17 The Right to Education for Migrant Children in Thailand: Liminal Legality and the Educational Experience of Migrant Children in Samut Sakhon

Abstract

For decades, Thailand has experienced an influx of a large number of migrants from Myanmar who have come in search of better economic opportunities. This influx has led to a sizeable migrant population residing in Thailand, of which children make up a significant percentage. Providing education for large numbers of migrant children has become a matter of national concern, both because of Thailand’s international human rights obligations and as a matter of national security. Responding to these concerns, the government of Thailand has adopted a policy of providing free and compulsory education for every child within its territory, including migrant children. However, despite the efforts of the Thai government to provide education for all, many migrant children are still unable to benefit from this policy. In this chapter, the challenges of realizing the right to education for migrant children in Samut Sakhon, a coastal province in central Thailand, are studied. Schools are regarded as institutional duty bearers that are obliged, on behalf of the state, to fulfil their legal obligation in terms of Thai government policy. These obligations emanate from the Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which Thailand is a state party. In addition, the research analyses the precarious status of migrant children. The concept of ‘liminal legality’ is used to conceptualize the in-between status of migrant children and families, and to illustrate how this liminal status shapes the opportunity structure of migrant children in education by influencing household decision-making. In this chapter, it is argued that addressing the liminal status of migrants is essential in addressing not only the issue of migrant children’s education, but also that of their incorporation into Thai society in general.

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