Illegal immigration to Thailand

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Thailand has become a major destination of illegal immigration, especially from neighbouring countries. [1] [2]

Contents

Demographics

As of 2005, it was confirmed by the Thai government that there are 1.8 million registered and legal foreign workers and illegal immigration is as much as 5 million in Thailand. These illegal migrants also include refugees and the percentage of the illegal migrant population is as respectively Indonesia, Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar/Burma, India, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Africa and China.

There are also large numbers of westerners living and working illegally in Thailand, many of whom teach English or run internet-based small businesses and use tourist visas or other types of visa obtained using fake documentation to stay in the country long-term.

North Korean illegal immigrants

In recent years North Korean defectors have attempted to use Thailand as an entry route to get to South Korea. Some people continue working and staying in Thailand. By North Korean law, civilians cannot exit the country unless he/she was sent by government or was invited, which he/she has to go back and send report twice per year to North Korea. [3]

Illegal Rohingya migrants

At least 600 Rohingya Muslims believed to be illegal migrants from Myanmar detained were found in Thailand on 11 January 2013 after two raids by the authorities near the border with Malaysia. The Thai government has been criticized for its treatment of illegal immigrants. [4] There may certainly be more Rohingya Refugees in Thailand however, legal and illegal.

TM30

A law passed in 1979, a time when many Vietnamese and Cambodian people were entering Thailand as refugees, requires most resident foreigners to notify the government every time they leave their permanent residence for more than 24 hours. This law had fallen into disuse but as of 2019 has been revived due to a crackdown under the slogan "Good guys in, Bad guys out". [5]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rohingya people</span> Indo-Aryan ethnic group of western Myanmar

The Rohingya people are a stateless Indo-Aryan ethnic group who predominantly follow Islam and reside in Rakhine State, Myanmar. Before the Rohingya genocide in 2017, when over 740,000 fled to Bangladesh, an estimated 1.4 million Rohingya lived in Myanmar. Described by journalists and news outlets as one of the most persecuted minorities in the world, the Rohingya are denied citizenship under the 1982 Myanmar nationality law. There are also restrictions on their freedom of movement, access to state education and civil service jobs. The legal conditions faced by the Rohingya in Myanmar have been compared to apartheid by some academics, analysts and political figures, including Nobel laureate Bishop Desmond Tutu, a South African anti-apartheid activist. The most recent mass displacement of Rohingya in 2017 led the International Criminal Court to investigate crimes against humanity, and the International Court of Justice to investigate genocide.

Immigration law includes the national statutes, regulations, and legal precedents governing immigration into and deportation from a country. Strictly speaking, it is distinct from other matters such as naturalization and citizenship, although they are sometimes conflated. Countries frequently maintain laws that regulate both the rights of entry and exit as well as internal rights, such as the duration of stay, freedom of movement, and the right to participate in commerce or government.

Illegal immigration to Malaysia is the cross-border movement of people to Malaysia under conditions where official authorisation is lacking, breached, expired, fraudulent, or irregular. The cross-border movement of workers has become well-established in Southeast Asia, with Malaysia a major labour-receiving country and Indonesia and the Philippines the region's main labour-sending states. Managing cross-border migration has become an issue of increasing concern in Malaysia and its international relations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Refugees in India</span> Overview of legally registered refugees residing in India

Since its independence in 1947, India has accepted various groups of refugees from neighbouring countries, including partition refugees from former British Indian territories that now constitute Pakistan and Bangladesh, Tibetan refugees that arrived in 1959, Chakma refugees from present day Bangladesh in early 1960s, other Bangladeshi refugees in 1965 and 1971, Sri Lankan Tamil refugees from the 1980s and most recently Rohingya refugees from Myanmar. In 1992, India was seen to be hosting 400,000 refugees from eight countries. According to records with the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, as on January 1,2021, there were 58,843 Sri Lankan refugees staying in 108 refugee camps in Tamil Nadu and 54 in Odisha and 72,312 Tibetan refugees have been living in India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Illegal immigration</span> Entry into a country without legal right

Illegal immigration is the migration of people into a country in violation of the immigration laws of that country or the continued residence without the legal right to live in that country. Illegal immigration tends to be financially upward, from poorer to richer countries. Illegal residence in another country creates the risk of detention, deportation, and/or other sanctions.

Immigration to South Korea is low due to restrictive immigration policies resulting from strong opposition to immigrants from the general Korean public. However, in recent years the influx of immigrants into South Korea has been on the rise, with foreign residents accounting for 4.9% of the total population in 2019. According to the United Nations, in 2019 foreign born residents represented 2.3% of the total population, which is below the world average of 3.5%.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Immigration to Greece</span> Overview of immigration to Greece

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Illegal entry</span> Act of entering a country in violation of its laws

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Immigration policy of South Korea</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">2015 Rohingya refugee crisis</span> Mass human migration crisis

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Immigration detention of refugee and asylum seeking children in Thailand violates the rights of children under international law. The undocumented migrant children are detained for indefinite and prolonged periods without proper access to legal support. Thailand is key transit route, host and final destination for refugees seeking asylum in southeast Asia and Australia. During the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) session in May 2016, various human rights issues including detention of refugee and asylum seeking children were reported. Currently, there are no effective alternatives to immigration detention and all sectors of population including children are subject to detention.

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References

  1. "Illegal Immigrants Take Refuge In Pattaya As Beggars". Pattaya Daily News. Archived from the original on 2012-02-10. Retrieved 2012-04-07.
  2. "Pattaya City-Thailand Focus on Illegal Immigrant Crackdown". Pattaya Daily News. Archived from the original on 2012-02-10. Retrieved 2012-04-07.
  3. "Illegal North Korean migrants on rise". Bangkok Post . Retrieved 2012-04-07.
  4. "Thailand's deadly treatment of migrants". BBC . Retrieved 2012-04-07.
  5. "Expats in Thailand caught in bureaucratic tangle". Bbc.co.uk. August 29, 2019. Retrieved 29 August 2019.