Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2018, published 108th ILC session (2019)

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. Sale and trafficking of children. The Committee previously noted from the Government’s fourth periodic report of October 2012 to the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) that draft amendments to the Code of Offences and Penalties had included a new section entitled “child exploitation offences” which provides penalties for the offences related to the sale and trafficking of children for the purpose of illegal exploitation (CRC/C/YEM/4, paragraph 524). The Committee also noted that according to section 26 of Ministerial Order No. 11 of 2013 (Ministerial Order No. 11), any person who buys, sells or disposes of a child under the age of 18 years for exploitation shall be sentenced to imprisonment for a minimum period of ten years and for a maximum period of 15 years.

The Committee notes the information from a report of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime of July 2018 that, in Yemen, children are usually trafficked to the Gulf States as well as from rural to urban areas for the purposes of forced labour or sexual exploitation. The Committee also notes that the CRC, in its concluding observations of February 2014, expressed serious concern that Yemen is a source country for children trafficked to neighbouring countries, in particular Saudi Arabia. The CRC further expressed concern at the cases of trafficking of girls for the purpose of sexual exploitation under the guise of so called “tourism marriages” or “temporary marriages” as well as for the purposes of prostitution in hotels and clubs within the country (CRC/C/YEM/CO/4, paragraph 81). The Committee urges the Government to take the necessary measures to combat trafficking in children, and to ensure that thorough investigations and robust prosecutions are carried out for persons who engage in the trafficking of children and that sufficiently effective and dissuasive sanctions are imposed. The Committee once again requests the Government to provide information on the practical application of section 26 of Ministerial Order No. 11 indicating the number of investigations, prosecutions, convictions and penal sanctions applied for the offences related to the trafficking of children. It also requests the Government to provide information on any developments made with regard to the adoption of the amendments to the Code of Offences and Penalties and to supply a copy thereof.

Clause (d). Hazardous work. With regard to the minimum age for hazardous work, the Committee refers to its detailed comments under the Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138).

Article 5. Monitoring mechanisms. In its previous comments, the Committee noted the statement made by the Government representative of Yemen to the Conference Committee in 2014 that the Yemeni Government was in a difficult situation due to the economic problems, armed conflict and violence that had resulted in the destabilization of the country and which led people to resort to the illegal recruitment and exploitation of children. The Government representative further stated that, while up to 2010, the number of children in child labour was around 600,000, this number has currently reached 1.5 million. The Committee also noted that the Conference Committee noted with serious concern the high number of children engaged in child labour in the country, the majority of whom were employed in hazardous occupations, including agriculture, the fishing industry, mining and construction. The Conference Committee requested the Government to strengthen the capacity and expand the reach of the labour inspectorate in enforcing Ministerial Order No. 11 on hazardous work prohibited to children under the age of 18 years, including in rural areas. In this regard, the Committee noted the Government’s indication that no convictions or penalties were issued against persons found in violation of the Order due to the prevailing political situation in the country and that the provisions of Ministerial Order No. 11 had not yet been put into effect since the child labour monitoring unit was encountering difficulties in carrying out its tasks due to security reasons as well as a lack of financial resources and qualified personnel.

The Committee notes the Government’s statement, in its report under the Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81), that financial resources are limited due to the impact of the war and that the Government is facing a difficult economic situation. The Government further indicates that once stability returns, funding will be allocated to support inspection and enable it to carry out its tasks of monitoring the application of labour legislation. While acknowledging the difficult situation prevailing in the country, the Committee once again urges the Government to take the necessary measures to strengthen the functioning of the labour inspectorate by providing it with adequate human and financial resources in order to enable it to monitor the effective implementation of the national provisions giving effect to the Convention, in all sectors where the worst forms of child labour exist. It once again urges the Government to take the necessary measures to put into effect Ministerial Order No. 11 of 2013, without delay and to ensure that persons who infringe the provisions of this Ministerial Order are prosecuted and that sufficiently effective and dissuasive sanctions are applied. It requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken in this regard and on the results achieved.

Article 6. Programmes of action. Trafficking. The Committee previously noted from the Government’s fourth periodic report to the CRC of 2012 that a national plan to combat child smuggling was endorsed by the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood.

The Committee notes that the Government’s report does not contain any information with regard to the implementation of this national action plan. The Committee notes, however, that according to the concluding observations of the CRC of February 2014, a National Committee for Combating Human Trafficking was established by Decree No. 6 of 2013 (CRC/C/YEM/CO/4, paragraph 4). The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the activities of the National Committee for Combating Human Trafficking in preventing and combating trafficking of children and the results achieved.

Article 7(2). Effective and time-bound measures. Clauses (a) and (b). Preventing the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labour, direct assistance for the removal of children from the worst forms of child labour and providing for their rehabilitation and social integration. Trafficking. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that the CRC, in its concluding observations on the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, expressed its concern at the scarce availability of social reintegration and physical and psychological recovery measures for child victims, including child victims of trafficking, prostitution and child pornography (CRC/C/OPSC/YEM/CO/1, paragraphs 27 and 53).

The Committee notes that the Government does not provide any information in this regard. The Committee notes the information from a report from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) that approximately 13 per cent of the cases of trafficking identified by the IOM in 2015 were children. Among the victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation, nearly one in five were children, and among the victims trafficked for labour, 4 per cent were children. This report further indicates that the IOM has offered its support to the Government in areas including victim protection and prevention activities focusing on child exploitation and capacity building. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the effective and time-bound measures taken to prevent children from becoming victims of trafficking and to remove them from this worst form of child labour. It also requests the Government to provide information on the specific measures taken for the rehabilitation and social integration of these children, including the measures taken with support from the IOM, and to supply information on the number of victims of trafficking under the age of 18 who have been identified and have received rehabilitative assistance, shelter and other services.

Clause (d). Identify and reach out to children at special risk. Internally displaced and migrant children. The Committee notes from the UNICEF report entitled Falling through the Cracks: The Children of Yemen, March 2017, that there are an estimated 1.6 million internally displaced children and returnees in Yemen. It also notes from a report of the IOM that in 2016, an estimated 107,000 migrants and refugees, including children, came from the Horn of Africa to Yemen, despite wide-scale conflict. The report further indicates that many of the victims of trafficking identified by the IOM in 2016, were child migrants. Considering that internally displaced and migrant children are at an increased risk of being engaged in the worst forms of child labour, the Committee urges the Government to take effective and time-bound measures to protect these children from the worst forms of child labour, and to provide information on the measures taken in this regard and on the results achieved.

Application of the Convention in practice. The Committee previously noted from the Government’s fourth report to the CRC of 2012 that the labour department at the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour was in the process of establishing a national database on child labour (CRC/C/YEM/4, paragraph 48). Noting the absence of information in the Government’s report, the Committee once again requests the Government to provide information on any progress made in establishing a national database on child labour.