Recent reports by two human rights advocacy agencies demonstrate the plight of child migrants in state custody in Thailand as legal mechanisms based on humanitarian principles are sadly lacking to properly handle those who are arrested and jailed with their parents or relatives.
The National Human Rights Commission of Thailand this week released investigative findings about the untimely death of a 16-year-old Rohingya girl detained in an immigration police centre in the South in November last year. The report found the girl had been incarcerated with grownups since 2015, a practice violating the UN Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of their Liberty.
The girl suffered acute stomach pain and was sent to a local hospital for about 10 days. Shortly after returning to the centre, her condition deteriorated and she tragically died.
