KANCHANABURI: The Central Institute of Forensic Science (CIFS), the National Health Security Office (NHSO) and the Human Settlement Foundation (HSF) have joined forces to carry out DNA testing on 45 stateless individuals to determine their ethnic background and rights to state welfare programmes.
On March 9, a group of 45 stateless people living in Muang, Tha Muang and Sangkhla Buri districts and came to Tha Muang district office to provide their DNA samples, which will then be compared to samples provided by their relatives who are confirmed and listed as Thai nationals.
If their DNA samples match and suggest familial relations, the stateless individual will be confirmed as a Thai citizen, which would allow that person to access the state's health and welfare programmes.
Anuk Pitukthanin, a manager of the stateless individuals' well-being development division under the Thai Health Promotion Foundation (ThaiHealth), said the government's mission to expand access to state aid has progressed further since nine state and private agencies -- which include Department of Provincial Administration (DPA), the Ministry of Public Health, the NHSO and the CIFS -- signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the matter last year.
"At present, there are about 10,000 stateless individuals who have applied to have their nationalities verified, but I believe there are probably several hundred thousand [stateless individuals] who have not signed up for the process," he said.
Director of the CIFS, Songsak Raksaksakul, said his agency has allocated 1,600 DNA test slots each year since 2015 to aid the verification process, as several agencies working with stateless individuals outside Kanchanaburi have asked it to replicate its work outside of the province so stateless people in their areas can get help too.
Tha Muang district chief Trat Lueangsa-ard also urged stateless individuals in the area to come out and sign up for the verification process at their nearest district office, as the process is free-of-charge.
Meanwhile, Atthaporn Limpanyaler, deputy secretary-general of the NHSO, said the agency has been able to take care of 47.5 million people -- equivalent to 99.8% of the registered population -- but stateless individuals can't access the state's healthcare programmes as only citizens with valid identification can be covered.
"Securing identification for stateless individuals can really help with decreasing social inequalities," he said.
Suchada Nanta, 35, a Karen resident in Sangkhla Buri district, said she brought her 11-year-old daughter to Tha Muang district office along with 20 other stateless neighbours with the help of officials from the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security, who sent two vans to take them.
"My daughter's name on her birth certificate from hospital does not match the name which appears on her birth certificate I obtained from the district office, so I need to bring her here to prove her nationality,'' she said.
Ms Suchada said she didn't have an identity card which proves her Thai citizenship for over 20 years, as her father was not a Thai citizen, unlike his mother.