|
Thailand Law Journal 2014 Spring Issue 1 Volume 17B REGIONAL LAW1 AHRD This declaration is soft law, it is therefore not legally binding but rather reflects political intention to act a certain way.194 The General Principles of the Declaration include inter alia the right to equal recognition and protection from the law. It also asserts that the rights of inter alia children, vulnerable and marginalised groups are integral and indivisible part of human rights and that the principle of non-discrimination and avoidance of double standards and politicisation should always be upheld.195 Absolute rights contained within the AHRD concerning the target populations include inter alia freedom from arbitrary arrest,196 freedom from slavery and trafficking,197 freedom from torture,198 freedom of thought, conscience and religion199 and freedom of expression.200 Qualified rights, concerning the target populations include inter alia right to life,201 and right to a nationality.202 Article 34 asserts that ASEAN member states may determine to what extent they allow economic and social rights to non-nationals.203 This includes access to basic health care and medical facilities,204 right to an education,205 freedom from social and economic exploitation206 and right to an adequate standard of living.207 There is no reporting process or monitoring regarding this declaration. The ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights focused on the drafting of the AHRD but does not act as a monitoring mechanism.208 2 The Coordinated Mekong Ministerial Initiative against Trafficking (COMMIT) In 2004 the six Governments of COMMIT, Thailand, Vietnam, China, Lao PDR, Cambodia and Burma, signed an MOU against trafficking in persons.209 Provisions pertinent to the target populations include inter alia: obliging States to apply labour laws protecting the rights of all workers,210 making available to victims legal assistance and information in a language they understand,211 ensuring victims are not held in detention,212 providing all victims with shelter and appropriate physical, psychosocial, legal, educational and health care assistance.213 The use of the word 'appropriate' in the last provision makes it a qualified and not absolute right. The MOU committed the member States to develop sub-regional plans of action.214 The
MOU called for the establishment of a monitoring system for the implementation of the subregional
plans of action, with a minimum of an annual senior officials meeting (SOM).215 The first sub-regional plan of action had no monitoring and evaluation framework. The second C BI-LATERAL LAW 1 Memorandums of Understanding and Agreements The Agreement with Vietnam and the MOU's with Lao PDR and Cambodia state that both parties shall ensure the implementation of their laws in conformity with the international conventions to which both States have acceded to or ratified, the MOU with Cambodia and the Agreement with Vietnam make specific mention of the CRC.217 The agreement with Vietnam and MOU's with Lao PDR, Cambodia and Burma assert that State parties shall provide educational and vocational training programmes and improve social services, such as employment, income generation and health care for children vulnerable to trafficking, to reduce their risk of being trafficked.218 The MOU's with Cambodia and Burma, and the Agreement with Vietnam assert that victims
shall be treated as such and not be considered violators of immigration law.219 The MOU with
Lao DPR asserts that parties shall provide temporary housing in accordance with the policies
of each country.220 The Agreement with Vietnam as well as the MOU's with Burma and The MOU with Burma states that child sensitive procedures should be put in place and applied throughout the process of protection, judicial proceedings and repatriation.223 Each of the three MOUs and the Agreement's implementation is monitored by a joint task force or joint working group between the parties.224 Implementation is reviewed every three years with Burma225 and Lao PDR226 and every five years with Vietnam227 and Cambodia.228 The next chapter will analyse domestic laws in Thailand pertinent to the above explored international, regional and bi-lateral obligations. Looking at rights under hard law, with reference to the rights in soft law under the AHRD. Soft law rights will not be separated from hard law rights as all the rights in the AHRD are reiterated in hard law and thus have hard law status elsewhere. Secondly; protective measures, expressed in the above international, regional and bi-lateral law, regarding trafficking will be explored, focusing on preventive measures, protection of trafficked children and judicial proceedings. |
191 'Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and the |
©
Copyright Thailand Law Forum, All Rights Reserved
(except where the work is the individual works of the authors as noted)