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

Indigenous and Tribal Populations Convention, 1957 (No. 107) - Syrian Arab Republic (Ratification: 1959)

The Committee notes the general human rights situation in the country as referred to in its comments under Convention No. 105. It also notes that the Government’s report has not been received. It hopes that a report will be supplied for examination by the Committee at its next session and that it will contain full information on the matters raised in its 2008 direct request, which read as follows:

Repetition

Articles 2 and 5 of the Convention. Promoting the social, economic and cultural development of the Bedouin population. The Committee notes from the Government’s report that various projects concerning the Bedouin population are being implemented in the country, including the project for the development of the desert. The Committee notes, in particular, that the project for the development of the Syrian Desert in various governorates, such as Daraa, El Heska, Aleppo, and El Sweida, which started in 1999, has endorsed a participatory approach. Recalling the obligation under Article 5 of the Convention to seek the collaboration of indigenous populations and their representatives when taking measures to give effect to the provisions of the Convention, the Committee requests the Government to indicate in which manner the Bedouin population and its representatives have been, and are involved, in the formulation, implementation and assessment of the projects mentioned in the Government’s report. Please also provide information on the impact of these projects on the promotion of the social, economic and cultural development of the Bedouin population and on their enjoyment of the rights and opportunities provided by the national legal framework on an equal footing with the rest of the national population.

Article 21. Education. The Committee notes the programmes “Boarding schools for the children of the desert” and “Mobile schools–caravans” designed to allow Bedouin children to pursue education while maintaining their nomadic way of life. It also notes the specific project aimed at reducing girls’ drop-out rates which is implemented, in collaboration with UNICEF, in the northern and eastern governorates. The Committee further notes the initiative taken to replace mud schools, but understands that while these schools were removed, less than half of them were actually replaced with prefabricated structures. The Committee, however, notes that the installation of further prefabricated schools is envisaged. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on these and similar initiatives and on their impact on ensuring that Bedouin children are given the same opportunity to acquire education at all levels as the other segments of the population. Please also provide information, when possible, on the number of Bedouin boys and girls benefiting from these education programmes and indicate whether the Bedouin population is involved in the shaping of the curricula.

Article 26. Awareness raising. The Committee invites the Government to indicate the measures taken, in a form appropriate to the circumstances, to raise the Bedouin population’s awareness of their rights under the Convention.