The citizens of Pattani Province, especially the Muslim Malay often face discrimination in various forms, from limitations of human rights, limited access to education and employment, and difficulties for people with disabilities in accessing proper facilities. This discrimination caused injustice that undermined the social fabric of the region. In the face of these challenges, the role of communities is crucial to advocates for change and intermediaries in the fight for equality and justice. Asst. Prof. Dr. Anwar Koma organizes an outdoor learning system for Local Government class to visit some Non-Government Organization (NGO) in Pattani every week which have 8 students of Local Government. On August 1st, three intern Indonesian students also joined this class to visit the Minority Right Groups and Jaringan Mangsa Dari Undang-Undang Darurat (JASAD) community in Pattani. The intern Indonesian students come from different universities: Dewi Indah Berliana and Dayandri Trisatya Fatanabullah from the State University of Malang, Siti Latifah from STIT At-Taqwa Ciparay Bandung. The Non-Government Organization class aimed to explore and learn more about the collaborative work of this community based on their own experience directly.
Minority Rights Group (MRG) is a Non Government Organization which operates in more than 60 countries with a main focus on supporting minorities and indigenous peoples in defending their equality and justice rights to the lands they live in, to the languages they speak, to the beliefs they practice, to the cultures they enjoy, to equal opportunities in education and employment, and to full participation in public life.
“Equity is an important thing for all people,” said Mrs. Fitra as a leading representative of MRG.
Equity and Equality are key to achieving sustainable welfare for each country. The Community ensures that all population groups, including Malay Muslims and disabled people, have equal opportunities for access to education, employment and minority rights. To achieve this goal, the community has collaborated with more than 300 partner organizations in 60 countries. Jaringan Mangsa Dari Undang-Undang Darurat (JASAD) in Pattani is one of the communities that work together with MRG. The project collaboration will investigate and analyze the problems faced by individuals or communities in detail.
The reason is that everybody has their own needs. For example, the little boy shown in (image 2) on the right needs more help from 2 boxes to be able to stand up to see the match at the football stadium, while the boy in the middle only needs help from 1 box. So that is an important reason for the MRG and JASAD team to prioritize investigating and analyzing the needs of people from various backgrounds.
In addition to their efforts, Minority Rights Group has undertaken major projects aimed to achieve inclusive welfare and equality in Thailand’s southern border regions, such as Peace in Action: Promoting Peace through Youth Photography in Thailand’s Southern Border Provinces, and Movement on Disability Equality in Thailand’s Southern Border Provinces. Through these projects, MRG seeks to make a concrete contribution to the establishment of peace and equality in this minimized area of Pattani. All of the projects are aimed to help resolve the discrimination that minority groups in Thailand face. All of the projects are aimed to help resolve the discrimination against minority groups in Thailand. Although challenges are still big, the dedication of this community offers new hope for the future of Pattani Muslims.
Upon investigating the problems of the Pattani citizen, MRG Thailand has become one of the representatives to present the problems to be discussed with the Thai government and MRG from London, England. The meeting is conducted twice every year.
“Language is the power of rights in the international community, and it can be the power of this community to give statements, letters, reports and others correctly,” said Mrs. Fitra as a leading representative of MRG.
In the Pattani area, there are still many problems experienced by the minority peoples, so many communities have been established to overcome these problems like JASAD. Jaringan Mangsa Dari Undang-Undang Darurat (JASAD) is one of the NGO that focuses on helping empower Malay Muslims who are experiencing discrimination and violence in Pattani, Southern Thailand.
The community was founded by Mr. Abdullah Ngoh with the goal of solving sensitive issues and achieving peace and equality in the post-conflict Pattani area. He took the initiative to build this community because he also had a negative experience in the past due to the injustice that was experienced by the people of Pattani. Mr. Abdullah Ngoh was arrested three times by the Thai military on suspicion of being a rebel. During his time in prison, he was physically tortured for 35 days before he was released for being innocent. In the past, most Pattani people who are suspected of being rebels were also physically tortured.
“Nowadays, the torture methods attack more mentally than physically tortured,” said Mr. Abdullah Ngoh as a founder of JASAD community.
The JASAD community is active in investigating cases of rights violations experienced by the people of Pattani. In the immediate period following the arrest of suspected insurgents, JASAD members would visit the detainees to investigate the conditions and treatment they received from the Thai military. Data and observations from these investigations are used as evidence to support advocacy at national and international meetings, including meetings with the Thai government and the MRG in London. The staff who joined the JASAD community came from Pattani community initiatives as volunteers to fight for their minority rights.
“The MRG and JASAD community are able to solve their problems immediately, especially the minorities,” said Dayandri who is an Indonesia intern student.
Both communities are living examples of their efforts to fight injustice and fight for human rights in the equality of every Pattani. They worked not only to overcome the problems but also to help build a better future for the people of Pattani. The efforts of each community are of great help to the local people in the hope of achieving
equality and justice in the region.
More Information:
https://minorityrights.org/about-us/ https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064721677483&sk=about
Keywords : Human Rights, Discrimination, Minorities People, Non-Government Organization
Author : Dewi Indah Berliana as an intern student from State University of Malang
Indonesia under the supervision of Asst. Prof. Dr. Anwar Koma, Faculty of
Political Science, Prince of Songkla University, Pattani Campus
Reviewer : Dayandri Trisatya Fatanabullah Rasyid Muhammad Syavie Siti Latifah