Yala – The Southern Border Provinces Administrative Centre (SBPAC) is collecting DNA samples to help ‘stateless’ people get Thai citizenship.
Supanat Sirantawineti, Secretary General of the SBPAC, said his agency will take DNA samples in Yala, Pattani, Narathiwat, Satun, and Songkhla provinces. The tests will be conducted by the Central Institute of Forensic Science (CIFS) to prove the ethnicity of stateless people and help them acquire citizenship.
Without citizenship, individuals are deprived of their rights to healthcare, education, employment, and other basic welfare benefits provided by the government.
Stateless people who can’t provide enough proof to be granted citizenship must have their DNA tested, added Supanat.
He says the main cause of statelessness is parents’ failure to report the births of their children, which could stem from their lack of understanding of the law and procedures required.
