(BANGKOK, January 18, 2024)—On January 18, 2024, Thailand’s Move Forward Party member of parliament Tisana Choonhavan referenced during a Thai parliamentary session Fortify Rights’s documentation about the arbitrary arrest and extortion of refugees seeking healthcare, echoing recommendations for the government to improve protections for refugees. Specifically, MP Tisana Choonhavan said:
There is an issue of Thai authorities’ extorting refugees, including through agents. According to Fortify Rights, the Thai authorities extorted refugees seeking healthcare, which is a deadly and urgent matter. The refugees had to bribe the authorities to access healthcare and other fundamental rights, such as the right to education for children, and the right to work and freedom of movement, and access to healthcare as I mentioned before. The Thai authorities have done little to provide these rights.
To highlight MP Tisana Choonhavan’s intervention, on January 26, 2024, Fortify Rights published a film in English and Thai languages of her engagement in Thai parliament on January 18.
MP Tisana Choonhavan called on the Thai authorities to end discrimination, end extortion, and provide basic rights to refugees. In addition, she called on Thailand to ratify relevant conventions and establish a complaint mechanisms for migrants and refugees.