Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2013, published 103rd ILC session (2014)

Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) - Yemen (Ratification: 2000)

Article 3 of the Convention. Worst forms of child labour. Clause (a). All forms of slavery or practices similar to slavery. Compulsory recruitment of children and forced or compulsory labour. The Committee previously noted that the Compulsory National Service Act No. 22 of 1990 and the General Reserve Act No. 23 of 1990 set the minimum age for military service at 18 years.

The Committee notes that section 149 of the Child Rights Act provides that the State shall comply with applicable international law norms for the protection of children in armed conflict by prohibiting children from bearing arms, protecting children from the effects of hostilities, ensuring that children are not involved directly in hostilities, and ensuring that no person below the age of 18 years is enlisted. The Committee notes from the Report of the United Nations Secretary-General to the Security Council that in 2012, the United Nations verified 53 reports of the recruitment and use of children between 13 and 17 years of age of which 25 boys were recruited by the government forces (A/67/845-S/2013/245, issued on 15 May 2013). The report of the Secretary-General also indicated that in 2012, 50 children (45 boys and five girls) were reportedly killed and 165 (140 boys and 25 girls) maimed.

The Committee notes, however, the Government’s statement in its initial report of 24 January 2013, to the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict (CRC on the OPAC, 2013) that the current legislation does not prescribe explicit, clear and specific penalties for involving children in armed conflict or conscripting children who are under the age of 18 years as well as for inciting children to commit weapon offences (CRC/C/OPAC/YEM/1, paragraph 116). The Committee also notes from the Government’s report to the CRC on the OPAC that in a comprehensive child protection assessment conducted by the Child Protection Sub Cluster and UNICEF in August 2010, 67.5 per cent of parents or caregivers in conflict-affected governorates of North Yemen reported that the recruitment of children had become an issue of serious and ongoing concern, while some 16.9 per cent of the caregivers interviewed reported that their sons had been forced to participate one way or the other in the armed conflict. Moreover, many internally displaced persons reported that armed groups in conflict zones systematically recruited children below 18 years of age. Lastly, community leaders in the Sa’dah governorate estimated that more than 20 per cent of Al-Huthi fighters and at least 15 per cent of the fighters in the Government-affiliated tribal militia were children under the age of 18 years.

The Committee expresses its deep concern at the persistence of this practice, especially as it leads to other grave violations of the rights of children, such as murder, sexual violence and abduction. The Committee, therefore, urges the Government to take immediate and effective measures to put an end, in practice, to the forced or compulsory recruitment of children for use in armed conflict and proceed with the full and immediate demobilization of all children. It also requests the Government to take the necessary measures to establish sufficiently effective and dissuasive penalties for the offences related to the use of children in armed conflict and to ensure that persons who forcibly recruit children under 18 years for use in armed conflict are prosecuted and punished.

Article 5. Monitoring mechanisms. The Committee previously noted with concern the findings of the first national Child Labour Survey carried out in 2010, that 50.7 per cent of child labourers were engaged in hazardous work of which the overwhelming majority (95.6 per cent) were employed in hazardous occupations and the rest in hazardous economic activities (that is, mining and construction). The Committee notes that the Government has not provided any information on the measures taken by the labour inspectorate with a view to securing the enforcement of the legal provisions relating to the employment of children and young persons. The Committee, therefore, once again urges the Government to take the necessary measures to adapt and strengthen the capacity of labour inspectors, including through the provision of sufficient financial resources, to detect cases of the worst forms of child labour, in particular, hazardous work.

Article 7(2). Effective and time-bound measures. Clauses (a) and (b). Preventing the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labour, removing them from such work and ensuring their rehabilitation and social integration. Children in armed conflict. The Committee notes from the Report of the United Nations Secretary-General to the Security Council (S/2013/383, paragraph 67) that on 18 April 2012, the Minister of the Interior sent a letter to the police and the relevant authorities in which he ordered the full implementation of the Police Commission Law No. 15 of 2000, which stipulated 18 years as the minimum age for recruitment and the release of any children within the government security forces. The Committee further notes from the report of the Secretary-General that the President has issued a decree to prohibit under age recruitment and immediately thereafter an inter-ministerial committee was established to serve as liaison for the development of an action plan to end the recruitment and use of children for armed conflict. The Committee urges the Government to ensure that the necessary measures are taken to comply with the instructions directed to the armed and security forces by the Ministry of the Interior regarding the release of children under the age of 18 years from the armed forces. The Committee further urges the Government to take effective and time-bound measures to ensure that children removed from armed groups and forces receive appropriate assistance for their rehabilitation and social integration, including reintegration into the school system or into vocational training.

The Committee is raising other points in a request addressed directly to the Government.

[The Government is asked to supply full particulars to the Conference at its 103rd Session and to reply in detail to the present comments in 2014.]