Southern Border Programme, Ranong
JRS reaches out to Burmese migrant workers and their families in Ranong by supporting community-based schools and the educational needs of migrant children while at the same time providing practical assistance to vulnerable migrant workers.
JRS initiated the programme in 2002 after recognizing the difficulties migrant children face in attending Thai schools. We helped build and maintain community-based schools, support teachers’ salaries, provide school uniforms, books and sports equipments, and award scholarships to outstanding students to study in Thai schools. Since 2006, the program has emphasized the learning of Thai language so as to promote Burmese children in attending mainstream Thai schools.
We also conduct the following activities on a regular basis: visiting the migrant communities; arranging clinic and hospital visits; providing basic medical assistance, food and materials for the poorer and more vulnerable families.
| Did you know? - The majority of the Burmese in Ranong are from the Mon ethnic group. They work mostly in fishing, construction, rubber plantations or massage parlours. Although their wages are less than the prevailing wages for Thai workers, they can earn more in Ranong than in Burma. - In August 2005, the Thai Cabinet approved a resolution which allows all children in Thailand equal access to educational opportunities, including migrant children, who were previously deprived of this right. However there remain many obstacles for migrant children to attend Thai schools, including high costs of school fees, lack of Thai language skills, discretion of schools to refuse the admission of Burmese students, resistance among migrants to losing their cultural identity, and fear of arrest and deportation. |