Human Rights Watch Opposes Thailand Deportation of Karen Villagers

Human Rights Watch has urged Thai authorities to halt the deportation of 26 ethnic Karen villagers detained in Phetchaburi province, warning they could face serious danger if returned to Myanmar.

On 10 August, district and forestry officials, accompanied by Thai military personnel, raided a Karen community in Ban Pa Deng village in Kaeng Krachan National Park, targeting residents without proof of Thai citizenship.

Authorities arrested 28 villagers, including eight children and two pregnant women. Two were later released after officials verified their residence registration records, while the remaining 26 were transferred to the Suan Phlu Immigration Detention Center in Bangkok to face immigration charges and possible deportation to Myanmar.

"Deporting ethnic Karen villagers to Myanmar would put them at risk of grave danger," said Elaine Pearson, Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

HRW said Myanmar's military has carried out mass killings, torture, arbitrary arrests and unlawful attacks since the February 2021 coup, while more than 2 million people have been internally displaced and more than 100,000 refugees have fled to neighboring countries.

Community leaders told HRW that Thai authorities have recently classified undocumented Karen in Kaeng Krachan National Park as "illegal immigrants," leaving them vulnerable to arrest and deportation. Residents of Ban Pa Deng said at least 10 villagers remained unaccounted for after being deported to Myanmar about two months ago.

HRW warned that deporting the 26 villagers could violate Thailand's obligations under the UN Convention Against Torture and the international principle of non-refoulement, which prohibits returning people to places where they face a genuine risk of persecution, torture or other serious harm.

Thailand's Prevention and Suppression of Torture and Enforced Disappearance Act also prohibits deportation where there is a substantial risk of torture or ill-treatment, the rights group said.

Karen communities have lived for generations in areas of present-day Thailand and Myanmar, including Phetchaburi and Prachuap Khiri Khan, long before Kaeng Krachan National Park was established.

The Kaeng Krachan Forest Complex was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2021. Thai authorities have since prohibited human settlement in the national park, including by Karen communities, despite concerns from UN human rights experts, Thailand's National Human Rights Commission and Indigenous groups over Karen ancestral land rights.

"Ahead of the UN Human Rights Council's review of Thailand's human rights record in November, the Thai government should immediately end its abusive treatment of ethnic Karen in the Kaeng Krachan National Park," Pearson said.