Senate move to ease rules on volunteers
Regulations violate charter, says
panel
http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/19Dec2002_news27.html
Mongkol Bangprapa
ASenate committee has urged the Labour Department to scrap
regulations which make it tougher to attract foreign NGO volunteers.
Chirmsak Pinthong, head of the senate committee on public participation,
said Thai NGOs had complained that it was hard to attract foreign
volunteers.
The constitution gave people the right to set up organisations and the
regulations were at odds with that.
The regulations put locally-registered NGOs on the same footing as
foreign-based ones if they drew their funding from foreign groups or
individuals.
NGOs, even local ones, found themselves having to seek approval from police
or other state agencies before arranging meetings. Securing work permits and
visas for foreign volunteers was also hard.
Srisuwan Khuankachorn, secretary-general of the NGO coordinating committee,
said most local NGOs had to rely on foreign financial donations to sustain
their operations. Volunteers were needed to communicate with organisations
abroad.
NGOs found it hard to mobilise funding locally and the government was not
willing to lend financial
assistance.
The groups were forced to disregard regulations about holding meetings but
they ended up encountering problems with authorities.
Mr Chirmsak said the Labour Ministry should revoke the regulations to avoid
trouble in the Administrative Court for administrative abuse.
NGOs could also complain to the Senate and the ministry would be
investigated for abuse of authority.
Mr Chirmsak said the regulations were drafted 10 years ago to keep East
Timorese renegade movements from meeting in Thailand. But now those security
concerns had subsided and even the National Security Council admitted the
regulations were no longer needed on security grounds. Labour Minister Suwat
Liptapanlop said it would be jumping to conclusions to assume the
regulations ran counter to the law. He would look at what could be done. |
