Nearly 60 students at Thairath Wittaya 6 School in Ang Thong have been sent home to Myanmar following complaints they were enrolled illegally.
The 59 students were escorted back to Myanmar by their parents via Chiang Rai, according to deputy national police chief Pol Gen Surachate Hakparn.
The Office of the Basic Education Commission (Obec), meanwhile, promised to find a solution for the remaining 67 students at the school in Pa Mok district so they can continue their studies if they choose to.
A solution was being considered at a discussion involving related agencies yesterday, led by Pol Gen Surachate.
Taking part in the discussion in Chiang Rai were representatives of the Chiang Rai immigration office, the Social Development and Human Security Ministry, the Education Ministry, child welfare advocacy groups, the National Human Rights Commission and the US embassy.
Early last month, complaints were filed by residents in Ang Thong with local authorities alleging that a large group of ethnic children had enrolled illegally at Thairath Wittaya 6 School.
Following that, 59 ethnic minority children at the school were sent to Chiang Rai last Wednesday, where they waited for their parents to cross the border through the Mae Sai checkpoint to pick them up.
The 67 students who remain at the Ang Thong school have lost contact with their parents due to ongoing clashes in Myanmar.
People who claimed to be students’ relatives have reportedly appeared at the school but were barred from taking children after they failed to provide documentary evidence proving their kinship.
Pol Gen Surachate said a solution for the remaining students was being worked out. It needs to cover all aspects, such as legal proceedings and the children’s rights and welfare.
He stressed the priority was to ensure that the students were able to carry on with their schooling here legally.
For the students taken back to Myanmar by their families, their parents are free to discuss with Obec’s secretary-general about sending their children back to the school later.
Pol Gen Surachate said between 70,000 and 80,000 children from the neighbouring country were studying at schools along the border. He noted that in the case of Thairath Wittaya 6 School, located in the Central Plains province of Ang Thong, it was rare to see these students enrolled in a school so deep within the country’s interior.
“The thing that children need the most is an education, as it could pave the way for them to become the main labour force of the country in the future,” he added.
Human rights Activist Tuanjai Deeted praised Pol Gen Surachate for his suggestion that police prioritise human rights despite them being police.