Improving Protection and Assistance for Migrant Children in Thailand
Migrant children in Thailand are at risk of exploitation trafficking and other child protection issues. This is because of the general unwillingness of the Thai population and government to afford migrants, including children, access to basic services such as education. This situation is further worsened by the migrants’ fear of detection as well as a lack of awareness about their rights. The lack of access to their basic rights poses threats to their protection and development and leaves them vulnerable to abuse.
Out-of-school migrant children are also increasingly prone to the worst forms of child labor in the agriculture, fishing, domestic, and manufacturing sectors. The exploitation ranges from non-payment or underpayment of wages, excessive hours of work, and use of hazardous equipment. These children also face additional barriers to access education and learning opportunities.
On behalf of Save the Children, Levante conducted a final evaluation and end-line assessment of a project which aimed to improve access to child protection services and to primary and early childhood education for migrant children living in rural and urban areas in Thailand. The objectives of the evaluation included assessing the project’s performance against the initial goals and objectives, consolidate the project success stories, examine the extent to which the project had made an impact to change at a policy or advocacy level with the local or national government, and provide recommendations to Save the Children staff for project scale-up purposes.
For this evaluation, Levante conducted in-depth interviews with key stakeholders including government officials, shelter staff, Save the Children staff, teachers and headteachers from migrant learner centers, Royal Thai Government school directors and enrolment officers, and migrant learning center parents. Where children and youth were involved, Levante developed child-sensitive tools to ensure safeguarding, and only Do No Harm practices were employed in data collection.