Rights groups decry arrest of 13-year-old Cambodian boy in Surin

Academics and human rights advocates are up in arms over, what they claim is, the unlawful arrest of a 13-year-old Cambodian schoolboy on a charge of illegal entry, despite his being born and raised in Thailand.

The case of the schoolboy, whose name is being withheld as a minor, in Bua Chet district of the north-eastern province of Surin, was disclosed by a netizen, Sopon Jongbonboon.

In his Facebook post on Wednesday, Sopon claimed that the boy has been living with his Cambodian mother and Thai step-father in Bua Ched district since he was born. He said the boy was arrested by police at the school for being an ‘alien’ and for living in Thailand without permission.

His teacher, who escorted the boy to Bua Ched district police station, reportedly said that the boy is an outstanding student, with an average grade of 4.00, and that he is concerned that the boy may be deported to Cambodia, which could ruin his future.

The post has attracted mixed reactions. Some have sympathy for the boy and believe that he should be protected, while others said the law should be strictly enforced without exception.

Thammasat University’s law lecturer Prinya Thaewanarumitkul said that the police’s arrest of the boy at his school, without an arrest warrant or any clear evidence of having committed an offence, is a serious violation of the Criminal Procedure Code, laws for the protection of children and the Geneva Convention on Children’s Rights.

He said that deporting the boy to Cambodia would also damage the reputation of Thailand.

He pointed out that there is a memorandum of understanding between the Child and Juvenile Affairs Department and the Immigration Bureau forbidding the arrest and expulsion from the country of stateless children.

Senator and former human rights commissioner Angkhana Neelapaijit said it was a serious mistake and a shameful act by the Royal Thai Police to the arrest the schoolboy.

She also claimed that the arrest was an act of racial discrimination and demanded that the boy be released immediately.

Jessada Denduangboripant, of Chulalongkorn University, urged the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security to step in to help the boy.

Surin’s governor, Chamnan Chuenta, has insisted that, because of the border tensions, security officers are simply performing their duties “to ensure that the boy is not a spy,” adding that both the boy and his Cambodian mother will have to be sent back to Cambodia.

In this specific case, the governor said the boy was not registered in the national census and was not given G-code student ID number, which is normally issued to stateless children, or those born to foreign parents, which enables them to have access to education in Thailand.

He added that this has been the case for many stateless children, because their schools have not applied for the appropriate student IDs from the Provincial Administration Department, but they were allowed to study in Thai schools anyway.