The Rights for All Programme seeks to empower migrants from Myanmar in Thailand who are overlooked or stigmatized, namely children, youth and women, and especially in times of physical or mental crisis. The programme supports children, youth and women to gain knowledge about basic rights and build up their capacity in accessing health, education and other services. This programme implements several projects in Chiang Mai and Mae Sot.

About the Issue

For many people, it is the political and economic problems in Myanmar that bring them to migrate to Thailand. Others choose to come looking for better opportunities. Whatever the reasons of their departure, many migrants experience hardships in Thailand and have difficulty exercising their basic rights, but certain sectors are even more vulnerable to discrimination, marginalization, and abuse with impunity. Women experience violence at all stages of migration, including at pre-departure, during their stay in Thailand, and when returning. Migrant youth fall between different sets of non-matching policies, regarding working age, access to education, and their parents' documentation. Families need to access specific services and documentation including birth registration, school qualifications, etc. Therefore, this programme provides information and facilitates migrants and their families’ access to services as well as implement activities to empower and build the capacity of children, youth and women to realize their rights and to protect themselves from all kind of violations.

Our Activities

Women Exchange Project

The Women´s Exchange (WE) project supports Women’s Exchange groups along border Thailand-Myanmar and the Myanmar migrant community throughout Thailand. The Women’s Exchange groups are women-only spaces where migrant women learn about their rights, share experiences and problems, and solve them together. The WE Project provides migrant women with knowledge about rights crisis management, and leadership and also links them with a network of organizations in their communities in case they need assistance. This project also has a training of trainer program to build up women’s capacity. A major concern being violence against women, therefore the project developed ARM: Automatic Response Mechanism for women in case of emergency for implementing in their community by themselves.

Education and Identity Project

In an effort to protect the rights of migrant children and youth, the Education and Identity project spreads information about birth registration, child and parent documentation, labour rights, and facilitates access to Thai public schools with its scholarship awards. Thailand´s “Education for All” policy gives all children in Thailand the right to attend public schools without paying fees, including migrant children. The Scholarship Project helps migrant parents to enroll their children into Thai schools and support the additional educational costs. In addition, the project organizes other supportive activities with students, parents and school and aims to empower, strengthen their capacity and support them to build up youth network to advocate for their rights and to make changes at the policy level.

Migrant Youth Empowerment Project

The needs of migrant communities are often neglected in rural areas. As a response, the Migrant Youth and Empowerment project reaches out to migrant children and their families in Mae Sot and nearby to ensure that children and youth are informed about access to education, economic security, sexual and reproductive health rights, and protection from abuse, exploitation and all kind of violence. Information is provided through outreach visits, community workshops and counseling services and information about issues such as contraceptives and family planning. In addition, this project also builds up youth’s capacity to share information in their community through many medias such as video and radio broadcast.

Services and Access Project

The project aims to address women migrant workers’ vulnerabilities to violence and trafficking, strengthen rights-based and gender-responsive approaches to violence against women and labour migration governance and support access to essential services. As women, migrant women are at risk to face violence, especially sexual violence and domestic violence. However, as migrants, women are still unable to fully access services due to language barrier and lack of information and discrimination. Therefore, this project works together with the relevant government agencies and local organisations to develop a localised SOP that support, protect and respond to the specific needs of women migrant workers, including access to interpreters, counseling, case referral, and to health service providers.

Crisis Support Project

The crisis support project under RFA assists youth and women migrants facing domestic and sexual violence. This project provides basic supports including interpreters, counseling, case referral, access to health and legal services, small emergency fund, and follows up to give moral support during these difficult times.