Asylum Access Thailand has been securing the rights of refugees since 2007.

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INTRODUCING ASYLUM ACCESS THAILAND

Established in 2007, Asylum Access Thailand (AAT) is dedicated to providing friendly, effective and comprehensive support to the various refugee communities that live in Bangkok. We help refugees navigate the complex asylum process and connect them to further assistance from local partners. Our team also supports refugees to undertake training and start their own initiatives to benefit and strengthen their communities. 

Asylum Access Thailand also works in close coalition with other Thai and regional human rights organizations. Through these partnerships, we collectively advocate for changes in Thai law and policy that will allow refugees and their families to live openly, move freely, rebuild their lives and contribute to their host communities.

We are proud members of:

• The Core Urban Refugee Network (CURN)
• The Coalition for Rights of Refugees and the Stateless Persons (CRSP)
• The Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network (APRRN)
• Bangkok Asylum Seeker and Refugee Assistant Network (BASRAN)
• International Detention Coalition (IDC)

Refugees in Thailand

Thailand has not signed the 1951 Refugee Convention and has no laws in place to provide refugees with any legal status. In effect, this means the thousands of refugees living in urban areas are undocumented. This puts them at constant risk of arrest, detention and deportation back to danger by the Thai authorities. 

Life for refugees and their families under these circumstances is exceptionally difficult and stressful. Despite these challenging conditions, Asylum Access Thailand has built a strong support system to stand with refugees as they rebuild their lives here. 

Following years of advocacy work, the Thai government will soon start recognizing refugees and giving them the legal right to stay. As a result, refugees will be able to walk down the street without fear. We will be here to help the refugee community navigate this new system and ensure it is implemented in full respect of refugees’ human rights.

OUR PROGRAMS

AAT Updates

• 
  Research Report “Healthcare Access and Services for Urban Refugee Communities During the Covid-19 Pandemic: Community Findings”September 14, 2022
  Asylum Access Thailand is excited to share the results of our refugee-led research study on how refugees in Bangkok access healthcare leading up to and during the pandemic. The results show that, while each of the seven participating communities experience the pandemic differently, every community now faces additional barriers to care than before the pandemic. It is vital that refugees …
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  The comic book “The Three Friends against COVID-19”February 16, 2022
  The comic book, The Three Friends against COVID-19 is available now for every urban refugee community in 14 languages – English, Arabic, Burmese, Chinese, Dari, Ede, Hmong, Jarai, Khmer, Somali, Tamil, Vietnamese, Urdu. The COVID-19 has been affecting everyone, especially the children. During this time, many children still cannot access basic covid-19 resources to prevent themselves from the virus because …
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  3rd ATD MOU anniversary in ThailandJanuary 21, 2022
  Today, January 21, 2022, is the third year since ATD MOU was established in Thailand on January 21, 2019.ATD MOU is a significant and positive step to preserve the rights of the child and their family members. Nonetheless, room for improvement still remains in its implementation.Asylum Access Thailand and the coalition hope the ATD MOU will be a sustainable solution, …
• 
  AAT Policy Advocacy Blog#4 Story of PariDecember 24, 2021
  The DCA group provides me with great knowledge and training to become a human rights advocate for my community. Pari, DCA Group Member The Policy Advocacy team of Asylum Access Thailand interviewed Pari, a 17-year old Pakistani refugee who now lives in Bangkok, Thailand. In this new policy advocacy blog, she shared her journey to Thailand from the country of …
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  Overcome COVID-19 togetherDecember 3, 2021
  In the midst-year of 2021, the COVID-19 situation in Thailand was at its peak and heavily impacted people’s everyday lives. Rashi, her daughters, and their community members were bound to stay at home with the limited choices of relaxing activities, and their mental well-being was filled with fear, loneliness, and anxiety. The video will show the challenges they face and …
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  Language Justice for Refugee CommunitiesNovember 18, 2021
  Hello Friend, My name is Maya*, and I want to share with you about how the program that I coordinate helps refugee communities advocate for their rights. The refugee communities in Thailand come from all over the world and speak many different languages. My program trains bilingual members of our communities to become interpreters and paralegals so that our communities …

OUR IMPACT

Serving the refugee community

As an established, trusted ally to the refugee communities in Thailand, we are proud of the support we have provided to our clients.

• Over 2,500 refugees reached each year, including 80% of the estimated urban refugee population.
• We have supported over 19,000 refugee clients since our founding in 2007.
• We have trained 17 refugee paralegals and 21 community interpreters across 20 languages.
• We have worked with 14 community-led initiatives to strengthen the support network available to refugees.

Advancing the rights of refugees in Thailand

Through collaborative efforts with local and regional human rights partners, Asylum Access Thailand has contributed to the following policy advances:

• 2020 – the Thai government begins implementing its own asylum process that will grant legal status for refugees in the country for the very first time.
• 2019 – the Thai government signs a Memorandum of Understanding that pledged to end the detention of children in the country.
• 2016 – the Thai government formally pledges to provide refugees with legal status at the Global Refugee Summit. 
• 2016 – the Thai government agrees to reform its use of detention following criticism from nine governments through the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process.
• 2014 – the Thai government agrees to release refugee children from detention without bail.

Learn more about Asylum Access’s global impact on the Our Impact page.

Learn More

You can learn more about Asylum Access Thailand by exploring the sections linked below:

Current Opportunities

Call for Interpreters

AAT is seeking to employ Interpreters for Arabic, Vietnamese-Jarai, Somali, and Thai languages to join our friendly and professional team.

Click Here for further details

Call for Community Paralegal

AAT is seeking one individual of Arab ethnicity and two individuals from the Khmer community with lived experience of forced displacement to join our team of community paralegals.

Click Here for further details

Contact Us

For general inquiries, please contact:

Address: 1111/151 Ban Klang Muang, Ladphrao Rd., Chan Kasem, Chatuchak, Bangkok 10900
Telephone: For legal support and case support: +66.094.498.2500; +66.097.001.3043
For other inquiries: +66.2513.5228
Email: For legal support and case support: aat_reception@asylumaccess.org
For other inquiries: thailand@asylumaccess.org

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If you’d like to join our team, please see current job openings here on our Career Opportunities page.