Jesuit Refugee Service

Church workers serving migrant children from Myanmar in Thailand’s southern Ranong province are opposing government plans to close down their centers.

The Church runs many educational centers in Ranong province, known as Thailand’s “Burmese province”, UCA News reports These provide basic education to children of Myanmar migrants just across the border.

However, the provincial governor last May announced plans to either close down the centers or place them under the jurisdiction of the education ministry.

Ranong governor Wanchat Wongchaichana, who took office earlier this year, said the province plans to repatriate illegal Myanmar migrants and has ordered that the 96 schools in the province be checked for illegal students.

“Plans to disband the centers for Burmese kids and repatriate them do not solve the problem,” said Fr Wichien Radomkit, director of Maria Learning Center in Ranong.

“If we send them back, they will only return to Thailand because they suffer a lot from the political situation in their own country,” the Stigmatine priest told UCA News.

Fr Wichien said he and other Church workers have held several discussions with provincial officials to explain the Church’s stand on the matter. The last meeting was in mid-August.

“We explained about children’s rights to education,” the priest said. “It would be better if the Burmese kids were included in the education system as this would reduce social problems. This would also make it easier for their eventual repatriation because the authorities would have information about them.”

Maria Learning Center, set up in 2005, teaches about 300 children subjects such as the English, Myanmar and Thai languages, mathematics and general knowledge. It also sponsors the education of 34 children at Thai government schools.

In Ranong, Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) also runs centers for migrant children from Myanmar.

Sr Prapatsorn Srivorakul, JRS project coordinator, explained that families flee Myanmar because they fear for their own personal safety. She warned that repatriated children could be forcibly enlisted as soldiers or sold in human trafficking.

The nun said without education these youngsters might become drug addicts, or engage in drug smuggling, prostitution and other crimes, which would affect the Thai community in Ranong.

The JRS project could help ease the burden on the Thai government, she asserted.

Published Date: September 11, 2009
Church fights to keep centers for migrant kids open (UCA News)