Thailand: Sri Lanka

Urban Refugees Dept: But Thailand hasn t signed the international convention on protecting refugees. A Sri Lankan who shows up in Thailand seeking refugee status is considered an illegal immigrant. Asylum-seekers can be, and often are, arrested and deported, according to Globe and Mail. The country is also a crossroads in the region. People from other countries come and go, often for economic reasons. Some real asylum-seekers make it to Bangkok from countries that aren t on the border, such as Sri Lanka, and become so-called urban refugees. Canada started a new era of police co-operation with the Thais since the MV Sun Sea hit British Columbia in 2010 carrying 492 Sri Lankan Tamils from Thailand, and Mr. Harper will formalize this arrangement with Thai PM Yingluck Shinawatra. It would be easy to blame Thailand for failing to protect refugees, but in fact they ve done an awful lot of it. There are 92,000 registered refugees and 50,000 unregistered asylum-seekers from Myanmar in camps near the border. Thailand has played host to vast numbers of refugees from other countries before. That s why the developing country hasn t signed onto treaties requiring it to protect refugees. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.