BANGKOK (UCAN): Most of the migrants from Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia held in two overcrowded cells at immigration detention offices in Bangkok, Thailand have become infected with Covid-19 (SARS-Cov-2) in a case that has highlighted the dangerous conditions at detention centres for migrants and asylum seekers.
The 77 migrants were detained for illegally entering Thailand overland, according to police chief, Suwat Jangyodsuk, who added that the officers who were in contact with them tested positive.
For years, rights advocates have been campaigning for better conditions at overcrowded immigration detention centres where detainees are forced to spend almost all their time in prison-like settings inside overcrowded and highly unhygienic cells.
Some of the detainees at these facilities are Christians from Pakistan who fled their homeland in fear for their lives only to end up being detained in after their tourist visas had expired.
“Many people are sick, but no matter what your problem is, the guards give you aspirin or painkillers,” he said.
Rights advocates say conditions at Thailand’s immigration detention centres do not meet international norms and so violate the rights of detainees while also endangering their health and mental wellbeing.
Many are also kept indefinitely, often for several years, with little hope of getting out despite having committed no crime other than overstaying their visas.
‘Many people are sick, but no matter what your problem is, the guards give you aspirin or painkillers’
Making matters worse for many asylum seekers, including Christians from countries such as Pakistan where their lives might be at risk, is that the Thai government does not recognise their right to refugee status.
“Thai law does not provide formal legal status to refugees and asylum-seekers. They are therefore trapped in a life of perpetual insecurity, knowing that they could be arrested, detained or deported at any time,” rights group, Amnesty International explains.
“Those who are arrested often find themselves detained for months or years in overcrowded immigration detention centres, which refugee rights advocates call ‘worse than prison’,” Amnesty International said.
Because of the permanent overcrowding and unhygienic conditions at holding centres for migrants and asylum seekers, there have long been fears that Covid-19 and other infectious diseases might easily spread among detainees.
“The continued detention of refugees and migrants is not only a human rights concern but also a public health concern,” Amy Smith, executive director of Fortify Rights, a prominent rights group, said.
“With a global health crisis underway, Thai authorities should prioritise potential Covid-19 hotspots, such as detention facilities, to prevent transmission,” she said.
