|
|
|
Grassroots HRE was founded in 2000 in Sangklaburi, Kanchanaburi province. Initially the very small team taught refugees and migrants living in the area about human rights. However, soon after the 2004 Tsunami, the organisation relocated to the Phang Nga province in order to address the imminent needs of tsunami-affected Burmese migrants who were largely ignored by the Thai government. After the most urgent relief demands had been met, GHRE began to shift its focus to meet the longer-term needs of the community. Migrant children were not receiving an education, instead they were working to support their families, access to adequate healthcare was poor and there were vast inequalities between Thais and Burmese. Since 2005 GHRE has worked hard to combat these problems and achieve our mission of creating a safe and equitable environment for Burmese migrants and their families. GHRE has expanded rapidly and now consists of 4 core programs: Education, Migrant Development, Health and Women’s Empowerment.
|
-
Education
Our Education Program is designed to meet GHRE’s ultimate objectives of providing an education to marginalized Burmese migrant children which can be used as a tool to break the cycle of poverty that afflicts Burmese migrant children and their families. The program is essential to provide affordable education to these underprivileged and marginalized children in Thailand. The Education Projects offer a Burmese curriculum and Thai language classes in the hope that the children will eventually reach a level of education that will allow them to become integrated in the Thai education system in order to gain recognized qualifications and secure a pathway to higher education and better opportunities. Further, the projects provide a safe environment for the children so they do not have to work and their parents are free to work.
-
Health
An estimated 100,000 undocumented ‘illegal’ migrants, most of whom are Burmese, currently live in the Phang Nga region of Southern Thailand. They are unable to access the Thai health care system due to fear of deportation and an inability to pay the fees. Many migrants also do not have a work permit and so they are also denied a Thai health insurance card which would allow them to access treatment at little cost. Even if new migrants have a health insurance card the Thai authorities will not renew them after one year has passed. These migrants live in isolated communities within rubber plantations, fishing villages, construction sites or sawmills, working the jobs that Thai choose not to do. These jobs are termed the 3 D’s; dirty, difficult and dangerous.
Their vulnerability as migrants and lax health and safety standards means that accidents at work sites are not uncommon but often go unreported. If left untreated injuries may seriously affect a migrants ability to earn a living or may even be potentially life-threatening. Furthermore, the Southern provinces of Thailand; Ranong, Phang Nga, Phuket, Surathani and Rayong hold particularly vulnerable Burmese migrants as the migrants in these areas, legal and illegal, are subject to new provincial decrees, or martial laws, introduced on 9th June 2007. These decrees are designed to strictly restrict migrant movements by forbidding them to carry mobile phones, drive motorbikes, leave their homes between the hours of 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. and by forbidding them to gather in groups of more than five people. Restricting their movement in such a way has further undermined the migrant’s ability to access health care, particularly in emergency situations. These laws have also impeded our own ability to reach the migrant populations, as they have become even more hidden from our view.
-
Migrant Development
The Migrant Development Program intends to promote living conditions for Burmese Migrant Communities in Southern Thailand. GHRE wants to help create a safe and peaceful environment for the Burmese Migrant Population during their time in Thailand. To achieve these objectives, the Migrant Development Program provides workshops, trainings, publications and community organizational programs.
|
|
