85th pre-session
We write in advance of the 85th pre-session of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and its adoption of a list of issues prior to reporting regarding Thailand’s compliance with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. This submission addresses articles 1 and 10 of the Convention and includes information on protection of education from attack, access to education during the Covid-19 pandemic for lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and nonbinary students, and discrimination against transgender people based on gender identity.
Protection of Education from Attack (article 10)
Since January 2004, an ethnic Malay Muslim insurgency affiliated with the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) armed group has attacked numerous schools, killing and wounding students, teachers, and other education personnel. The insurgents consider school officials to be representative of the Thai Buddhist state’s occupation of Malay Muslim territory. They have frequently targeted security personnel assigned to provide students and teachers safe passage to and from school or protecting the school grounds.[1]
In January 2020, the BRN armed group signed Geneva Call’s Deed of Commitment for the Protection of Children from the Effects of Armed Conflict, which includes protections for education and a commitment to not recruit children during military operations.[2] The armed conflict has persisted in Thailand’s southern Pattani, Yala,...
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