Cambodian child beggars in Thailand : a case study of rights and needs based approaches in legislation and implementation

To determine the extent that Thailand’s Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act (2008) protects the rights of Cambodian child beggars as outlined in human rights conventions. This was done by assessing the level of policy coherence between Thailand’s Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act (2008) and other related policies, by assessing the practicality of the guidelines used for screening victims of trafficking by Thai officials, and by assessing whether Thai officials’ attitudes towards Cambodian child beggars affected whether the rights-based approach or the needs-based approach was followed in practice. This research found that there was strong policy coherence between Thailand’s Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act (2008) and other related policies, such as the Child Protection Act (2003), the Labor Protection Act (2008), and the Domestic Violence Victim Protection Act (2007). Despite this fact, there existed large policy incoherence between Thailand’s Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act (2008) and the Beggar Control Act (1941) and Immigration Act (1979). The lack of policy coherence between Thailand’s Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act (2008) and the two latter Acts was found to deeply affect whether Thai officials followed the rights-based approach or the needs-based approach when dealing with Cambodian child beggars. This was because some saw the Cambodian child beggars as victims of trafficking, while others saw them as voluntary migrants, illegal migrants, or both. This in turn made for a subjective screening process and affected whether Cambodian child beggars were taken under Thai custody at all. From interviews with Cambodian child beggars, it was found that although Thai officials do not follow the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act (2008) for every Cambodian child beggar in this study, this may be a more practical approach so that the immediate needs of the majority of these Cambodian child beggars are met. Nonetheless, this raises concerns over how to more effectively address the structural causes of the child begging problem.

本研究旨在明确泰国《2008年反人口贩运法》（Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act (2008)）对柬埔寨乞讨儿童权利的保护程度，该保护标准需契合人权公约的相关规定。研究通过三大维度展开评估：一是检验泰国《2008年反人口贩运法》与其他相关政策之间的政策连贯性水平；二是评估泰国官员用于筛查贩运受害者的指南的实操可行性；三是考察泰国官员对柬埔寨乞讨儿童的态度是否会影响其在实际执法中采用权利导向方法（rights-based approach）还是需求导向方法（needs-based approach）。

本研究发现，泰国《2008年反人口贩运法》与《2003年儿童保护法》（Child Protection Act (2003)）、《2008年劳动保护法》（Labor Protection Act (2008)）及《2007年家庭暴力受害人保护法》（Domestic Violence Victim Protection Act (2007)）等其他相关政策具备较强的政策连贯性。尽管如此，该法与《1941年乞讨管制法》（Beggar Control Act (1941)）及《1979年移民法》（Immigration Act (1979)）却存在显著的政策冲突。研究表明，泰国《2008年反人口贩运法》与后两部法律的政策脱节，会深刻影响泰国官员在处置柬埔寨乞讨儿童时对权利导向或需求导向方法的选择。究其原因，部分官员将柬埔寨乞讨儿童视为贩运受害者，而另一部分则将其视作自愿移民、非法移民，或兼具双重身份。这种认知分歧使得筛查过程带有主观色彩，并直接决定了柬埔寨乞讨儿童是否会被泰国官方羁押。

通过对柬埔寨乞讨儿童的访谈调研可知，尽管在本研究样本中，泰国官员并未对每一名受访儿童都适用《2008年反人口贩运法》，但该做法或具备更强的实操性，能够满足绝大多数柬埔寨乞讨儿童的即时需求。尽管如此，该现状仍引发了担忧：应如何更有效地解决儿童乞讨问题的结构性根源。