UNIFEM director visits Bangkok Immigration Detention Centre - 15 July 2003

United Nations, Bangkok – UNIFEM Executive Director Ms Noeleen Heyzer today visited the Immigration Detention Centre in Bangkok to learn more about the situation facing illegal migrant workers, including trafficked women, in Thailand.

The Immigration Detention Centre houses up to 1,200 illegal migrants from around the world. Most are held for only a few days before they are returned to neighbouring countries Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia. Other detainees, from countries as far flung as Uzbekistan, Nepal and Nigeria, remain in the Centre for a year or more.

Ms Heyzer and UNIFEM staff met with a dozen women to hear the difficult stories of how they ended up in detention.

“I came to Thailand with my husband after war broke out in my country, the Congo,” said one woman, cradling a small child in her arms. “But then he left me to find work in Singapore when I was eight months pregnant.”

“I do not want to go back to Congo because I want my child to have a better future.”

A woman from Nigeria thought she might be able to get a residence permit to stay in Thailand. “I wanted a free life. I heard that many people come here for business and good jobs. Now I prefer to go back.”

Although many women in the Centre are trafficked against their will, the women’s stories also showed how the migration trail is paved with what Noeleen Heyzer called “false dreams.”

Angelica, from Uzbekistan, wanted to know if it was possible to change her nationality from within Thailand. “I want to change nationality to any other country, because it is too hard to go back to Uzbekistan.”

Ms Heyzer knows Angelica’s chances are slim: “Women are fleeing their countries with a dream based on bits of information they hear – that they can use Thailand as a base to get asylum in a third country.”

But as General Krerkphong Pukprayura says: “It won’t happen.” General Krerkphong, who runs the Immigration Detention Centre, sees many women with false dreams.

“Thailand will not offer asylum, and now third countries are not even interested in political asylum. The chances are decreasing because of fears over terrorism – no one wants political refugees.”

General Krerkphong has limited resources to deal with the continual flood of illegal migrants housed in his detention centre. The International Organization for Migration and Thai NGOs like the Foundation for Women help out where they can. The two organizations take part in an IDC Committee that meets monthly to keep track of the women detainees. They try to find the money needed to buy airline tickets for some of the women to return home, and they run a daycare centre for the children of detained women.

But all concerned know that finding long term solutions means changing the entire environment that surrounds migration. And returning people to their home country is a process fraught with difficulties.

As the UNIFEM executive director prepared to leave the Centre, General Krerkphong said he was about to send ten more busloads back to the Myanmar and Cambodia borders – a total of 600 people.

“But sending people back raises the question of how repatriation should occur,” Noeleen said. “Repatriation requires reintegration, and this needs to be supported. There needs to be more coordination between sending and receiving countries, and the UN system in each country should promote and take on this type of coordination.”

UNIFEM Bangkok runs a migration programme that seeks to inform migrant women about their rights and help create legal, policy and institutional changes to the migration process in both sending and receiving countries.

“We need to protect people from having dreams that can’t be realized, to prevent more women from ending up in this situation,” Noeleen said.

Back to Newsroom