Freedom House 24 Amnesty International, “Thailand: Between a rock and a hard place,” Document reference ASA 39/7031/2017, September 28, 2017, https://www. amnesty.org/en/documents/asa39/7031/2017/en/ . 37 Refugees and asylees can pursue migrant worker registration through a nationality verification process as a way of obtaining basic rights in Thailand. Additionally, while UNHCR status does not necessarily offer protection, refugees are sometimes able to avoid arrest by presenting identification cards issued by UNHCR to the arresting officers. Amnesty International, “Thailand: Between a rock and a hard place,” Document reference ASA 39/7031/2017, September 28, 2017, https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/ asa39/7031/2017/en/. 38 25 UNHCR, “Thailand Fact Sheet,” June 30, 2021, https://reporting.unhcr.org/ document/541. 26 Section 17 of the Immigration Act gives the Minister of Interior the power, with the approval of the Cabinet, to allow aliens or groups of aliens to remain in Thailand or to be exempted from application of the law. 27 Amnesty International, “Thailand: Between a rock and a hard place,” Document reference ASA 39/7031/2017, September 28, 2017, https://www. amnesty.org/en/documents/asa39/7031/2017/en/. 28 Bhanubhatra Jittiang, Balancing Security and Humanitarianism: The Thai Government’s Response to Urban Forcibly Displaced Persons, (University of Wisconsin-Madison: Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation, 2019). Bhanubhatra Jittiang, Balancing Security and Humanitarianism: The Thai Government’s Response to Urban Forcibly Displaced Persons, (University of Wisconsin-Madison: Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation, 2019). Waritsara Rungthong and Caroline Stover, “Thailand’s National Screening Mechanism: Key Issues,” OpinioJuris, January 28, 2020, http://opiniojuris. org/2020/01/28/thailands-national-screening-mechanism-key-issues/. 39 Interview conducted by in-country analysts for Freedom House, October 2021. 40 Amnesty International, “Thailand: Between a rock and a hard place,” Document reference ASA 39/7031/2017, September 28, 2017, https://www. amnesty.org/en/documents/asa39/7031/2017/en/. 41 Regulation of the Office of the Prime Minister on the Screening of Aliens who Enter into the Kingdom and are Unable to Return to the Country of Origin B.E. 2562. See: https://www.unhcr.org/th/en/16791-unhcr-welcomes-thaicabinet-approval-of-national-screening-mechanism.html 42 Themba Lewis and Daniel Davies, “A new era for refugee protection in Thailand?” Bangkok Post, March 19, 2020, https://www.bangkokpost.com/ opinion/opinion/1881970/a-new-era-for-refugee-protection-in-thailand-. 29 Emily Fishbein and Nu Nu Lusan, “Fear and uncertainty for Myanmar dissidents in Thailand,” Aljazeera, September 13, 2021, https://www.aljazeera. com/news/2021/9/13/myanmar-dissidents-face-fear-and-uncertainty-in-thailand. 43 Amnesty International, “Thailand: Between a rock and a hard place,” Document reference ASA 39/7031/2017, September 28, 2017, https://www. amnesty.org/en/documents/asa39/7031/2017/en/. According to research conducted by the in-country analyst for Freedom House, local officials often do not know the difference between migrants and persons of concern. 44 30 Amnesty International, “Thailand: Between a rock and a hard place,” Document reference ASA 39/7031/2017, September 28, 2017, https://www. amnesty.org/en/documents/asa39/7031/2017/en/. 31 Bhanubhatra Jittiang, Balancing Security and Humanitarianism: The Thai Government’s Response to Urban Forcibly Displaced Persons, (University of Wisconsin-Madison: Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation, 2019). 32 Themba Lewis and Daniel Davies, “A new era for refugee protection in Thailand?” Bangkok Post, March 19, 2020, https://www.bangkokpost.com/ opinion/opinion/1881970/a-new-era-for-refugee-protection-in-thailand-. 33 Bhanubhatra Jittiang, Balancing Security and Humanitarianism: The Thai Government’s Response to Urban Forcibly Displaced Persons, (University of Wisconsin-Madison: Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation, 2019). 34 Office of the National Security Council, Office of the Prime Minister, “The National Security Policy and Plan (2019-2022), Accessed May 18, 2022, p. 7, https://www.nsc.go.th/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/The-National-SecurityPolicy-and-Plan2019-%E2%80%93-2022.pdf. 35 Waritsara Rungthong and Caroline Stover, “Thailand’s National Screening Mechanism: Key Issues,” OpinioJuris, January 28, 2020, http://opiniojuris. org/2020/01/28/thailands-national-screening-mechanism-key-issues/. 36 In-country analyst, for Freedom House, October 2021. Themba Lewis and Daniel Davies, “A new era for refugee protection in Thailand?” Bangkok Post, March 19, 2020, https://www.bangkokpost.com/ opinion/opinion/1881970/a-new-era-for-refugee-protection-in-thailand-. 45 Waritsara Rungthong and Caroline Stover, “Thailand’s National Screening Mechanism: Key Issues,” OpinioJuris, January 28, 2020, http://opiniojuris. org/2020/01/28/thailands-national-screening-mechanism-key-issues/. 46 Themba Lewis and Daniel Davies, “A new era for refugee protection in Thailand?” Bangkok Post, March 19, 2020, https://www.bangkokpost.com/ opinion/opinion/1881970/a-new-era-for-refugee-protection-in-thailand-. 47 Waritsara Rungthong and Caroline Stover, “Thailand’s National Screening Mechanism: Key Issues,” OpinioJuris, January 28, 2020, http://opiniojuris. org/2020/01/28/thailands-national-screening-mechanism-key-issues/. 48 49 Article 12(6) or (7). Human Rights Committee, Replies of Thailand to the list of issues, UN Doc. CCPR/C/THA/Q/2/Add.1, 15 November 2016, para. 121. 50 Naiyana Thanawattho, Waritsara Rungthong and Emily Arnold-Fernández, “Advancing refugee rights in non-signatory States: the role of civil society in Thailand,” Forced Migration, Frm 67, July 2021, https://www.fmreview.org/ issue67/thanawattho-rungthong-arnoldfernandez. 51 Bhanubhatra Jittiang, Balancing Security and Humanitarianism: The Thai Government’s Response to Urban Forcibly Displaced Persons, (University of Wisconsin-Madison: Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation, 2019). 52 freedomhouse.org 11