within a period of no more than two months.
All the way through the past eight years, the Thai authorities have been treating Palestinians from Syria as lawbreakers rather than asylum seekers fleeing war-stricken zones. A number of refugees have been arrested after they overstayed their visas.
Dozens of Palestinian and Syrian refugees from Syria have been grappling with dire conditions in Thailand, according to testimonies by refugees from Bangkok.
Refugee families in Thailand also risk to go forcibly deported after the Thai authorities issued a decision to tighten grip on refugees without legal residence permits. The measure has brought about serious fallouts on the Palestinian refugees who can neither return to their homeland nor head for another destination.
Over recent years, activists have raised alarm bells over the dire conditions of captivity in Thai detention centers, where dozens of inmates are crammed into cells that can barely accommodate a handful of persons. Palestinian refugees are also locked up in cells where drug traffickers, sex traffickers, and criminals are held.
The situation is far exacerbated by the failure of the UNHCR to live up to its responsibilities as regards the crisis.
Human rights NGOS have warned that a number of refugees have suffered psychological breakdowns inside Thai prisons due to ill-treatment. Those who have not been detained have been locked up indoors over abduction concerns.
Some 50 Palestinian families who fled war-torn Syria to Thailand continue to appeal for humanitarian action over the squalid conditions they have been facing in the country, to which they headed in quest of safe housing and better economic opportunities. Soon after they landed in Thailand, the refugees were ordered to leave within a period of no more than two months.
All the way through the past eight years, the Thai authorities have been treating Palestinians from Syria as lawbreakers rather than asylum seekers fleeing war-stricken zones. A number of refugees have been arrested after they overstayed their visas.
Dozens of Palestinian and Syrian refugees from Syria have been grappling with dire conditions in Thailand, according to testimonies by refugees from Bangkok.
Refugee families in Thailand also risk to go forcibly deported after the Thai authorities issued a decision to tighten grip on refugees without legal residence permits. The measure has brought about serious fallouts on the Palestinian refugees who can neither return to their homeland nor head for another destination.
Over recent years, activists have raised alarm bells over the dire conditions of captivity in Thai detention centers, where dozens of inmates are crammed into cells that can barely accommodate a handful of persons. Palestinian refugees are also locked up in cells where drug traffickers, sex traffickers, and criminals are held.
The situation is far exacerbated by the failure of the UNHCR to live up to its responsibilities as regards the crisis.
Human rights NGOS have warned that a number of refugees have suffered psychological breakdowns inside Thai prisons due to ill-treatment. Those who have not been detained have been locked up indoors over abduction concerns.
