Pepperdine Global Justice Program

Armenia: Part II

by Mitchell Moses (JD '09) and Kerry Docherty (JD '09),

First, let me begin with an important point about Karabakh.  The main human rights issues occurred in the late 1980's and were the cause for the war.  Once of themes I will discuss later is the opinion of many countries in the region that the Armenians are an inferior race.  Thus, when land was reclaimed after the break up of the Union, there was a feeling that Armenians should not be entitled to anything.  For instance, Azeris would enter Karabakhi towns in large trucks.  In these trucks would be Azeri citizens and supplies.  The Azeri forces would literally remove the Karabakhi citizens from their town and replace them with Azeris.  All of their homes, agriculture, and their lives in general were taken and given to others.  The fear that such clensing will happen again is what motivates Karabakh to be self sufficient and protect its borders. 

It should not be overlooked that Karabakh is years away from achieving anything near the standards of health care and fairness that the West enjoys.  Infants still often die in the early days of their lives because of a lack of supplies and a general lack of knowledge on correct treatment practices.  Villagers, far removed from the city center and the only hospitals in the country, also often die from very simple and preventable ailments.  In the area of justice, the legal system is ever evolving and still prone to erroneous verdicts.  We met a young doctor who recently narrowly escaped medical malpractice charges for his part in delivering a still born baby.  The lack of historical jurisprudence makes it difficult for the country to make consistent decisions and easy for the courts to point blame.

The portion of our trip that took place in Yerevan, Armenia was quite different.  Again, we had the privilege of meeting very impressive government leaders but the city itself is much more modern.  We met with the Prime Minister and the Minister of Defense and heard their unique perspective on the recent events in Georgia and particularly South Ossetia.  The building that houses the Defense Department speaks volumes to country's opinon on the importance of the Department.  It is a beautiful new building on a large hill, over looking the city.  It serves as an intimidating statement to any foreign visitors. 

Armenians feel the need to make such a statement for valid reasons.  The Armenian Genocide was one of the most horrible events in human history and still goes unrecognized by the West, specifically the US and the UK.  The main perpetrators of the Genocide were the Turkish, and it appears the West is not willing to risk ruffling the feathers of an ally with valuable air space.  Many prominent Americans, and even California's government, have recognized the genocide, but our country as a whole still fails to do so.

The history of the genocide is a tedious and painful history to tell, so I will spare most of the details in this email.  In summary, it lasted from 1894 to 1918 and was effectuated in almost every means imaginable.  Entire cities were exterminated, able bodied men were asked to report for military service only to be shot, and innocent women and children were sent out of their towns only to die horrible deaths of starvation and exhaustion.  Our trip to the Genocide museum was very powerful and moving.  It put the importance the country places on its defense into perspective. 

Armenia: Part I

by Mitchell Moses (JD '09) and Kerry Docherty (JD '09),

Our trip was broken up into two distinct experiences.  Our first 4 days were spent in the independent Republic of Nagorno Karabakh.  Karabakh has been subject to war and occupation for the past century and is now recognized as part of Azerbaijan.  However, Karabakh's roots are in Armenia, over 90% of the population is of Armenian descent, and it does not consider itself part of Azerbaijan.  The events leading to the inclusion of Karabakh in Azerbaijan started immediately after World War I. 

As Commissioner of the Nationalities for the Soviet Union, Stalin was charged with appeasing the people of Georgia, Armenia, Turkey, and Azerbaijan regarding the issue of their physical territory.  Needless to say, the decisions he made were based on political maneuvering rather than territorial integrity or preference.  Historical maps show that Karabakh was/is clearly in the territory of Armenia.  Furthermore, the people of both countries supported the inclusion of Karabakh in Armenia.  Stalin ignored these issues and declared Karabakh as a part of Azerbaijan.  His decision centered on the Soviet Union's desire to keep Turkey satisfied, in hopes that it would become a communist nation. 

Turkey's strengh was also increased by the genocide it conducted against Aremnia and its resulting territorial gains.  Granting Karabakh to Azerbaijan further fulfilled Turkey's wish to eliminate Armenia as a country.

The above events occurred with little conflict because the entire region was under Soviet control.  However, the situation became volatile as the Union began to dissolve in the late 1980's, and the territorial lines of each country became very important, especially under the umbrella of religious conflict in the region.  Fighting broke out between Karabakhi/Armenia forces the Azeris almost immediately.  The initial desire was for Karabakh to reunite with Armenia, but that proved to be unlikely because of the Soviet defined Karabakh was 100% landlocked by Azerbaijan.  Thus, Karabakh declared its independence in late 1991 and fought a war for that independence from 1992 - 1994, ultimately emerging victorious.  In a War that resembled David and Galiath, Karabakh (population 150,000) defeated Azerbaijan (population 7 Million).

The host of our trip, Baroness Caroline Cox, traveled to Karabakh over 40 times during the War and gave aid of all kinds to the over matched country.  Her aid continued after the War in the form of a rehabilitation center.  The country suffered major casualties and lost almost 20% of its population, so rehabilitation was a primary area of focus for the country as it rebuilt itself.  One reason aid from people like Baroness Cox and her organization, Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust, is so important is that Karabakh is not recognized internationally as a country because of issues concerning territorial integrity.  The lack of recognition keeps many UN sponsored organizations from providing relief.  The Lady Cox Rehabilitation Center has helped thousands of people in its ten years, and a large part of our trip was celebrating the 10 year anniversary of the Center and collaborating to bring more Western health care practices to the country.  The highlight of our interaction with the Rehabilitation Center was visiting it and seeing all of the people who have been helped.  It was truly an inspiration to see how much can be achieved with so few resources.   

Other highlights of our visit to Stepanakert, Karabakh were a meeting with the Prime Minister, a State Dinner with the Speaker of Parliament, and a meeting with the Deputy Minister if International Relations.  Each member of the government gave us great insight into the political climate in the region and provided advice on how to form a relationship with Pepperdine and the country.  We are in the process of contacting our new friends and hope to report more on internship opportunities in the months to come.

As a final note on the Karabakh experience, it was an amazing experience to travel with Baroness Cox.  She is a national celebrity and is loved by all.  We could not walk down the street without a group of teary eyed men, women, and children approaching Lady Cox to give her hugs and kind words.  It was a beautiful example of the difference a single person can make.  

It's important to note that Karabakh and Armenia are Christian nations surrounded by Muslim countries.  Turkey's actions in the Armenian genocide and Azerbaijan's actions after the dissolution of the Union indicate that Karabakh and Armenia are defending their borders as a matter of self preservation, not one of territorial ambition. 

Through Their Eyes

By Brad Alexander (JD '10),

 

Staring into the eyes of an Afghan asylum seeker really put me in my place.  As I sat there, with him, in a Bulgarian detention center, I realized how any of my struggles in life were much less significant that those plaguing him every day.  He was less than twenty years old, and his application for refugee status in Bulgaria had been rejected.  He's been there ever since, stuck behind the same walls, for nearly three years of his young life.  The government keeps him in a constant state of limbo - threatening deportation but keeping him locked up, with no end or indication of change in sight.  For someone who was never formally educated, he knows five languages and was eager to converse in English with me.  He spoke of his home quietly, yet without fear.  He spoke of his long, difficult journey to flee violence and illegally enter Europe.  He spoke hopefully of the future, and his goal to one day enroll in a university.  Above all, what left the biggest impression on me was his readiness to smile.  He may have only been a teenager, but his ability to face every day with a positive outlook exposed a courage and maturity well beyond his years.

Law students leave lasting mark on Uganda's court system

By Joy McMillon
The Christian Chronicle

When college-bound Emily Smith of Oakridge, Tenn., left her family and friends at the Highland View church in 2003, she never dreamed that in a few years her path would take her not only to Searcy, Ark. and Malibu, Calif. — but also to Uganda.

“I knew when I entered law school that I wanted to use my legal education to help people,” Smith said.

This past summer she had an extraordinary opportunity to do just that.

The 2007 Harding University graduate was part of a group of 10 Pepperdine University law students who spent two months living in the capitol city of Kampala, assisting judges at the nation’s High Court and Court of Appeals. This is the second year Pepperdine law students have worked with the Ugandan courts.

Smith, a second-year law student, loves to travel and experience other cultures. She believes that international trips enlarge her perspective on God.

“We make our faith ethnocentric in our country,” she said, “but traveling gives you a sense of how big God is. He’s in Kampala as much as he is in Malibu.”

In Kampala, Pepperdine students were assigned to one of three courts — Criminal High Court, Commercial High Court or the Court of Appeals. Smith was assigned to the Court of Appeals, which hears cases on appeal from the High Courts.

As a clerk, her job was to help overburdened judges prepare for trial and write their judgments. Her days were spent reading and writing case summaries and researching Uganda law.

On a deeper level, the Pepperdine students hoped to right human rights abuses and focus on social justice Smith serves as the prayer coordinator of a Pepperdine chapter of International Justice Mission, a Washington D.C.-based human rights agency.

“In the Bible, when you read the messages of the prophets and the proverbs, you are always hearing God’s concern about the oppressed and injustice and judges that don’t judge rightly,” Smith said.

“It is interesting to me to think about what changes we can make that will make a system more just, the way God wants and intended it to be.”

In Uganda, the High Courts have a different organizational structure than that with which Smith and others were familiar. In the United States, judges are supported by entire staffs, including clerks who do much of the research and writing involved in delivering judgments.

But this East African country doesn’t have sufficient funding to provide judges with support staff or clerks; they must research, develop and write the decisions on their own. Additionally, High Courts have no court reporters to record trial proceedings, so the judges must hand-write notes.

“Consequently, the proceedings can only move as fast as the judge takes notes,” Pepperdine law student Greer Illingworth wrote in his blog about their experiences.

Soon after the students arrived in Kampala, a city of 1.5 million people, Illingworth discovered a serious problem — the Criminal High Court’s archive.

Archives are designed to serve as an area where law precedent is carefully stored, indexed and readily available to the judges. This archive, however, was located deep in the basement of the High Court’s building and consisted of hundreds of unorganized case files dumped into a dark and dirty closet.

“Dust allergens and the musty smell of water and neglect permeated the area,” Illingworth wrote.

After spending five days on their knees in the High Court’s grimy basement, students had sorted through, indexed and shelved hundreds of Ugandan criminal case files. At their urging, the storage area was fully cleaned and lighted, new shelves were added and a computer was placed in the archives to begin inputting the case files into an electronic database.

“The work in reorganizing the archives is a lasting contribution,” Smith said. “The cases stored there are now accessible and searchable. A digital system of judgments will make research easier and judgments stronger as they can be more heavily supported by precedent.”

In the basement, Illingworth said students stumbled across a turquoise book marked “Confidential,” amid the piles of legal papers. Curious, they soon realized that they had found hundreds of execution orders given by Idi Amin, military dictator and president of Uganda from 1971-1979.

Each page contained a death warrant bearing Amin’s signature and the subsequent medical report. According to human rights groups, Amin slaughtered hundreds of thousands of his fellow countrymen during the 1970s.

One of the most encouraging things Smith experienced was meeting other believers and visiting churches in Kampala, including a Church of Christ where missionaries Mark and Jamie Long serve. Smith worships at the University church in Malibu.

Ken Starr, dean of the Pepperdine School of Law, is pleased with this student-initiated program. “We are carefully considering how this program may expand to Uganda’s neighbors in the near future,” Starr said.

Smith had high praise for the Ugandan judges with whom the students worked.

“You always hear a lot about African corruption,” said Smith. “But all our justices were sincerely concerned about justice and wanted positive changes. They were well-educated and serving out of a sense of obligation to their country, not out of greed.”

The law students were thrilled to see several examples of Uganda’s legal system working for justice among the people — thanks in part to their efforts.

Smith said the students helped one woman reclaim land that had been taken by a church using falsified documents. In another instance, law student Micheline Zamora wrote an opinion for the Court of Appeals, which was accepted in its entirety and became Ugandan law. Zamora argued that the Ugandan government had not sufficiently met the elements of proof to charge a man for robbery. The man was freed from prison based on the students’ assessment.

Ordinarily, inmates in Uganda’s appalling prisons can expect to wait anywhere from six months to seven years before their trial or first hearing, Illingworth said. The students were overjoyed with the outcome.

Smith believes the law student’s presence in Uganda this summer had a positive effect on the Ugandan government’s perception of America, “They were so grateful for our work and encouraged to know that we came because we cared.”

Signing Off

by Jay Milbrandt (JD/MBA '08),

I arrived safely back at LAX this evening after what was a great trip. I feel that the trip was overall highly productive. Meetings with the International Justice Mission, Partners Relief & Development, Free Burma Rangers, Payap University School of Law, and the Garden of Hope created potential solutions to some of the problems I detailed in this blog, as well opening up many opportunities for Pepperdine and student internship placements.

On a more personal note, I feel that these trips always "center" me and remind me why we do what we do. It's reenergizing. I was apprehensive before the trip that great things were built up in my mind upon the foundations of my previous trip. I was worried I would be let down. That was certainly not the case. I could not have been happier and I wouldn't change a thing--unless changing something meant I could stay longer.

I am also happy with the blog. It was difficult to keep up. I wasn't always near the Internet and sometimes I had only a few minutes to write my post while running between commitments. My fast-paced schedule on this short trip left little time for writing and reflection. There is so much to tell that I feel I only scratched the surface with this blog.

So, where do we go from here? There is much to do. The non-profit will keep moving forward and taking on new cases, as well as dreaming about "big" new ideas. We have Pepperdine internship placements to be filled. We have some very interesting opportunities for our law school to get involved with legal issues in Burma, which I hope to begin following up on right away. We also have potential on-the-ground help in obtaining identification for the stateless families and children from Payap University School of Law and IJM. Finally, I did a lot of filming and interviewing regarding the issue of stateless children. If I got suitable footage, watch for a short documentary coming out this spring!

Thanks for following along. I'm always happy to answer any questions anyone might have, so feel free to email me. In about a week, this blog will be transformed into our Pepperdine Law Human Rights Blog, so check back then for more stories from our other adventures!

Lessons Learned

by Jay Milbrandt (JD/MBA '08),

I once read an interesting interview with Andre Agassi conducted by a young tennis pro. Sitting next to him on an airplane, the question posed to Mr. Agassi was: What is your biggest regret? The answer wasn’t a botched backhand or any tennis moment for that matter. Mr. Agassi’s immediate response was that he regretted not starting his non-profit organization earlier. His highly-regarded organization serves many children with disabilities.

This statement definitely resonated with me. I recommend to anyone reading this to go out and invest yourself in something that you think needs changing. It doesn’t have to be starting a major organization like Andre Agassi—it can be as simple as volunteering somewhere regularly or helping fund education for a few children who can’t otherwise go to school. Particularly, if you’re a law student, I really recommend taking a summer to work in our international human rights program or taking the youth mentoring class to mentor high schoolers in Los Angeles. No matter what you do, the investment can be highly rewarding.

I think as lawyers and future lawyers, we’re in a really good position to do this—particularly when it comes to funding programs. This week, I committed to funding the education of four-year-old Amey. I interviewed Amey’s mother this week and she promised me that Amey wouldn’t have to sell flowers in the red light district anymore if she could afford to go to school. On Friday night around midnight, I found her down one of the side streets of the red-light district. She was just standing there all alone, holding a bouquet of roses, and mesmerized by the flashing lights. As sad as it makes me to see her there, it’s a really good feeling to know we can fix it with just a few hundred dollars each year.

I also learned a lesson about what we can do as lawyers and future lawyers: Sometimes, it’s just about showing up. Especially when no one else will show up. Our legal instincts call us to seek justice when we see something unjust. It’s not always so simple, particularly when the rule of law fails us. In these instances, simply our presence can be most meaningful.

Throughout the week, I conducted a series of interviews with stateless street families. I was surprised at their willingness. They’re stateless: why should they risk telling anyone about their presence, especially with a video camera rolling. Yet, they agreed to the interview unabashedly—and almost seemed honored to have the opportunity to talk about their lives and circumstances. I’m guessing that no one has ever listened to them before. No one has probably cared to ask about their lives, their needs, and their dreams. I think just simply listening means a lot.

Just listening.

There may not always be a simple solution, but listening helps build a framework for solving problems. As one mother told me, “We just need three things: 1) identification, 2) a real home, and 3) a job that can put food on the table.” The first thing listed was legal status, even before shelter and food. Maybe Maslow missed something when he created his hierarchy of needs… I really don’t remember legal status—essentially being recognized as an existing person—listed in his pyramid. In the opinion of this family, if legal status could be secured, then needs two and three would flow quite easily.

Finally, you never know what you’re going to uncover when you listen. In one of my interviews, I picked up on the name of a foreigner who had some involvement with the street kids. Further inquiry revealed that this American man visits the Chiang Mai annually to abuse the kids on my street. No one knew because no one had asked. What I do know is that if you’re American and you’re abusing children, there are laws that can lock you up. Now we have something to work with.

Burma: What We Can Do

At 60 years, it’s the longest running civil war.  3,000+ villages have been destroyed.  Thousands murdered in ethnic cleansing.  2,000,000 refugees have fled and 1,000,000 are internally displaced.  For such a small country, the army is the 7^th largest in the world—with no external enemies.  It’s got the largest army of child soldiers and the most deployed landmines in the world—they can afford it when 50% of budget is dedicated to the army.  By the way, don’t get sick here: it’s 190 out of 191 in world health.  This is Burma.  Sadly, most of the world doesn’t know about these facts.  The genocide and internal war there has gone largely unacknowledged.  Thankfully, there are some organizations doing something about it.

I met two organizations yesterday afternoon: Partners Relief & Development and Free Burma Rangers.  Partners is a wonderful organization that does relief and capacity building in the refugee camps on the Thai side of the border.  The organization meets important needs for the refugees who literally have nowhere to go.  There may be some opportunity for Pepperdine Law to assist the work here by providing legal training in the camps—the refugees don’t know Thai, UNHCR regulations, or camp rules—all of which they are subject to.

The most exciting opportunity for us may be with Free Burma Rangers.  FBR is a group of ex-U.S. commandos that started a relief team running missions to help the Karen escape the army and document the struggle.  They have trained hundreds of other team members now, running missions throughout the country.  As their founder explained to me, they take the position that they are documenting everything—every village destroyed, every individual killed or abused—in order to have mounds of evidence available when these crimes can be brought before an international criminal tribunal.  And mounds of evidence they have—the room we met in was filled with video tapes and documentation.

They need two things: law students to organize all this documentation and a lawyer to bring this action before an international criminal tribunal.  Our meeting opened up some law student internship opportunities.  So, if you’re interested in constructing a legal case against a brutal dictatorship, please let me know.  They have tons of documentation, but no one to piece it together.  I have no expertise on what the process is for bring an action in an international criminal tribunal.  However, there is a law professor from another school that has set out the groundwork for bringing this action.  It sounds like they still need the right person to try the case.

I think that we can make a very tangible difference in Burma through these opportunities—particularly in building the legal case.  I’m bringing many DVDs and written materials home with me, so be prepared for my pitch to get involved.

Why It's Worthwhile

by Jay Milbrandt (JD/MBA '08),

The streets are dirty and muddy. It rains here everyday. You would probably never know the slum areas exist here in Chiang Mai--it's a resort town and the resort facade is strong. I step cautiously through the mud to keep my balance as I approach one of the homes. Some of the huts are bamboo with thatched roofs; some have patchwork tin walls. None are in good shape. Everything inside was what I might expect in this place--everything, that is, except my photo hanging on the wall. Definitely not what I expected to find!

Behind the scenes in Chiang Mai's shanty areas.

I wasn't sure what my reception would be when I returned to Chiang Mai--particularly on the street where I worked last year. However, it was a great homecoming. On Monday night, after returning from the border, I passed the stoop where we used to hold children's outreach. It was filled with Akha women and children. To my surprise, they remembered me. Some of the mothers ran up to say hello in their native tongue and shake my hand.

I continued down the street, hoping to see some of the children that I missed. Suddenly, about 10 feet in front of me was Amey--one of the kids I as closest to. I froze. Then she froze. Then, she came sprinting and jumped into my arms. It was a great moment. On Tuesday afternoon, Fern came to the Garden of Hope Drop-In-Center. I saw her walk up to the gate and I ran out. Her mouth dropped and she came running.

It was good to be remembered and greeted with such enthusiasm from the children. It makes all the effort to keep in touch with them very rewarding. It was even more rewarding to see how the kids had progressed. They spoke more English, their conversation skills improved, and were generally maturing very well.

A video clip about the children, which I made last year for the Garden of Hope.

The most poignant example came from visiting Ami at her school—there she was in uniform at one of the best Christian schools in Chiang Mai. It was hard to imagine a world in which she couldn’t have this education, but if we wouldn’t have intervened, that would have been the case. But, when I see Faifah’s situation, I know the consequences of inaction.

Ami can go to school!!! She's got a uniform!!

I wish that I would have been here a year or two earlier to intervene with Faifah, or find someone to advocate on her behalf in jail. If that could have been the case, I feel Faifah too could have been saved a lot of trouble. Thankfully, Ami has been spared. When I see her in her school uniform, I know that everything will be alright.

I don’t know if the other kids will be alright though—the Garden of Hope Drop-In-Center is a really good environment—it gets the kids off the street. Yet, there are still some key components missing. A lot of the problems that occur happen at home or late at night—abuse from deadbeat step-fathers is the case almost universally, teenage pregnancy is extremely common due to vulnerability from, and, of course vulnerability from adults, both foreign and nationals. A lot of the kids have been snatched right off the street and taken for a few days. My research has also turned up some foreign predators taking advantage of the children here. All of the children have been solicited, by the way.



I want to cast a vision of what I think needs to be done here. There is a large, unfulfilled need for a dorm to house these children. The children shouldn’t have to live in the “houses” in the slums. They shouldn’t have to live on the streets. They shouldn’t have to be in fear every night of what might happen to them at home or as they go about life. This need is based both on my observations, interviews, and discussions with my friends here who want to start such a facility. If anyone out there wants to take about 100 kids off the street, let me know. I'll take you to Thailand, you can meet the kids, and see why it's all worthwhile.

Defending the Cause of the Fatherless

by Jay Milbrandt (JD/MBA '08),

Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow. Isaiah 1:17.

In Northern Thailand, there's no one to defend the fatherless. Many of the children I know have been thrown into jail because they did not possess papers. Although I sympathize with limiting the flow of illegal immigration, the response has been inhumane and illegal. The problem is, there's no one to advocate for the rights of children. I'll be documenting the stories of some of these kids of the course of this trip, then offering some suggested ideas later. In the meantime, I want to briefly layout some issues that I've been learning about so far.

In Violation of the UN Convention on Rights of the Child

I acquired these are original photos of actions violating the Rights of the Child. They were taken when some of the kids I know, including Faifah, were detained. Thailand was a signatory to the 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

In part, the Convention states:

• Article 36: States Parties shall protect the child against all other forms of exploitation prejudicial to any aspects of the child's welfare.

• Article 37: State Parties shall ensure that:

1. No child shall be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Neither capital punishment nor life imprisonment without possibility of release shall be imposed for offenses committed by persons below eighteen years of age;

2. No child shall be deprived of his or her liberty unlawfully or arbitrarily. The arrest, detention or imprisonment of a child shall be in conformity with the law and shall be used only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time;

3. Every child deprived of liberty shall be treated with humanity and respect for the inherent dignity of the human person, and in a manner which takes into account the needs of persons of his or her age. In particular, every child deprived of liberty shall be separated from adults unless it is considered in the child's best interest not to do so and shall have the right to maintain contact with his or her family through correspondence and visits, save in exceptional circumstances;

4. Every child deprived of his or her liberty shall have the right to prompt access to legal and other appropriate assistance, as well as the right to challenge the legality of the deprivation of his or her liberty before a court or other competent, independent and impartial authority, and to a prompt decision on any such action.

The photos and stories I am collecting directly contradict subparts 2, 3, and 4.

In Violation of the UN Convention on Rights of the Child

Violations of Subpart 2:

The children are being detained anywhere from two weeks to one month. Faifah explained that she was detained 18 days. By no means is this the shortest appropriate length of time.

Violations of Subpart 3:

The photo here shows a young girl--maybe 3 or 4 packed into the jail cell alongside other adults. The convention requires that children be separated from adults, but this has not been done. Faifah testified that when she was taken to Mae Sai—the Thai border city—they were in separate cells by gender, but not children from adults. She said that some of the adults would take their clothes off, which made her very uncomfortable.

Violations of Subpart 4:

The children and their families were given no prompt assistance and no right to challenge their citizenship. Since they had no papers to show, they were simply deported to Burma. In my interview with the stepfather of one of my children, he testified that he was born in a hilltribe village in Thailand—giving him the right to be a Thai citizen. Yet, he did not have papers, so he was given no hearing or forum to prove his immigration status. When I asked whether they had a hearing or attorney present, the response was a blank stare and confusion—the concept was totally foreign

Conclusion

At the end of my interview with one family, I asked if they had anything further they would like to share. “We don’t want to talk about the time we spent in jail because it is too difficult,” the mother replied. “But we were treated like pigs and fed like pigs.” This statement summarized the situation. The hilltribe families, and particularly the children, were being treated like animals—rounded up, packed into cages, then shipped off. The problem will continue until there is someone here to encourage them, to defend them, and to plead for them.

I’m leaving now for a meeting with the dean of a local law school. I’m planning to discuss the possibility of a legal aid clinic for children the families. If the right pieces could fall together and local law students would get on board, this clinic would help children and families with citizenship documents, street law rights, and public defense. It would provide a place for access to justice and someone to defend their rights before the above violations occur.