ThaiNGO

UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES (UNHCR)

INTERNAL / EXTERNAL VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT

Vacancy Announcement No. 02/2021   

Internal/External Circulation

Duration of the internship:    3 – 6 months

Expected start date:                 As soon as possible

Background information/Organizational Context

Thailand is not a signatory to the 1951 Convention/1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees and does not have a domestic protection framework in place for asylum seekers and refugees. Consequently, urban refugees and asylum-seekers who reside outside of camps do not have a legal right to stay in Thailand are treated as illegal migrants, placing them at risk of arrest and detention.

In the absence of a national asylum system in Thailand, UNHCR Thailand provides various protection services to meet the needs of urban refugees and asylum-seekers through the provision of emergency/life-saving health care, legal and social counseling, psycho-social support, supporting access to education (including Thai language classes), financial and other material support to refugees and asylum-seekers, including in detention. To that end, the Protection Intern will be tasked with providing weekly protection counselling to persons of concern as well as supporting the protection unit in a variety of tasks, including data entry, filing and archiving documentation and the referral of cases to appropriate services.

The Protection Intern is expected to work from the UNHCR office in Bangkok or other locations within Bangkok.

 Duties and Responsibilities:

The candidate will be part of the Protection Unit, under the overall supervision of the Protection Officer and direct supervision of the Associate Protection Officer.

Primary scope of assignment:

• Provide weekly protection counselling to urban refugees and asylum-seekers remotely via telephone or – subject to COVID-19 restrictions - in person at the Bangkok Refugee Centre with guidance from the Protection Unit;
• Refer refugees and asylum-seekers to UNHCR protection colleagues or to partner organizations to provide appropriate protection services;
• Assist Protection Unit in documenting and reporting counseling sessions, including data entry in the registration/proGres database, provided to urban refugees and asylum seekers; assist in translation of documents from English into Thai and vice and versa; a
• Support Protection Unit in carrying out Communication with Communities activities;
• Perform other tasks as assigned by the supervisor.

Qualifications and Experience:

• The candidate must be a recent graduate (those persons who completed their studies within one year of applying) or current student in a graduate/undergraduate school programme from a university or higher education facility accredited by UNESCO. The candidate must have completed at least two years of undergraduate studies in a field relevant or of interest to the work of the Organization.
• Knowledge of refugee law, international human rights law and humanitarian law is desirable.
• Knowledge of domestic immigration law is desirable.
• Previous experience in humanitarian work and/or translation is desirable.
• Excellent knowledge of English and Thai (reading and writing).

Eligibility

In order to be considered for an internship, candidates must meet the following eligibility criteria:

• Recent graduate (those persons who completed their studies within one year of applying) or current student in a graduate/undergraduate school programme from a university or higher education facility accredited by UNESCO; and
• Have completed at least two years of undergraduate studies in a field relevant or of interest to the work of the Organization.

An individual whose father, mother, son, daughter, brother or sister is a staff member of UNHCR, including a Temporary Appointment holder or a member of the Affiliate Workforce, is not eligible for an internship.

Benefits and Allowance

An internship will initially be granted for a minimum period of two months and may be extended for up to six months provided that the eligibility criteria continue to be met.

Interns who do not receive financial support from an outside party will receive an allowance in accordance with UNHCR’s Administrative Instruction to partially help to cover the cost of food, local transportation and living expenses. The benefits that the intern will receive are annual leave of 1.5 days per month and food & transportation allowance will be provided based on 30 calendar days.

Please submit your Motivation Letter, P.11 form, Curriculum Vitae and a copy of official ID card/national passport indicating the vacancy announcement number and position title to: THABAHR@unhcr.org

Only candidates under positive consideration will be contacted for a written test and/or interview.

UNHCR/P.11 and supplementary forms can be downloaded from:

https://www.unhcr.or.th/sites/default/files/u11/P11_UNHCR.docm and

https://www.unhcr.or.th/sites/default/files/u11/P11SUP_UNHCR.docm

Distribution:

- All UNHCR staff members in Thailand

- UN organizations in Thailand

- Specialized Agencies

- Diplomatic Missions

- International NGOs

- Non-government Organizations

- Embassies