Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) - Syrian Arab Republic (Ratification: 2003)

Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2023, published 112nd ILC session (2024)

The Committee notes with deep concern that the Government’s report has not been received. It expects that the next report will contain full information on the matters raised in its previous comments. The Committee informs the Government that, if it has not supplied replies to the points raised by 1 September 2024, then it may proceed with the examination of the application of the Convention on the basis of the information at its disposal at its next session.

Repetition

Articles 3(a) and 5 of the Convention. Sale and trafficking of children and monitoring mechanisms. In its previous comments, the Committee noted the Government’s information that the Department of Combating Trafficking in Persons established pursuant to Law No. 3 of 2010 had carried out several inspection campaigns to monitor trafficking in persons, in particular trafficking in children. According to the statistical data provided by the Government, only 21 cases relating to trafficking in children were reported from 2010 to 2014. The Committee noted, however, that the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), in its concluding observations of July 2014, expressed concern that trafficking in women and girls has increased during the conflict and that they are at high risk of trafficking for purposes of sexual exploitation (CEDAW/C/SYR/CO/2, paragraph 33).

The Committee notes with regret that the Government does not provide information on this issue in its report. It notes that, according to the 2016 report of the International Centre for Migration Policy Development entitled “Targeting Vulnerabilities; The Impact of the Syrian War and Refugee Situation on Trafficking in Persons: A Study of Syria, Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq”, while official statistics on trafficking cases identified by the authorities would suggest a minor or negligible impact of the Syrian war on trafficking in all five countries, the desk and field research conducted in the context of the study paints an entirely different picture. According to the report, while the potential trafficking cases identified through research, other than the official statistical data, have not been determined by law enforcement or state social services to be actual trafficking cases, indicators and elements of adult and child trafficking crimes have been analysed in order to shed light on the significant proportion of trafficking cases that have never come to the attention of the responsible authorities. The study reveals that worst forms of child labour, child trafficking for labour exploitation, exploitation through begging and trafficking for sexual exploitation affected children in the five countries before the war, but have now particularly increased among Syrians. The incidence of trafficking in persons and the nature and magnitude of vulnerabilities to trafficking (such as impoverishment, lack of income, lack of access to services and more) are particularly related to the sheer magnitude of the displacement of people (6.6 million people are reported to be internally displaced with the Syrian Arab Republic) and partly to the legal, policy, infrastructural, security and socio-economic contexts of the countries under study, including the Syrian Arab Republic. While acknowledging the difficult situation prevailing in the country, the Committee urges the Government to take the necessary measures to prevent the sale and trafficking of children under 18 years of age for sexual and labour exploitation, and to provide information on the measures taken in this regard. The Committee also requests the Government to provide updated information on the number of cases concerning the sale of children and child trafficking that have been reported by the Department of Combating Trafficking in Persons, as well as on the investigations, prosecutions, convictions and sanctions applied relating to this worst form of child labour.

Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2023, published 112nd ILC session (2024)

The Committee notes with deep concern that the Government’s report has not been received. It is therefore bound to repeat its previous comments. The Committee informs the Government that, if it has not supplied replies to the points raised by 1 September 2024, then it may proceed with the examination of the application of the Convention on the basis of the information at its disposal at its next session.

Repetition

Article 3 of the Convention. Worst forms of child labour. Clause (a). All forms of slavery or similar practices. Forced recruitment of children for use in armed conflict. The Committee previously noted that the Syrian Arab Republic had adopted a series of legislative reforms such as Law No. 11/2013 which criminalizes all forms of recruitment and the use of children under the age of 18 years by armed forces and armed groups. It noted, however, that numerous armed groups in the Syrian Arab Republic, including the Free Syrian Army affiliated groups (FSA), the Kurdish People Protection Units (YPG), Ahrar al-Sham, Islamic State in Iraq and Sham/the Levant (ISIS/ISIL) and other armed groups were reportedly recruiting and using children for logistics, handling ammunition, manning checkpoints and as combatants.

The Committee notes the Government’s indication in its report that armed terrorist groups recruit children and involve them in violence and exploit them sexually. The Committee notes that, according to the report of the Secretary-General on the situation of human rights in the Syrian Arab Republic of 9 June 2016 (A/70/919, paragraphs 50–52), from early 2015, UNICEF verified 46 cases of recruitment (43 boys, one girl, two unknown): 21 were attributed to ISIL, 16 to non-state armed opposition groups, five to armed groups affiliated with the Government, two (including a girl) to YPG, and two to government forces. UNICEF reported that children were increasingly recruited at younger ages (some as young as 7 years old) by non-state armed groups. Children’s participation in combat was widespread and some armed opposition groups forced children to carry out grave human rights abuses, including executions and torture, while government forces allegedly submitted children to forced labour or used them as human shields. The Secretary-General also refers to reports from the OHCHR, according to which ISIL publicly announced, on 11 December 2015, the already known existence of a children’s section among its ranks, the “Cubs of the Caliphate”. The OHCHR also received allegations that ISIL was encouraging children between 10 and 14 years of age to join, and that they were training children in military combat.

The Committee further notes that, according to the report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict of 20 April 2016 (2016 report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict, A/70/836-S/2016/360, paragraphs 148–163), a total of 362 cases of recruitment and use of children were verified (the Secretary-General indicates that the figures do not reflect the full scale of grave violations committed by all parties to the conflict), and attributed to ISIL (274), the Free Syrian Army and affiliated groups (62), Liwa’ al Tawhid (11), popular committees (five), YPG (four), Ahrar al-Sham (three), the Nusrah Front (two) and the Army of Islam (one). Of the verified cases, 56 per cent involved children under 15 years of age, which represents a significant increase compared with 2014. The Secretary-General further indicates that the massive recruitment of children by ISIL continued, and that centres in rural Aleppo, Dayr al-Zawr and rural Raqqah existed that provided military training to at least 124 boys between 10 and 15 years of age. Verification of the use of child foreign fighters increased as well, with 18 cases of children as young as 7 years of age. In addition, the recruitment and use of children as young as 9 years of age by the Free Syrian Army was also verified, as well as the recruitment of 11 Syrian refugee children from neighbouring countries by Liwa’ al-Tawhid, and the YPG continued to recruit boys and girls as young as 14 years of age for combat roles. Recruitment and use by pro-government groups was also verified, with five cases of boys being recruited by the Popular Committee of Tallkalah (Homs) to work as guards and conduct patrols. In addition, there were allegations of the use of children by government forces to man checkpoints.

The Committee must once again deeply deplore the use of children in armed conflict in the Syrian Arab Republic, especially as it entails other violations of the rights of the child, such as abductions, murders and sexual violence. It once again recalls that, under Article 3(a) of the Convention, the forced or compulsory recruitment of children under 18 years of age for use in armed conflict is considered to be one of the worst forms of child labour and that, under Article 1 of the Convention, member States must take immediate and effective measures to secure the elimination of the worst forms of child labour as a matter of urgency. While acknowledging the complexity of the situation prevailing on the ground and the presence of armed groups and armed conflict in the country, the Committee once again strongly urges the Government to take measures, using all available means, to ensure the full and immediate demobilization of all children and to put a stop, in practice, to the forced recruitment of children under 18 years of age into armed forces and groups. The Committee once again urges the Government to take immediate and effective measures to ensure that thorough investigations and robust prosecutions of all persons who forcibly recruit children under 18 years of age for use in armed conflict are carried out, and that sufficiently effective and dissuasive penalties are imposed in practice, pursuant to Law No. 11 of 2013. It requests the Government to provide information on the number of investigations conducted, prosecutions brought and convictions handed down against such persons.

Article 7(2). Effective and time-bound measures. Clause (a). Preventing the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labour. Access to free basic education. The Committee previously noted that, with approximately 5,000 schools destroyed in the Syrian Arab Republic, the resulting sharp decline in children’s education continued to be a matter of great concern among the population. This report also indicated that more than half of Syrian school-age children, up to 2.4 million, were out of school as a consequence of the occupation, destruction and insecurity of schools.

The Committee notes that, according to the 2016 report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict (paragraph 157), the number of schools destroyed, partially damaged, used as shelters for internally displaced persons or rendered otherwise inaccessible has reached 6,500. The report refers to information from the Ministry of Education, according to which 571 students and 419 teachers had been killed in 2015, and from the United Nations that 69 attacks on educational facilities and personnel were verified and attributed to all fronts, which killed and maimed 174 children. The Committee further notes that, according to the report of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons on his mission to the Syrian Arab Republic of 5 April 2016 (A/HRC/32/35/Add.2, paragraphs 50–53), a further 400,000 children were at risk of dropping out of school as a direct result of conflict, violence and displacement. While basic education facilities were in place in the displacement centres visited by the Special Rapporteur, such centres, often using school buildings, offer only limited educational facilities.

According to the same report, UNICEF is working with local partners to reach some 3 million children and has implemented an informal education programme to reduce the number of children out of school. The inter-agency initiative “No Lost Generation” is a self-learning programme aimed at reaching 500,000 children who missed out on years of schooling. In areas hosting high numbers of displaced children, UNICEF is also rehabilitating 600 damaged schools and creating 300 prefabricated classrooms to accommodate 300,000 additional children. The Committee further notes that, according to UNICEF’s 2016 Annual Report on the Syrian Arab Republic, UNICEF’s interventions in education, focusing on quality, access and institutional strengthening, contributed to an increase in school enrolment from 3.24 million children (60 per cent of school-age population) to 3.66 million (68 per cent) between 2014–15 and 2015–16. These efforts also resulted in a decrease in the number of out-of-school children from 2.12 million (40 per cent) in 2014–15 to 1.75 million (32 per cent) in 2015–16.

Nevertheless, the Committee notes that, in his report, the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons declares that the challenge of providing even basic education access to many internally displaced children is immense and many thousands of children are likely to remain out of education in the foreseeable future (A/HRC/32/35/Add.2, paragraph 53). The Committee is, therefore, once again bound to express its deep concern at the large number of children who are deprived of education because of the climate of insecurity prevailing in the country. While acknowledging the difficult situation prevailing in the country, the Committee urges the Government to strengthen its efforts and take effective and time-bound measures to improve the functioning of the educational system in the country and to facilitate access to free basic education for all Syrian children, especially in areas affected by armed conflict, and giving particular attention to the situation of girls. It requests the Government to provide information on concrete measures taken in this regard.

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. 1. Children affected by armed conflict. The Committee previously noted that the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict in the Syrian Arab Republic had become common and that a great majority of the children recruited are trained, armed and used in combat.

The Committee notes the Government’s indication that the competent authorities in the Syrian Arab Republic seek to care for children recruited in armed conflict and to help them return to ordinary life. However, the Committee notes with deep concern that the situation in the Syrian Arab Republic has not changed and that not only are there no reports of children having been withdrawn from armed forces and groups in the 2016 report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict but that, according to this report, children continue to be recruited and used in armed conflict. The Committee, therefore, strongly urges the Government to take effective and time-bound measures to prevent the engagement of children in armed conflict and to rehabilitate and integrate former child combatants. It once again requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken in this regard and on the number of children rehabilitated and socially integrated.

2. Sexual slavery. The Committee previously noted that ISIS abducted hundreds of Yazidi women and girls, most of whom were sold as “war booty” or given as “concubines” to ISIS fighters, and that dozens of girls and women were transported to various locations in the Syrian Arab Republic, including Al Raqqah, Al Hasakah and Dayr az Zawr, where they were kept in sexual slavery.

The Committee notes with regret the absence of information in the Government’s report on this issue. It notes that, according to the report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic of 15 June 2016 entitled “They came to destroy: ISIS Crimes Against the Yazidis” (A/HRC/32/CRP.2), ISIS has sought to destroy the Yazidis through such egregious human rights violations as killings, sexual slavery, enslavement, torture and mental harm. The report indicates that over 3,200 women and children are still held by ISIS. Most are in the Syrian Arab Republic where Yazidi girls continue to be sexually enslaved and Yazidi boys indoctrinated, trained and used in hostilities. The report reveals that captured Yazidi women and girls over the age of 9 years are deemed the property of ISIS and are sold in slave markets or, more recently through online auctions, to ISIS fighters. While held by ISIS fighters, these Yazidi women and girls are subjected to brutal sexual violence and regularly forced to work in their houses, in many instances forced to work as domestic servants of the fighter and his family. The Committee deeply deplores the fact that Yazidi children continue to be victims of sexual slavery and forced labour. While acknowledging the difficult situation prevailing in the country, the Committee strongly urges the Government to take effective and time-bound measures to remove Yazidi children under 18 years of age who are victims of forced labour and sexual exploitation and to ensure their rehabilitation and social integration. It once again requests the Government to provide information on specific measures taken in this regard, and the number of children removed from sexual exploitation and rehabilitated.

Clause (d). Identifying and reaching out to children at special risk. Internally displaced children. The Committee previously noted that, by early 2013, there were 3 million children displaced and in need of assistance inside the Syrian Arab Republic.

The Committee notes that, according to the report of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons on his mission to the Syrian Arab Republic of 5 April 2016 (A/HRC/32/35/Add.2, paragraph 67), the extent of the conflict and displacement has had a massive impact on children, many of whom have experienced violence first-hand and/or witnessed extreme violence, including the killing of family members and/or separation from family members. The Special Rapporteur indicates that child protection concerns and issues, including child labour resulting from parents’ loss of livelihood, trafficking, sexual and gender-based violence and early and forced marriage, continue to be reported. Children have also been recruited and used by different parties to the conflict, both in combat and support roles. Observing with concern that internally displaced children are at an increased risk of being engaged in the worst forms of child labour, the Committee once again strongly urges the Government to take effective and time-bound measures to protect these children from the worst forms of child labour. It requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken in this regard and on the results achieved.

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

The Committee expects that the Government will make every effort to take the necessary action in the near future.

Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2022, published 111st ILC session (2023)

The Committee notes with deep concern that the Government’s report has not been received. It expects that the next report will contain full information on the matters raised in its previous comments. The Committee informs the Government that, if it has not supplied replies to the points raised by 1 September 2023, then it may proceed with the examination of the application of the Convention on the basis of the information at its disposal at its next session.

Repetition

Articles 3(a) and 5 of the Convention. Sale and trafficking of children and monitoring mechanisms. In its previous comments, the Committee noted the Government’s information that the Department of Combating Trafficking in Persons established pursuant to Law No. 3 of 2010 had carried out several inspection campaigns to monitor trafficking in persons, in particular trafficking in children. According to the statistical data provided by the Government, only 21 cases relating to trafficking in children were reported from 2010 to 2014. The Committee noted, however, that the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), in its concluding observations of July 2014, expressed concern that trafficking in women and girls has increased during the conflict and that they are at high risk of trafficking for purposes of sexual exploitation (CEDAW/C/SYR/CO/2, paragraph 33).

The Committee notes with regret that the Government does not provide information on this issue in its report. It notes that, according to the 2016 report of the International Centre for Migration Policy Development entitled “Targeting Vulnerabilities; The Impact of the Syrian War and Refugee Situation on Trafficking in Persons: A Study of Syria, Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq”, while official statistics on trafficking cases identified by the authorities would suggest a minor or negligible impact of the Syrian war on trafficking in all five countries, the desk and field research conducted in the context of the study paints an entirely different picture. According to the report, while the potential trafficking cases identified through research, other than the official statistical data, have not been determined by law enforcement or state social services to be actual trafficking cases, indicators and elements of adult and child trafficking crimes have been analysed in order to shed light on the significant proportion of trafficking cases that have never come to the attention of the responsible authorities. The study reveals that worst forms of child labour, child trafficking for labour exploitation, exploitation through begging and trafficking for sexual exploitation affected children in the five countries before the war, but have now particularly increased among Syrians. The incidence of trafficking in persons and the nature and magnitude of vulnerabilities to trafficking (such as impoverishment, lack of income, lack of access to services and more) are particularly related to the sheer magnitude of the displacement of people (6.6 million people are reported to be internally displaced with the Syrian Arab Republic) and partly to the legal, policy, infrastructural, security and socio-economic contexts of the countries under study, including the Syrian Arab Republic.While acknowledging the difficult situation prevailing in the country, the Committee urges the Government to take the necessary measures to prevent the sale and trafficking of children under 18 years of age for sexual and labour exploitation, and to provide information on the measures taken in this regard. The Committee also requests the Government to provide updated information on the number of cases concerning the sale of children and child trafficking that have been reported by the Department of Combating Trafficking in Persons, as well as on the investigations, prosecutions, convictions and sanctions applied relating to this worst form of child labour.

Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2022, published 111st ILC session (2023)

The Committee notes with deep concern that the Government’s report has not been received. It is therefore bound to repeat its previous comments. The Committee informs the Government that, if it has not supplied replies to the points raised by 1 September 2023, then it may proceed with the examination of the application of the Convention on the basis of the information at its disposal at its next session.

Repetition

Article 3 of the Convention. Worst forms of child labour. Clause (a). All forms of slavery or similar practices. Forced recruitment of children for use in armed conflict. The Committee previously noted that the Syrian Arab Republic had adopted a series of legislative reforms such as Law No. 11/2013 which criminalizes all forms of recruitment and the use of children under the age of 18 years by armed forces and armed groups. It noted, however, that numerous armed groups in the Syrian Arab Republic, including the Free Syrian Army affiliated groups (FSA), the Kurdish People Protection Units (YPG), Ahrar al-Sham, Islamic State in Iraq and Sham/the Levant (ISIS/ISIL) and other armed groups were reportedly recruiting and using children for logistics, handling ammunition, manning checkpoints and as combatants.

The Committee notes the Government’s indication in its report that armed terrorist groups recruit children and involve them in violence and exploit them sexually. The Committee notes that, according to the report of the Secretary-General on the situation of human rights in the Syrian Arab Republic of 9 June 2016 (A/70/919, paragraphs 50–52), from early 2015, UNICEF verified 46 cases of recruitment (43 boys, one girl, two unknown): 21 were attributed to ISIL, 16 to non-state armed opposition groups, five to armed groups affiliated with the Government, two (including a girl) to YPG, and two to government forces. UNICEF reported that children were increasingly recruited at younger ages (some as young as 7 years old) by non-state armed groups. Children’s participation in combat was widespread and some armed opposition groups forced children to carry out grave human rights abuses, including executions and torture, while government forces allegedly submitted children to forced labour or used them as human shields. The Secretary-General also refers to reports from the OHCHR, according to which ISIL publicly announced, on 11 December 2015, the already known existence of a children’s section among its ranks, the “Cubs of the Caliphate”. The OHCHR also received allegations that ISIL was encouraging children between 10 and 14 years of age to join, and that they were training children in military combat.

The Committee further notes that, according to the report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict of 20 April 2016 (2016 report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict, A/70/836-S/2016/360, paragraphs 148–163), a total of 362 cases of recruitment and use of children were verified (the Secretary-General indicates that the figures do not reflect the full scale of grave violations committed by all parties to the conflict), and attributed to ISIL (274), the Free Syrian Army and affiliated groups (62), Liwa’ al Tawhid (11), popular committees (five), YPG (four), Ahrar al-Sham (three), the Nusrah Front (two) and the Army of Islam (one). Of the verified cases, 56 per cent involved children under 15 years of age, which represents a significant increase compared with 2014. The Secretary-General further indicates that the massive recruitment of children by ISIL continued, and that centres in rural Aleppo, Dayr al-Zawr and rural Raqqah existed that provided military training to at least 124 boys between 10 and 15 years of age. Verification of the use of child foreign fighters increased as well, with 18 cases of children as young as 7 years of age. In addition, the recruitment and use of children as young as 9 years of age by the Free Syrian Army was also verified, as well as the recruitment of 11 Syrian refugee children from neighbouring countries by Liwa’ al-Tawhid, and the YPG continued to recruit boys and girls as young as 14 years of age for combat roles. Recruitment and use by pro-government groups was also verified, with five cases of boys being recruited by the Popular Committee of Tallkalah (Homs) to work as guards and conduct patrols. In addition, there were allegations of the use of children by government forces to man checkpoints.

The Committee must once again deeply deplore the use of children in armed conflict in the Syrian Arab Republic, especially as it entails other violations of the rights of the child, such as abductions, murders and sexual violence. It once again recalls that, under Article 3(a) of the Convention, the forced or compulsory recruitment of children under 18 years of age for use in armed conflict is considered to be one of the worst forms of child labour and that, under Article 1 of the Convention, member States must take immediate and effective measures to secure the elimination of the worst forms of child labour as a matter of urgency.While acknowledging the complexity of the situation prevailing on the ground and the presence of armed groups and armed conflict in the country, the Committee once again strongly urges the Government to take measures, using all available means, to ensure the full and immediate demobilization of all children and to put a stop, in practice, to the forced recruitment of children under 18 years of age into armed forces and groups. The Committee once again urges the Government to take immediate and effective measures to ensure that thorough investigations and robust prosecutions of all persons who forcibly recruit children under 18 years of age for use in armed conflict are carried out, and that sufficiently effective and dissuasive penalties are imposed in practice, pursuant to Law No. 11 of 2013. It requests the Government to provide information on the number of investigations conducted, prosecutions brought and convictions handed down against such persons.

Article 7(2). Effective and time-bound measures. Clause (a). Preventing the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labour. Access to free basic education. The Committee previously noted that, with approximately 5,000 schools destroyed in the Syrian Arab Republic, the resulting sharp decline in children’s education continued to be a matter of great concern among the population. This report also indicated that more than half of Syrian school-age children, up to 2.4 million, were out of school as a consequence of the occupation, destruction and insecurity of schools.

The Committee notes that, according to the 2016 report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict (paragraph 157), the number of schools destroyed, partially damaged, used as shelters for internally displaced persons or rendered otherwise inaccessible has reached 6,500. The report refers to information from the Ministry of Education, according to which 571 students and 419 teachers had been killed in 2015, and from the United Nations that 69 attacks on educational facilities and personnel were verified and attributed to all fronts, which killed and maimed 174 children. The Committee further notes that, according to the report of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons on his mission to the Syrian Arab Republic of 5 April 2016 (A/HRC/32/35/Add.2, paragraphs 50–53), a further 400,000 children were at risk of dropping out of school as a direct result of conflict, violence and displacement. While basic education facilities were in place in the displacement centres visited by the Special Rapporteur, such centres, often using school buildings, offer only limited educational facilities.

According to the same report, UNICEF is working with local partners to reach some 3 million children and has implemented an informal education programme to reduce the number of children out of school. The inter-agency initiative “No Lost Generation” is a self-learning programme aimed at reaching 500,000 children who missed out on years of schooling. In areas hosting high numbers of displaced children, UNICEF is also rehabilitating 600 damaged schools and creating 300 prefabricated classrooms to accommodate 300,000 additional children. The Committee further notes that, according to UNICEF’s 2016 Annual Report on the Syrian Arab Republic, UNICEF’s interventions in education, focusing on quality, access and institutional strengthening, contributed to an increase in school enrolment from 3.24 million children (60 per cent of school-age population) to 3.66 million (68 per cent) between 2014–15 and 2015–16. These efforts also resulted in a decrease in the number of out-of-school children from 2.12 million (40 per cent) in 2014–15 to 1.75 million (32 per cent) in 2015–16.

Nevertheless, the Committee notes that, in his report, the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons declares that the challenge of providing even basic education access to many internally displaced children is immense and many thousands of children are likely to remain out of education in the foreseeable future (A/HRC/32/35/Add.2, paragraph 53). The Committee is, therefore, once again bound to express its deep concern at the large number of children who are deprived of education because of the climate of insecurity prevailing in the country.While acknowledging the difficult situation prevailing in the country, the Committee urges the Government to strengthen its efforts and take effective and time-bound measures to improve the functioning of the educational system in the country and to facilitate access to free basic education for all Syrian children, especially in areas affected by armed conflict, and giving particular attention to the situation of girls. It requests the Government to provide information on concrete measures taken in this regard.

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. 1. Children affected by armed conflict. The Committee previously noted that the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict in the Syrian Arab Republic had become common and that a great majority of the children recruited are trained, armed and used in combat.

The Committee notes the Government’s indication that the competent authorities in the Syrian Arab Republic seek to care for children recruited in armed conflict and to help them return to ordinary life. However, the Committee notes with deep concern that the situation in the Syrian Arab Republic has not changed and that not only are there no reports of children having been withdrawn from armed forces and groups in the 2016 report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict but that, according to this report, children continue to be recruited and used in armed conflict.The Committee, therefore, strongly urges the Government to take effective and time-bound measures to prevent the engagement of children in armed conflict and to rehabilitate and integrate former child combatants. It once again requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken in this regard and on the number of children rehabilitated and socially integrated.

2. Sexual slavery. The Committee previously noted that ISIS abducted hundreds of Yazidi women and girls, most of whom were sold as “war booty” or given as “concubines” to ISIS fighters, and that dozens of girls and women were transported to various locations in the Syrian Arab Republic, including Al Raqqah, Al Hasakah and Dayr az Zawr, where they were kept in sexual slavery.

The Committee notes with regret the absence of information in the Government’s report on this issue. It notes that, according to the report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic of 15 June 2016 entitled “They came to destroy: ISIS Crimes Against the Yazidis” (A/HRC/32/CRP.2), ISIS has sought to destroy the Yazidis through such egregious human rights violations as killings, sexual slavery, enslavement, torture and mental harm. The report indicates that over 3,200 women and children are still held by ISIS. Most are in the Syrian Arab Republic where Yazidi girls continue to be sexually enslaved and Yazidi boys indoctrinated, trained and used in hostilities. The report reveals that captured Yazidi women and girls over the age of 9 years are deemed the property of ISIS and are sold in slave markets or, more recently through online auctions, to ISIS fighters. While held by ISIS fighters, these Yazidi women and girls are subjected to brutal sexual violence and regularly forced to work in their houses, in many instances forced to work as domestic servants of the fighter and his family. The Committee deeply deplores the fact that Yazidi children continue to be victims of sexual slavery and forced labour.While acknowledging the difficult situation prevailing in the country, the Committee strongly urges the Government to take effective and time-bound measures to remove Yazidi children under 18 years of age who are victims of forced labour and sexual exploitation and to ensure their rehabilitation and social integration. It once again requests the Government to provide information on specific measures taken in this regard, and the number of children removed from sexual exploitation and rehabilitated.

Clause (d). Identifying and reaching out to children at special risk. Internally displaced children. The Committee previously noted that, by early 2013, there were 3 million children displaced and in need of assistance inside the Syrian Arab Republic.

The Committee notes that, according to the report of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons on his mission to the Syrian Arab Republic of 5 April 2016 (A/HRC/32/35/Add.2, paragraph 67), the extent of the conflict and displacement has had a massive impact on children, many of whom have experienced violence first-hand and/or witnessed extreme violence, including the killing of family members and/or separation from family members. The Special Rapporteur indicates that child protection concerns and issues, including child labour resulting from parents’ loss of livelihood, trafficking, sexual and gender-based violence and early and forced marriage, continue to be reported. Children have also been recruited and used by different parties to the conflict, both in combat and support roles.Observing with concern that internally displaced children are at an increased risk of being engaged in the worst forms of child labour, the Committee once again strongly urges the Government to take effective and time-bound measures to protect these children from the worst forms of child labour. It requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken in this regard and on the results achieved.

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

The Committee expects that the Government will make every effort to take the necessary action in the near future.

Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2021, published 110th ILC session (2022)

The Committee notes with concern that the Government’s report has not been received. It hopes that the next report will contain full information on the matters raised in its previous comments.

Repetition

Articles 3(a) and 5 of the Convention. Sale and trafficking of children and monitoring mechanisms. In its previous comments, the Committee noted the Government’s information that the Department of Combating Trafficking in Persons established pursuant to Law No. 3 of 2010 had carried out several inspection campaigns to monitor trafficking in persons, in particular trafficking in children. According to the statistical data provided by the Government, only 21 cases relating to trafficking in children were reported from 2010 to 2014. The Committee noted, however, that the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), in its concluding observations of July 2014, expressed concern that trafficking in women and girls has increased during the conflict and that they are at high risk of trafficking for purposes of sexual exploitation (CEDAW/C/SYR/CO/2, paragraph 33).

The Committee notes with regret that the Government does not provide information on this issue in its report. It notes that, according to the 2016 report of the International Centre for Migration Policy Development entitled “Targeting Vulnerabilities; The Impact of the Syrian War and Refugee Situation on Trafficking in Persons: A Study of Syria, Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq”, while official statistics on trafficking cases identified by the authorities would suggest a minor or negligible impact of the Syrian war on trafficking in all five countries, the desk and field research conducted in the context of the study paints an entirely different picture. According to the report, while the potential trafficking cases identified through research, other than the official statistical data, have not been determined by law enforcement or state social services to be actual trafficking cases, indicators and elements of adult and child trafficking crimes have been analysed in order to shed light on the significant proportion of trafficking cases that have never come to the attention of the responsible authorities. The study reveals that worst forms of child labour, child trafficking for labour exploitation, exploitation through begging and trafficking for sexual exploitation affected children in the five countries before the war, but have now particularly increased among Syrians. The incidence of trafficking in persons and the nature and magnitude of vulnerabilities to trafficking (such as impoverishment, lack of income, lack of access to services and more) are particularly related to the sheer magnitude of the displacement of people (6.6 million people are reported to be internally displaced with the Syrian Arab Republic) and partly to the legal, policy, infrastructural, security and socio-economic contexts of the countries under study, including the Syrian Arab Republic. While acknowledging the difficult situation prevailing in the country, the Committee urges the Government to take the necessary measures to prevent the sale and trafficking of children under 18 years of age for sexual and labour exploitation, and to provide information on the measures taken in this regard. The Committee also requests the Government to provide updated information on the number of cases concerning the sale of children and child trafficking that have been reported by the Department of Combating Trafficking in Persons, as well as on the investigations, prosecutions, convictions and sanctions applied relating to this worst form of child labour.

Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2021, published 110th ILC session (2022)

The Committee notes with concern that the Government’s report has not been received. It is therefore bound to repeat its previous comments.

Repetition

Article 3 of the Convention. Worst forms of child labour. Clause (a). All forms of slavery or similar practices. Forced recruitment of children for use in armed conflict. The Committee previously noted that the Syrian Arab Republic had adopted a series of legislative reforms such as Law No. 11/2013 which criminalizes all forms of recruitment and the use of children under the age of 18 years by armed forces and armed groups. It noted, however, that numerous armed groups in the Syrian Arab Republic, including the Free Syrian Army affiliated groups (FSA), the Kurdish People Protection Units (YPG), Ahrar al-Sham, Islamic State in Iraq and Sham/the Levant (ISIS/ISIL) and other armed groups were reportedly recruiting and using children for logistics, handling ammunition, manning checkpoints and as combatants.

The Committee notes the Government’s indication in its report that armed terrorist groups recruit children and involve them in violence and exploit them sexually. The Committee notes that, according to the report of the Secretary-General on the situation of human rights in the Syrian Arab Republic of 9 June 2016 (A/70/919, paragraphs 50–52), from early 2015, UNICEF verified 46 cases of recruitment (43 boys, one girl, two unknown): 21 were attributed to ISIL, 16 to non-state armed opposition groups, five to armed groups affiliated with the Government, two (including a girl) to YPG, and two to government forces. UNICEF reported that children were increasingly recruited at younger ages (some as young as 7 years old) by non-state armed groups. Children’s participation in combat was widespread and some armed opposition groups forced children to carry out grave human rights abuses, including executions and torture, while government forces allegedly submitted children to forced labour or used them as human shields. The Secretary-General also refers to reports from the OHCHR, according to which ISIL publicly announced, on 11 December 2015, the already known existence of a children’s section among its ranks, the “Cubs of the Caliphate”. The OHCHR also received allegations that ISIL was encouraging children between 10 and 14 years of age to join, and that they were training children in military combat.

The Committee further notes that, according to the report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict of 20 April 2016 (2016 report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict, A/70/836-S/2016/360, paragraphs 148–163), a total of 362 cases of recruitment and use of children were verified (the Secretary-General indicates that the figures do not reflect the full scale of grave violations committed by all parties to the conflict), and attributed to ISIL (274), the Free Syrian Army and affiliated groups (62), Liwa’ al Tawhid (11), popular committees (five), YPG (four), Ahrar al-Sham (three), the Nusrah Front (two) and the Army of Islam (one). Of the verified cases, 56 per cent involved children under 15 years of age, which represents a significant increase compared with 2014. The Secretary-General further indicates that the massive recruitment of children by ISIL continued, and that centres in rural Aleppo, Dayr al-Zawr and rural Raqqah existed that provided military training to at least 124 boys between 10 and 15 years of age. Verification of the use of child foreign fighters increased as well, with 18 cases of children as young as 7 years of age. In addition, the recruitment and use of children as young as 9 years of age by the Free Syrian Army was also verified, as well as the recruitment of 11 Syrian refugee children from neighbouring countries by Liwa’ al-Tawhid, and the YPG continued to recruit boys and girls as young as 14 years of age for combat roles. Recruitment and use by pro-government groups was also verified, with five cases of boys being recruited by the Popular Committee of Tallkalah (Homs) to work as guards and conduct patrols. In addition, there were allegations of the use of children by government forces to man checkpoints.

The Committee must once again deeply deplore the use of children in armed conflict in the Syrian Arab Republic, especially as it entails other violations of the rights of the child, such as abductions, murders and sexual violence. It once again recalls that, under Article 3(a) of the Convention, the forced or compulsory recruitment of children under 18 years of age for use in armed conflict is considered to be one of the worst forms of child labour and that, under Article 1 of the Convention, member States must take immediate and effective measures to secure the elimination of the worst forms of child labour as a matter of urgency. While acknowledging the complexity of the situation prevailing on the ground and the presence of armed groups and armed conflict in the country, the Committee once again strongly urges the Government to take measures, using all available means, to ensure the full and immediate demobilization of all children and to put a stop, in practice, to the forced recruitment of children under 18 years of age into armed forces and groups. The Committee once again urges the Government to take immediate and effective measures to ensure that thorough investigations and robust prosecutions of all persons who forcibly recruit children under 18 years of age for use in armed conflict are carried out, and that sufficiently effective and dissuasive penalties are imposed in practice, pursuant to Law No. 11 of 2013. It requests the Government to provide information on the number of investigations conducted, prosecutions brought and convictions handed down against such persons.

Article 7(2). Effective and time-bound measures. Clause (a). Preventing the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labour. Access to free basic education. The Committee previously noted that, with approximately 5,000 schools destroyed in the Syrian Arab Republic, the resulting sharp decline in children’s education continued to be a matter of great concern among the population. This report also indicated that more than half of Syrian school-age children, up to 2.4 million, were out of school as a consequence of the occupation, destruction and insecurity of schools.

The Committee notes that, according to the 2016 report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict (paragraph 157), the number of schools destroyed, partially damaged, used as shelters for internally displaced persons or rendered otherwise inaccessible has reached 6,500. The report refers to information from the Ministry of Education, according to which 571 students and 419 teachers had been killed in 2015, and from the United Nations that 69 attacks on educational facilities and personnel were verified and attributed to all fronts, which killed and maimed 174 children. The Committee further notes that, according to the report of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons on his mission to the Syrian Arab Republic of 5 April 2016 (A/HRC/32/35/Add.2, paragraphs 50–53), a further 400,000 children were at risk of dropping out of school as a direct result of conflict, violence and displacement. While basic education facilities were in place in the displacement centres visited by the Special Rapporteur, such centres, often using school buildings, offer only limited educational facilities.

According to the same report, UNICEF is working with local partners to reach some 3 million children and has implemented an informal education programme to reduce the number of children out of school. The inter-agency initiative “No Lost Generation” is a self-learning programme aimed at reaching 500,000 children who missed out on years of schooling. In areas hosting high numbers of displaced children, UNICEF is also rehabilitating 600 damaged schools and creating 300 prefabricated classrooms to accommodate 300,000 additional children. The Committee further notes that, according to UNICEF’s 2016 Annual Report on the Syrian Arab Republic, UNICEF’s interventions in education, focusing on quality, access and institutional strengthening, contributed to an increase in school enrolment from 3.24 million children (60 per cent of school-age population) to 3.66 million (68 per cent) between 2014–15 and 2015–16. These efforts also resulted in a decrease in the number of out-of-school children from 2.12 million (40 per cent) in 2014–15 to 1.75 million (32 per cent) in 2015–16.

Nevertheless, the Committee notes that, in his report, the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons declares that the challenge of providing even basic education access to many internally displaced children is immense and many thousands of children are likely to remain out of education in the foreseeable future (A/HRC/32/35/Add.2, paragraph 53). The Committee is, therefore, once again bound to express its deep concern at the large number of children who are deprived of education because of the climate of insecurity prevailing in the country. While acknowledging the difficult situation prevailing in the country, the Committee urges the Government to strengthen its efforts and take effective and time-bound measures to improve the functioning of the educational system in the country and to facilitate access to free basic education for all Syrian children, especially in areas affected by armed conflict, and giving particular attention to the situation of girls. It requests the Government to provide information on concrete measures taken in this regard.

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. 1. Children affected by armed conflict. The Committee previously noted that the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict in the Syrian Arab Republic had become common and that a great majority of the children recruited are trained, armed and used in combat.

The Committee notes the Government’s indication that the competent authorities in the Syrian Arab Republic seek to care for children recruited in armed conflict and to help them return to ordinary life. However, the Committee notes with deep concern that the situation in the Syrian Arab Republic has not changed and that not only are there no reports of children having been withdrawn from armed forces and groups in the 2016 report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict but that, according to this report, children continue to be recruited and used in armed conflict. The Committee, therefore, strongly urges the Government to take effective and time-bound measures to prevent the engagement of children in armed conflict and to rehabilitate and integrate former child combatants. It once again requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken in this regard and on the number of children rehabilitated and socially integrated.

2. Sexual slavery. The Committee previously noted that ISIS abducted hundreds of Yazidi women and girls, most of whom were sold as “war booty” or given as “concubines” to ISIS fighters, and that dozens of girls and women were transported to various locations in the Syrian Arab Republic, including Al Raqqah, Al Hasakah and Dayr az Zawr, where they were kept in sexual slavery.

The Committee notes with regret the absence of information in the Government’s report on this issue. It notes that, according to the report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic of 15 June 2016 entitled “They came to destroy: ISIS Crimes Against the Yazidis” (A/HRC/32/CRP.2), ISIS has sought to destroy the Yazidis through such egregious human rights violations as killings, sexual slavery, enslavement, torture and mental harm. The report indicates that over 3,200 women and children are still held by ISIS. Most are in the Syrian Arab Republic where Yazidi girls continue to be sexually enslaved and Yazidi boys indoctrinated, trained and used in hostilities. The report reveals that captured Yazidi women and girls over the age of 9 years are deemed the property of ISIS and are sold in slave markets or, more recently through online auctions, to ISIS fighters. While held by ISIS fighters, these Yazidi women and girls are subjected to brutal sexual violence and regularly forced to work in their houses, in many instances forced to work as domestic servants of the fighter and his family. The Committee deeply deplores the fact that Yazidi children continue to be victims of sexual slavery and forced labour. While acknowledging the difficult situation prevailing in the country, the Committee strongly urges the Government to take effective and time-bound measures to remove Yazidi children under 18 years of age who are victims of forced labour and sexual exploitation and to ensure their rehabilitation and social integration. It once again requests the Government to provide information on specific measures taken in this regard, and the number of children removed from sexual exploitation and rehabilitated.

Clause (d). Identifying and reaching out to children at special risk. Internally displaced children. The Committee previously noted that, by early 2013, there were 3 million children displaced and in need of assistance inside the Syrian Arab Republic.

The Committee notes that, according to the report of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons on his mission to the Syrian Arab Republic of 5 April 2016 (A/HRC/32/35/Add.2, paragraph 67), the extent of the conflict and displacement has had a massive impact on children, many of whom have experienced violence first-hand and/or witnessed extreme violence, including the killing of family members and/or separation from family members. The Special Rapporteur indicates that child protection concerns and issues, including child labour resulting from parents’ loss of livelihood, trafficking, sexual and gender-based violence and early and forced marriage, continue to be reported. Children have also been recruited and used by different parties to the conflict, both in combat and support roles. Observing with concern that internally displaced children are at an increased risk of being engaged in the worst forms of child labour, the Committee once again strongly urges the Government to take effective and time-bound measures to protect these children from the worst forms of child labour. It requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken in this regard and on the results achieved.

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

The Committee hopes that the Government will make every effort to take the necessary action in the near future.

Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2020, published 109th ILC session (2021)

The Committee notes that the Government’s report has not been received. It hopes that the next report will contain full information on the matters raised in its previous comments.

Repetition

Articles 3(a) and 5 of the Convention. Sale and trafficking of children and monitoring mechanisms. In its previous comments, the Committee noted the Government’s information that the Department of Combating Trafficking in Persons established pursuant to Law No. 3 of 2010 had carried out several inspection campaigns to monitor trafficking in persons, in particular trafficking in children. According to the statistical data provided by the Government, only 21 cases relating to trafficking in children were reported from 2010 to 2014. The Committee noted, however, that the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), in its concluding observations of July 2014, expressed concern that trafficking in women and girls has increased during the conflict and that they are at high risk of trafficking for purposes of sexual exploitation (CEDAW/C/SYR/CO/2, paragraph 33).

The Committee notes with regret that the Government does not provide information on this issue in its report. It notes that, according to the 2016 report of the International Centre for Migration Policy Development entitled “Targeting Vulnerabilities; The Impact of the Syrian War and Refugee Situation on Trafficking in Persons: A Study of Syria, Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq”, while official statistics on trafficking cases identified by the authorities would suggest a minor or negligible impact of the Syrian war on trafficking in all five countries, the desk and field research conducted in the context of the study paints an entirely different picture. According to the report, while the potential trafficking cases identified through research, other than the official statistical data, have not been determined by law enforcement or state social services to be actual trafficking cases, indicators and elements of adult and child trafficking crimes have been analysed in order to shed light on the significant proportion of trafficking cases that have never come to the attention of the responsible authorities. The study reveals that worst forms of child labour, child trafficking for labour exploitation, exploitation through begging and trafficking for sexual exploitation affected children in the five countries before the war, but have now particularly increased among Syrians. The incidence of trafficking in persons and the nature and magnitude of vulnerabilities to trafficking (such as impoverishment, lack of income, lack of access to services and more) are particularly related to the sheer magnitude of the displacement of people (6.6 million people are reported to be internally displaced with the Syrian Arab Republic) and partly to the legal, policy, infrastructural, security and socio-economic contexts of the countries under study, including the Syrian Arab Republic. While acknowledging the difficult situation prevailing in the country, the Committee urges the Government to take the necessary measures to prevent the sale and trafficking of children under 18 years of age for sexual and labour exploitation, and to provide information on the measures taken in this regard. The Committee also requests the Government to provide updated information on the number of cases concerning the sale of children and child trafficking that have been reported by the Department of Combating Trafficking in Persons, as well as on the investigations, prosecutions, convictions and sanctions applied relating to this worst form of child labour.

Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2020, published 109th ILC session (2021)

The Committee notes that the Government’s report has not been received. It is therefore bound to repeat its previous comments.

Repetition

Article 3 of the Convention. Worst forms of child labour. Clause (a). All forms of slavery or similar practices. Forced recruitment of children for use in armed conflict. The Committee previously noted that the Syrian Arab Republic had adopted a series of legislative reforms such as Law No. 11/2013 which criminalizes all forms of recruitment and the use of children under the age of 18 years by armed forces and armed groups. It noted, however, that numerous armed groups in the Syrian Arab Republic, including the Free Syrian Army affiliated groups (FSA), the Kurdish People Protection Units (YPG), Ahrar al-Sham, Islamic State in Iraq and Sham/the Levant (ISIS/ISIL) and other armed groups were reportedly recruiting and using children for logistics, handling ammunition, manning checkpoints and as combatants.

The Committee notes the Government’s indication in its report that armed terrorist groups recruit children and involve them in violence and exploit them sexually. The Committee notes that, according to the report of the Secretary-General on the situation of human rights in the Syrian Arab Republic of 9 June 2016 (A/70/919, paragraphs 50–52), from early 2015, UNICEF verified 46 cases of recruitment (43 boys, one girl, two unknown): 21 were attributed to ISIL, 16 to non-state armed opposition groups, five to armed groups affiliated with the Government, two (including a girl) to YPG, and two to government forces. UNICEF reported that children were increasingly recruited at younger ages (some as young as 7 years old) by non-state armed groups. Children’s participation in combat was widespread and some armed opposition groups forced children to carry out grave human rights abuses, including executions and torture, while government forces allegedly submitted children to forced labour or used them as human shields. The Secretary-General also refers to reports from the OHCHR, according to which ISIL publicly announced, on 11 December 2015, the already known existence of a children’s section among its ranks, the “Cubs of the Caliphate”. The OHCHR also received allegations that ISIL was encouraging children between 10 and 14 years of age to join, and that they were training children in military combat.

The Committee further notes that, according to the report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict of 20 April 2016 (2016 report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict, A/70/836-S/2016/360, paragraphs 148–163), a total of 362 cases of recruitment and use of children were verified (the Secretary-General indicates that the figures do not reflect the full scale of grave violations committed by all parties to the conflict), and attributed to ISIL (274), the Free Syrian Army and affiliated groups (62), Liwa’ al Tawhid (11), popular committees (five), YPG (four), Ahrar al-Sham (three), the Nusrah Front (two) and the Army of Islam (one). Of the verified cases, 56 per cent involved children under 15 years of age, which represents a significant increase compared with 2014. The Secretary-General further indicates that the massive recruitment of children by ISIL continued, and that centres in rural Aleppo, Dayr al-Zawr and rural Raqqah existed that provided military training to at least 124 boys between 10 and 15 years of age. Verification of the use of child foreign fighters increased as well, with 18 cases of children as young as 7 years of age. In addition, the recruitment and use of children as young as 9 years of age by the Free Syrian Army was also verified, as well as the recruitment of 11 Syrian refugee children from neighbouring countries by Liwa’ al-Tawhid, and the YPG continued to recruit boys and girls as young as 14 years of age for combat roles. Recruitment and use by pro-government groups was also verified, with five cases of boys being recruited by the Popular Committee of Tallkalah (Homs) to work as guards and conduct patrols. In addition, there were allegations of the use of children by government forces to man checkpoints.

The Committee must once again deeply deplore the use of children in armed conflict in the Syrian Arab Republic, especially as it entails other violations of the rights of the child, such as abductions, murders and sexual violence. It once again recalls that, under Article 3(a) of the Convention, the forced or compulsory recruitment of children under 18 years of age for use in armed conflict is considered to be one of the worst forms of child labour and that, under Article 1 of the Convention, member States must take immediate and effective measures to secure the elimination of the worst forms of child labour as a matter of urgency. While acknowledging the complexity of the situation prevailing on the ground and the presence of armed groups and armed conflict in the country, the Committee once again strongly urges the Government to take measures, using all available means, to ensure the full and immediate demobilization of all children and to put a stop, in practice, to the forced recruitment of children under 18 years of age into armed forces and groups. The Committee once again urges the Government to take immediate and effective measures to ensure that thorough investigations and robust prosecutions of all persons who forcibly recruit children under 18 years of age for use in armed conflict are carried out, and that sufficiently effective and dissuasive penalties are imposed in practice, pursuant to Law No. 11 of 2013. It requests the Government to provide information on the number of investigations conducted, prosecutions brought and convictions handed down against such persons.

Article 7(2). Effective and time-bound measures. Clause (a). Preventing the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labour. Access to free basic education. The Committee previously noted that, with approximately 5,000 schools destroyed in the Syrian Arab Republic, the resulting sharp decline in children’s education continued to be a matter of great concern among the population. This report also indicated that more than half of Syrian school-age children, up to 2.4 million, were out of school as a consequence of the occupation, destruction and insecurity of schools.

The Committee notes that, according to the 2016 report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict (paragraph 157), the number of schools destroyed, partially damaged, used as shelters for internally displaced persons or rendered otherwise inaccessible has reached 6,500. The report refers to information from the Ministry of Education, according to which 571 students and 419 teachers had been killed in 2015, and from the United Nations that 69 attacks on educational facilities and personnel were verified and attributed to all fronts, which killed and maimed 174 children. The Committee further notes that, according to the report of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons on his mission to the Syrian Arab Republic of 5 April 2016 (A/HRC/32/35/Add.2, paragraphs 50–53), a further 400,000 children were at risk of dropping out of school as a direct result of conflict, violence and displacement. While basic education facilities were in place in the displacement centres visited by the Special Rapporteur, such centres, often using school buildings, offer only limited educational facilities.

According to the same report, UNICEF is working with local partners to reach some 3 million children and has implemented an informal education programme to reduce the number of children out of school. The inter-agency initiative “No Lost Generation” is a self-learning programme aimed at reaching 500,000 children who missed out on years of schooling. In areas hosting high numbers of displaced children, UNICEF is also rehabilitating 600 damaged schools and creating 300 prefabricated classrooms to accommodate 300,000 additional children. The Committee further notes that, according to UNICEF’s 2016 Annual Report on the Syrian Arab Republic, UNICEF’s interventions in education, focusing on quality, access and institutional strengthening, contributed to an increase in school enrolment from 3.24 million children (60 per cent of school-age population) to 3.66 million (68 per cent) between 2014–15 and 2015–16. These efforts also resulted in a decrease in the number of out-of-school children from 2.12 million (40 per cent) in 2014–15 to 1.75 million (32 per cent) in 2015–16.

Nevertheless, the Committee notes that, in his report, the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons declares that the challenge of providing even basic education access to many internally displaced children is immense and many thousands of children are likely to remain out of education in the foreseeable future (A/HRC/32/35/Add.2, paragraph 53). The Committee is, therefore, once again bound to express its deep concern at the large number of children who are deprived of education because of the climate of insecurity prevailing in the country. While acknowledging the difficult situation prevailing in the country, the Committee urges the Government to strengthen its efforts and take effective and time-bound measures to improve the functioning of the educational system in the country and to facilitate access to free basic education for all Syrian children, especially in areas affected by armed conflict, and giving particular attention to the situation of girls. It requests the Government to provide information on concrete measures taken in this regard.

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. 1. Children affected by armed conflict. The Committee previously noted that the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict in the Syrian Arab Republic had become common and that a great majority of the children recruited are trained, armed and used in combat.

The Committee notes the Government’s indication that the competent authorities in the Syrian Arab Republic seek to care for children recruited in armed conflict and to help them return to ordinary life. However, the Committee notes with deep concern that the situation in the Syrian Arab Republic has not changed and that not only are there no reports of children having been withdrawn from armed forces and groups in the 2016 report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict but that, according to this report, children continue to be recruited and used in armed conflict. The Committee, therefore, strongly urges the Government to take effective and time-bound measures to prevent the engagement of children in armed conflict and to rehabilitate and integrate former child combatants. It once again requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken in this regard and on the number of children rehabilitated and socially integrated.

2. Sexual slavery. The Committee previously noted that ISIS abducted hundreds of Yazidi women and girls, most of whom were sold as “war booty” or given as “concubines” to ISIS fighters, and that dozens of girls and women were transported to various locations in the Syrian Arab Republic, including Al Raqqah, Al Hasakah and Dayr az Zawr, where they were kept in sexual slavery.

The Committee notes with regret the absence of information in the Government’s report on this issue. It notes that, according to the report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic of 15 June 2016 entitled “They came to destroy: ISIS Crimes Against the Yazidis” (A/HRC/32/CRP.2), ISIS has sought to destroy the Yazidis through such egregious human rights violations as killings, sexual slavery, enslavement, torture and mental harm. The report indicates that over 3,200 women and children are still held by ISIS. Most are in the Syrian Arab Republic where Yazidi girls continue to be sexually enslaved and Yazidi boys indoctrinated, trained and used in hostilities. The report reveals that captured Yazidi women and girls over the age of 9 years are deemed the property of ISIS and are sold in slave markets or, more recently through online auctions, to ISIS fighters. While held by ISIS fighters, these Yazidi women and girls are subjected to brutal sexual violence and regularly forced to work in their houses, in many instances forced to work as domestic servants of the fighter and his family. The Committee deeply deplores the fact that Yazidi children continue to be victims of sexual slavery and forced labour. While acknowledging the difficult situation prevailing in the country, the Committee strongly urges the Government to take effective and time-bound measures to remove Yazidi children under 18 years of age who are victims of forced labour and sexual exploitation and to ensure their rehabilitation and social integration. It once again requests the Government to provide information on specific measures taken in this regard, and the number of children removed from sexual exploitation and rehabilitated.

Clause (d). Identifying and reaching out to children at special risk. Internally displaced children. The Committee previously noted that, by early 2013, there were 3 million children displaced and in need of assistance inside the Syrian Arab Republic.

The Committee notes that, according to the report of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons on his mission to the Syrian Arab Republic of 5 April 2016 (A/HRC/32/35/Add.2, paragraph 67), the extent of the conflict and displacement has had a massive impact on children, many of whom have experienced violence first-hand and/or witnessed extreme violence, including the killing of family members and/or separation from family members. The Special Rapporteur indicates that child protection concerns and issues, including child labour resulting from parents’ loss of livelihood, trafficking, sexual and gender-based violence and early and forced marriage, continue to be reported. Children have also been recruited and used by different parties to the conflict, both in combat and support roles. Observing with concern that internally displaced children are at an increased risk of being engaged in the worst forms of child labour, the Committee once again strongly urges the Government to take effective and time-bound measures to protect these children from the worst forms of child labour. It requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken in this regard and on the results achieved.

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

The Committee hopes that the Government will make every effort to take the necessary action in the near future.

Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2019, published 109th ILC session (2021)

The Committee notes that the Government’s report contains no reply to its previous comments. It hopes that the next report will contain full information on the matters raised in its previous comments.

Repetition

Articles 3(a) and 5 of the Convention. Sale and trafficking of children and monitoring mechanisms. In its previous comments, the Committee noted the Government’s information that the Department of Combating Trafficking in Persons established pursuant to Law No. 3 of 2010 had carried out several inspection campaigns to monitor trafficking in persons, in particular trafficking in children. According to the statistical data provided by the Government, only 21 cases relating to trafficking in children were reported from 2010 to 2014. The Committee noted, however, that the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), in its concluding observations of July 2014, expressed concern that trafficking in women and girls has increased during the conflict and that they are at high risk of trafficking for purposes of sexual exploitation (CEDAW/C/SYR/CO/2, paragraph 33).

The Committee notes with regret that the Government does not provide information on this issue in its report. It notes that, according to the 2016 report of the International Centre for Migration Policy Development entitled “Targeting Vulnerabilities; The Impact of the Syrian War and Refugee Situation on Trafficking in Persons: A Study of Syria, Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq”, while official statistics on trafficking cases identified by the authorities would suggest a minor or negligible impact of the Syrian war on trafficking in all five countries, the desk and field research conducted in the context of the study paints an entirely different picture. According to the report, while the potential trafficking cases identified through research, other than the official statistical data, have not been determined by law enforcement or state social services to be actual trafficking cases, indicators and elements of adult and child trafficking crimes have been analysed in order to shed light on the significant proportion of trafficking cases that have never come to the attention of the responsible authorities. The study reveals that worst forms of child labour, child trafficking for labour exploitation, exploitation through begging and trafficking for sexual exploitation affected children in the five countries before the war, but have now particularly increased among Syrians. The incidence of trafficking in persons and the nature and magnitude of vulnerabilities to trafficking (such as impoverishment, lack of income, lack of access to services and more) are particularly related to the sheer magnitude of the displacement of people (6.6 million people are reported to be internally displaced with the Syrian Arab Republic) and partly to the legal, policy, infrastructural, security and socio-economic contexts of the countries under study, including the Syrian Arab Republic. While acknowledging the difficult situation prevailing in the country, the Committee urges the Government to take the necessary measures to prevent the sale and trafficking of children under 18 years of age for sexual and labour exploitation, and to provide information on the measures taken in this regard. The Committee also requests the Government to provide updated information on the number of cases concerning the sale of children and child trafficking that have been reported by the Department of Combating Trafficking in Persons, as well as on the investigations, prosecutions, convictions and sanctions applied relating to this worst form of child labour.

Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2019, published 109th ILC session (2021)

The Committee notes that the Government’s report contains no reply to its previous comments. It is therefore bound to repeat its previous comments.

Repetition

Article 3 of the Convention. Worst forms of child labour. Clause (a). All forms of slavery or similar practices. Forced recruitment of children for use in armed conflict. The Committee previously noted that the Syrian Arab Republic had adopted a series of legislative reforms such as Law No. 11/2013 which criminalizes all forms of recruitment and the use of children under the age of 18 years by armed forces and armed groups. It noted, however, that numerous armed groups in the Syrian Arab Republic, including the Free Syrian Army affiliated groups (FSA), the Kurdish People Protection Units (YPG), Ahrar al-Sham, Islamic State in Iraq and Sham/the Levant (ISIS/ISIL) and other armed groups were reportedly recruiting and using children for logistics, handling ammunition, manning checkpoints and as combatants.

The Committee notes the Government’s indication in its report that armed terrorist groups recruit children and involve them in violence and exploit them sexually. The Committee notes that, according to the report of the Secretary-General on the situation of human rights in the Syrian Arab Republic of 9 June 2016 (A/70/919, paragraphs 50–52), from early 2015, UNICEF verified 46 cases of recruitment (43 boys, one girl, two unknown): 21 were attributed to ISIL, 16 to non-state armed opposition groups, five to armed groups affiliated with the Government, two (including a girl) to YPG, and two to government forces. UNICEF reported that children were increasingly recruited at younger ages (some as young as 7 years old) by non-state armed groups. Children’s participation in combat was widespread and some armed opposition groups forced children to carry out grave human rights abuses, including executions and torture, while government forces allegedly submitted children to forced labour or used them as human shields. The Secretary-General also refers to reports from the OHCHR, according to which ISIL publicly announced, on 11 December 2015, the already known existence of a children’s section among its ranks, the “Cubs of the Caliphate”. The OHCHR also received allegations that ISIL was encouraging children between 10 and 14 years of age to join, and that they were training children in military combat.

The Committee further notes that, according to the report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict of 20 April 2016 (2016 report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict, A/70/836-S/2016/360, paragraphs 148–163), a total of 362 cases of recruitment and use of children were verified (the Secretary-General indicates that the figures do not reflect the full scale of grave violations committed by all parties to the conflict), and attributed to ISIL (274), the Free Syrian Army and affiliated groups (62), Liwa’ al Tawhid (11), popular committees (five), YPG (four), Ahrar al-Sham (three), the Nusrah Front (two) and the Army of Islam (one). Of the verified cases, 56 per cent involved children under 15 years of age, which represents a significant increase compared with 2014. The Secretary-General further indicates that the massive recruitment of children by ISIL continued, and that centres in rural Aleppo, Dayr al-Zawr and rural Raqqah existed that provided military training to at least 124 boys between 10 and 15 years of age. Verification of the use of child foreign fighters increased as well, with 18 cases of children as young as 7 years of age. In addition, the recruitment and use of children as young as 9 years of age by the Free Syrian Army was also verified, as well as the recruitment of 11 Syrian refugee children from neighbouring countries by Liwa’ al-Tawhid, and the YPG continued to recruit boys and girls as young as 14 years of age for combat roles. Recruitment and use by pro-government groups was also verified, with five cases of boys being recruited by the Popular Committee of Tallkalah (Homs) to work as guards and conduct patrols. In addition, there were allegations of the use of children by government forces to man checkpoints.

The Committee must once again deeply deplore the use of children in armed conflict in the Syrian Arab Republic, especially as it entails other violations of the rights of the child, such as abductions, murders and sexual violence. It once again recalls that, under Article 3(a) of the Convention, the forced or compulsory recruitment of children under 18 years of age for use in armed conflict is considered to be one of the worst forms of child labour and that, under Article 1 of the Convention, member States must take immediate and effective measures to secure the elimination of the worst forms of child labour as a matter of urgency. While acknowledging the complexity of the situation prevailing on the ground and the presence of armed groups and armed conflict in the country, the Committee once again strongly urges the Government to take measures, using all available means, to ensure the full and immediate demobilization of all children and to put a stop, in practice, to the forced recruitment of children under 18 years of age into armed forces and groups. The Committee once again urges the Government to take immediate and effective measures to ensure that thorough investigations and robust prosecutions of all persons who forcibly recruit children under 18 years of age for use in armed conflict are carried out, and that sufficiently effective and dissuasive penalties are imposed in practice, pursuant to Law No. 11 of 2013. It requests the Government to provide information on the number of investigations conducted, prosecutions brought and convictions handed down against such persons.

Article 7(2). Effective and time-bound measures. Clause (a). Preventing the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labour. Access to free basic education. The Committee previously noted that, with approximately 5,000 schools destroyed in the Syrian Arab Republic, the resulting sharp decline in children’s education continued to be a matter of great concern among the population. This report also indicated that more than half of Syrian school-age children, up to 2.4 million, were out of school as a consequence of the occupation, destruction and insecurity of schools.

The Committee notes that, according to the 2016 report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict (paragraph 157), the number of schools destroyed, partially damaged, used as shelters for internally displaced persons or rendered otherwise inaccessible has reached 6,500. The report refers to information from the Ministry of Education, according to which 571 students and 419 teachers had been killed in 2015, and from the United Nations that 69 attacks on educational facilities and personnel were verified and attributed to all fronts, which killed and maimed 174 children. The Committee further notes that, according to the report of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons on his mission to the Syrian Arab Republic of 5 April 2016 (A/HRC/32/35/Add.2, paragraphs 50–53), a further 400,000 children were at risk of dropping out of school as a direct result of conflict, violence and displacement. While basic education facilities were in place in the displacement centres visited by the Special Rapporteur, such centres, often using school buildings, offer only limited educational facilities.

According to the same report, UNICEF is working with local partners to reach some 3 million children and has implemented an informal education programme to reduce the number of children out of school. The inter-agency initiative “No Lost Generation” is a self-learning programme aimed at reaching 500,000 children who missed out on years of schooling. In areas hosting high numbers of displaced children, UNICEF is also rehabilitating 600 damaged schools and creating 300 prefabricated classrooms to accommodate 300,000 additional children. The Committee further notes that, according to UNICEF’s 2016 Annual Report on the Syrian Arab Republic, UNICEF’s interventions in education, focusing on quality, access and institutional strengthening, contributed to an increase in school enrolment from 3.24 million children (60 per cent of school-age population) to 3.66 million (68 per cent) between 2014–15 and 2015–16. These efforts also resulted in a decrease in the number of out-of-school children from 2.12 million (40 per cent) in 2014–15 to 1.75 million (32 per cent) in 2015–16.

Nevertheless, the Committee notes that, in his report, the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons declares that the challenge of providing even basic education access to many internally displaced children is immense and many thousands of children are likely to remain out of education in the foreseeable future (A/HRC/32/35/Add.2, paragraph 53). The Committee is, therefore, once again bound to express its deep concern at the large number of children who are deprived of education because of the climate of insecurity prevailing in the country. While acknowledging the difficult situation prevailing in the country, the Committee urges the Government to strengthen its efforts and take effective and time-bound measures to improve the functioning of the educational system in the country and to facilitate access to free basic education for all Syrian children, especially in areas affected by armed conflict, and giving particular attention to the situation of girls. It requests the Government to provide information on concrete measures taken in this regard.

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. 1. Children affected by armed conflict. The Committee previously noted that the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict in the Syrian Arab Republic had become common and that a great majority of the children recruited are trained, armed and used in combat.

The Committee notes the Government’s indication that the competent authorities in the Syrian Arab Republic seek to care for children recruited in armed conflict and to help them return to ordinary life. However, the Committee notes with deep concern that the situation in the Syrian Arab Republic has not changed and that not only are there no reports of children having been withdrawn from armed forces and groups in the 2016 report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict but that, according to this report, children continue to be recruited and used in armed conflict. The Committee, therefore, strongly urges the Government to take effective and time-bound measures to prevent the engagement of children in armed conflict and to rehabilitate and integrate former child combatants. It once again requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken in this regard and on the number of children rehabilitated and socially integrated.

2. Sexual slavery. The Committee previously noted that ISIS abducted hundreds of Yazidi women and girls, most of whom were sold as “war booty” or given as “concubines” to ISIS fighters, and that dozens of girls and women were transported to various locations in the Syrian Arab Republic, including Al Raqqah, Al Hasakah and Dayr az Zawr, where they were kept in sexual slavery.

The Committee notes with regret the absence of information in the Government’s report on this issue. It notes that, according to the report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic of 15 June 2016 entitled “They came to destroy: ISIS Crimes Against the Yazidis” (A/HRC/32/CRP.2), ISIS has sought to destroy the Yazidis through such egregious human rights violations as killings, sexual slavery, enslavement, torture and mental harm. The report indicates that over 3,200 women and children are still held by ISIS. Most are in the Syrian Arab Republic where Yazidi girls continue to be sexually enslaved and Yazidi boys indoctrinated, trained and used in hostilities. The report reveals that captured Yazidi women and girls over the age of 9 years are deemed the property of ISIS and are sold in slave markets or, more recently through online auctions, to ISIS fighters. While held by ISIS fighters, these Yazidi women and girls are subjected to brutal sexual violence and regularly forced to work in their houses, in many instances forced to work as domestic servants of the fighter and his family. The Committee deeply deplores the fact that Yazidi children continue to be victims of sexual slavery and forced labour. While acknowledging the difficult situation prevailing in the country, the Committee strongly urges the Government to take effective and time-bound measures to remove Yazidi children under 18 years of age who are victims of forced labour and sexual exploitation and to ensure their rehabilitation and social integration. It once again requests the Government to provide information on specific measures taken in this regard, and the number of children removed from sexual exploitation and rehabilitated.

Clause (d). Identifying and reaching out to children at special risk. Internally displaced children. The Committee previously noted that, by early 2013, there were 3 million children displaced and in need of assistance inside the Syrian Arab Republic.

The Committee notes that, according to the report of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons on his mission to the Syrian Arab Republic of 5 April 2016 (A/HRC/32/35/Add.2, paragraph 67), the extent of the conflict and displacement has had a massive impact on children, many of whom have experienced violence first-hand and/or witnessed extreme violence, including the killing of family members and/or separation from family members. The Special Rapporteur indicates that child protection concerns and issues, including child labour resulting from parents’ loss of livelihood, trafficking, sexual and gender-based violence and early and forced marriage, continue to be reported. Children have also been recruited and used by different parties to the conflict, both in combat and support roles. Observing with concern that internally displaced children are at an increased risk of being engaged in the worst forms of child labour, the Committee once again strongly urges the Government to take effective and time-bound measures to protect these children from the worst forms of child labour. It requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken in this regard and on the results achieved.

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

The Committee hopes that the Government will make every effort to take the necessary action in the near future.

Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2017, published 107th ILC session (2018)

Articles 3(a) and 5 of the Convention. Sale and trafficking of children and monitoring mechanisms. In its previous comments, the Committee noted the Government’s information that the Department of Combating Trafficking in Persons established pursuant to Law No. 3 of 2010 had carried out several inspection campaigns to monitor trafficking in persons, in particular trafficking in children. According to the statistical data provided by the Government, only 21 cases relating to trafficking in children were reported from 2010 to 2014. The Committee noted, however, that the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), in its concluding observations of July 2014, expressed concern that trafficking in women and girls has increased during the conflict and that they are at high risk of trafficking for purposes of sexual exploitation (CEDAW/C/SYR/CO/2, paragraph 33).

The Committee notes with regret that the Government does not provide information on this issue in its report. It notes that, according to the 2016 report of the International Centre for Migration Policy Development entitled “Targeting Vulnerabilities; The Impact of the Syrian War and Refugee Situation on Trafficking in Persons: A Study of Syria, Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq”, while official statistics on trafficking cases identified by the authorities would suggest a minor or negligible impact of the Syrian war on trafficking in all five countries, the desk and field research conducted in the context of the study paints an entirely different picture. According to the report, while the potential trafficking cases identified through research, other than the official statistical data, have not been determined by law enforcement or state social services to be actual trafficking cases, indicators and elements of adult and child trafficking crimes have been analysed in order to shed light on the significant proportion of trafficking cases that have never come to the attention of the responsible authorities. The study reveals that worst forms of child labour, child trafficking for labour exploitation, exploitation through begging and trafficking for sexual exploitation affected children in the five countries before the war, but have now particularly increased among Syrians. The incidence of trafficking in persons and the nature and magnitude of vulnerabilities to trafficking (such as impoverishment, lack of income, lack of access to services and more) are particularly related to the sheer magnitude of the displacement of people (6.6 million people are reported to be internally displaced with the Syrian Arab Republic) and partly to the legal, policy, infrastructural, security and socio-economic contexts of the countries under study, including the Syrian Arab Republic. While acknowledging the difficult situation prevailing in the country, the Committee urges the Government to take the necessary measures to prevent the sale and trafficking of children under 18 years of age for sexual and labour exploitation, and to provide information on the measures taken in this regard. The Committee also requests the Government to provide updated information on the number of cases concerning the sale of children and child trafficking that have been reported by the Department of Combating Trafficking in Persons, as well as on the investigations, prosecutions, convictions and sanctions applied relating to this worst form of child labour.

Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2017, published 107th ILC session (2018)

Article 3 of the Convention. Worst forms of child labour. Clause (a). All forms of slavery or similar practices. Forced recruitment of children for use in armed conflict. The Committee previously noted that the Syrian Arab Republic had adopted a series of legislative reforms such as Law No. 11/2013 which criminalizes all forms of recruitment and the use of children under the age of 18 years by armed forces and armed groups. It noted, however, that numerous armed groups in the Syrian Arab Republic, including the Free Syrian Army affiliated groups (FSA), the Kurdish People Protection Units (YPG), Ahrar al-Sham, Islamic State in Iraq and Sham/the Levant (ISIS/ISIL) and other armed groups were reportedly recruiting and using children for logistics, handling ammunition, manning checkpoints and as combatants.

The Committee notes the Government’s indication in its report that armed terrorist groups recruit children and involve them in violence and exploit them sexually. The Committee notes that, according to the report of the Secretary-General on the situation of human rights in the Syrian Arab Republic of 9 June 2016 (A/70/919, paragraphs 50–52), from early 2015, UNICEF verified 46 cases of recruitment (43 boys, one girl, two unknown): 21 were attributed to ISIL, 16 to non-state armed opposition groups, five to armed groups affiliated with the Government, two (including a girl) to YPG, and two to government forces. UNICEF reported that children were increasingly recruited at younger ages (some as young as 7 years old) by non-state armed groups. Children’s participation in combat was widespread and some armed opposition groups forced children to carry out grave human rights abuses, including executions and torture, while government forces allegedly submitted children to forced labour or used them as human shields. The Secretary-General also refers to reports from the OHCHR, according to which ISIL publicly announced, on 11 December 2015, the already known existence of a children’s section among its ranks, the “Cubs of the Caliphate”. The OHCHR also received allegations that ISIL was encouraging children between 10 and 14 years of age to join, and that they were training children in military combat.

The Committee further notes that, according to the report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict of 20 April 2016 (2016 report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict, A/70/836-S/2016/360, paragraphs 148–163), a total of 362 cases of recruitment and use of children were verified (the Secretary-General indicates that the figures do not reflect the full scale of grave violations committed by all parties to the conflict), and attributed to ISIL (274), the Free Syrian Army and affiliated groups (62), Liwa’ al Tawhid (11), popular committees (five), YPG (four), Ahrar al-Sham (three), the Nusrah Front (two) and the Army of Islam (one). Of the verified cases, 56 per cent involved children under 15 years of age, which represents a significant increase compared with 2014. The Secretary-General further indicates that the massive recruitment of children by ISIL continued, and that centres in rural Aleppo, Dayr al-Zawr and rural Raqqah existed that provided military training to at least 124 boys between 10 and 15 years of age. Verification of the use of child foreign fighters increased as well, with 18 cases of children as young as 7 years of age. In addition, the recruitment and use of children as young as 9 years of age by the Free Syrian Army was also verified, as well as the recruitment of 11 Syrian refugee children from neighbouring countries by Liwa’ al-Tawhid, and the YPG continued to recruit boys and girls as young as 14 years of age for combat roles. Recruitment and use by pro-government groups was also verified, with five cases of boys being recruited by the Popular Committee of Tallkalah (Homs) to work as guards and conduct patrols. In addition, there were allegations of the use of children by government forces to man checkpoints.

The Committee must once again deeply deplore the use of children in armed conflict in the Syrian Arab Republic, especially as it entails other violations of the rights of the child, such as abductions, murders and sexual violence. It once again recalls that, under Article 3(a) of the Convention, the forced or compulsory recruitment of children under 18 years of age for use in armed conflict is considered to be one of the worst forms of child labour and that, under Article 1 of the Convention, member States must take immediate and effective measures to secure the elimination of the worst forms of child labour as a matter of urgency. While acknowledging the complexity of the situation prevailing on the ground and the presence of armed groups and armed conflict in the country, the Committee once again strongly urges the Government to take measures, using all available means, to ensure the full and immediate demobilization of all children and to put a stop, in practice, to the forced recruitment of children under 18 years of age into armed forces and groups. The Committee once again urges the Government to take immediate and effective measures to ensure that thorough investigations and robust prosecutions of all persons who forcibly recruit children under 18 years of age for use in armed conflict are carried out, and that sufficiently effective and dissuasive penalties are imposed in practice, pursuant to Law No. 11 of 2013. It requests the Government to provide information on the number of investigations conducted, prosecutions brought and convictions handed down against such persons.

Article 7(2). Effective and time-bound measures. Clause (a). Preventing the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labour. Access to free basic education. The Committee previously noted that, with approximately 5,000 schools destroyed in the Syrian Arab Republic, the resulting sharp decline in children’s education continued to be a matter of great concern among the population. This report also indicated that more than half of Syrian school-age children, up to 2.4 million, were out of school as a consequence of the occupation, destruction and insecurity of schools.

The Committee notes that, according to the 2016 report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict (paragraph 157), the number of schools destroyed, partially damaged, used as shelters for internally displaced persons or rendered otherwise inaccessible has reached 6,500. The report refers to information from the Ministry of Education, according to which 571 students and 419 teachers had been killed in 2015, and from the United Nations that 69 attacks on educational facilities and personnel were verified and attributed to all fronts, which killed and maimed 174 children. The Committee further notes that, according to the report of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons on his mission to the Syrian Arab Republic of 5 April 2016 (A/HRC/32/35/Add.2, paragraphs 50–53), a further 400,000 children were at risk of dropping out of school as a direct result of conflict, violence and displacement. While basic education facilities were in place in the displacement centres visited by the Special Rapporteur, such centres, often using school buildings, offer only limited educational facilities.

According to the same report, UNICEF is working with local partners to reach some 3 million children and has implemented an informal education programme to reduce the number of children out of school. The inter-agency initiative “No Lost Generation” is a self-learning programme aimed at reaching 500,000 children who missed out on years of schooling. In areas hosting high numbers of displaced children, UNICEF is also rehabilitating 600 damaged schools and creating 300 prefabricated classrooms to accommodate 300,000 additional children. The Committee further notes that, according to UNICEF’s 2016 Annual Report on the Syrian Arab Republic, UNICEF’s interventions in education, focusing on quality, access and institutional strengthening, contributed to an increase in school enrolment from 3.24 million children (60 per cent of school-age population) to 3.66 million (68 per cent) between 2014–15 and 2015–16. These efforts also resulted in a decrease in the number of out-of-school children from 2.12 million (40 per cent) in 2014–15 to 1.75 million (32 per cent) in 2015–16.

Nevertheless, the Committee notes that, in his report, the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons declares that the challenge of providing even basic education access to many internally displaced children is immense and many thousands of children are likely to remain out of education in the foreseeable future (A/HRC/32/35/Add.2, paragraph 53). The Committee is, therefore, once again bound to express its deep concern at the large number of children who are deprived of education because of the climate of insecurity prevailing in the country. While acknowledging the difficult situation prevailing in the country, the Committee urges the Government to strengthen its efforts and take effective and time-bound measures to improve the functioning of the educational system in the country and to facilitate access to free basic education for all Syrian children, especially in areas affected by armed conflict, and giving particular attention to the situation of girls. It requests the Government to provide information on concrete measures taken in this regard.

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. 1. Children affected by armed conflict. The Committee previously noted that the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict in the Syrian Arab Republic had become common and that a great majority of the children recruited are trained, armed and used in combat.

The Committee notes the Government’s indication that the competent authorities in the Syrian Arab Republic seek to care for children recruited in armed conflict and to help them return to ordinary life. However, the Committee notes with deep concern that the situation in the Syrian Arab Republic has not changed and that not only are there no reports of children having been withdrawn from armed forces and groups in the 2016 report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict but that, according to this report, children continue to be recruited and used in armed conflict. The Committee, therefore, strongly urges the Government to take effective and time-bound measures to prevent the engagement of children in armed conflict and to rehabilitate and integrate former child combatants. It once again requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken in this regard and on the number of children rehabilitated and socially integrated.

2. Sexual slavery. The Committee previously noted that ISIS abducted hundreds of Yazidi women and girls, most of whom were sold as “war booty” or given as “concubines” to ISIS fighters, and that dozens of girls and women were transported to various locations in the Syrian Arab Republic, including Al Raqqah, Al Hasakah and Dayr az Zawr, where they were kept in sexual slavery.

The Committee notes with regret the absence of information in the Government’s report on this issue. It notes that, according to the report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic of 15 June 2016 entitled “They came to destroy: ISIS Crimes Against the Yazidis” (A/HRC/32/CRP.2), ISIS has sought to destroy the Yazidis through such egregious human rights violations as killings, sexual slavery, enslavement, torture and mental harm. The report indicates that over 3,200 women and children are still held by ISIS. Most are in the Syrian Arab Republic where Yazidi girls continue to be sexually enslaved and Yazidi boys indoctrinated, trained and used in hostilities. The report reveals that captured Yazidi women and girls over the age of 9 years are deemed the property of ISIS and are sold in slave markets or, more recently through online auctions, to ISIS fighters. While held by ISIS fighters, these Yazidi women and girls are subjected to brutal sexual violence and regularly forced to work in their houses, in many instances forced to work as domestic servants of the fighter and his family. The Committee deeply deplores the fact that Yazidi children continue to be victims of sexual slavery and forced labour. While acknowledging the difficult situation prevailing in the country, the Committee strongly urges the Government to take effective and time-bound measures to remove Yazidi children under 18 years of age who are victims of forced labour and sexual exploitation and to ensure their rehabilitation and social integration. It once again requests the Government to provide information on specific measures taken in this regard, and the number of children removed from sexual exploitation and rehabilitated.

Clause (d). Identifying and reaching out to children at special risk. Internally displaced children. The Committee previously noted that, by early 2013, there were 3 million children displaced and in need of assistance inside the Syrian Arab Republic.

The Committee notes that, according to the report of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons on his mission to the Syrian Arab Republic of 5 April 2016 (A/HRC/32/35/Add.2, paragraph 67), the extent of the conflict and displacement has had a massive impact on children, many of whom have experienced violence first-hand and/or witnessed extreme violence, including the killing of family members and/or separation from family members. The Special Rapporteur indicates that child protection concerns and issues, including child labour resulting from parents’ loss of livelihood, trafficking, sexual and gender-based violence and early and forced marriage, continue to be reported. Children have also been recruited and used by different parties to the conflict, both in combat and support roles. Observing with concern that internally displaced children are at an increased risk of being engaged in the worst forms of child labour, the Committee once again strongly urges the Government to take effective and time-bound measures to protect these children from the worst forms of child labour. It requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken in this regard and on the results achieved.

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

Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2016, published 106th ILC session (2017)

The Committee notes that the Government’s report has not been received. It hopes that the next report will contain full information on the matters raised in its previous comments.

Repetition

Article 5. Monitoring mechanisms. Sale and trafficking of children. Following its previous comments, the Committee notes the Government’s information that the Department of Combating Trafficking in Persons established pursuant to Law No. 3 of 2010 has carried out several inspection campaigns to monitor trafficking in persons, in particular trafficking in children. According to the statistical data provided by the Government, a total of 21 cases relating to trafficking in children were reported from 2010 to 2014. The Committee notes, however, that the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), in its concluding observations of July 2014, expressed concern that trafficking in women and girls has increased during the conflict and that they are at high risk of trafficking for purposes of sexual exploitation (CEDAW/C/SYR/CO/2, paragraph 33). While acknowledging the difficult situation prevailing in the country, the Committee requests the Government to take the necessary measures to prevent the sale and trafficking of children under 18 years of age for sexual exploitation and to provide information on the measures taken in this regard. The Committee also requests the Government to continue providing information on the number of cases concerning the sale of children and child trafficking that have been reported by the Department of Combating Trafficking in Persons, as well as on the investigations, prosecutions, convictions and sanctions applied relating to this worst form of child labour.

Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2016, published 106th ILC session (2017)

The Committee notes that the Government’s report has not been received. It is therefore bound to repeat its previous comments.

Repetition

Article 3 of the Convention. Worst forms of child labour. Clause (a). All forms of slavery or similar practices. Forced recruitment of children for use in armed conflict. The Committee notes from the Report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict to the United Nations (UN) Security Council, January 2014 (Report of the Secretary-General, January 2014) that the Syrian Arab Republic adopted a series of legislative reforms such as Law No. 11/2013 which criminalizes all forms of recruitment and the use of children under the age of 18 years by armed forces and armed groups, including taking part in direct combat, carrying and transporting weapons or equipment or ammunition, planting explosives, standing at checkpoints or carrying out surveillance or reconnaissance, acting as human shields or assisting and/or serving the perpetrators in any way or form.

However, the Committee notes the information contained in the Report of the Secretary-General to the UN Security Council on children and armed conflict, May 2014 (A/68/878-S/2014/339) (Report of the Secretary-General, May 2014) that numerous armed groups in Syria, including the Free Syrian Army affiliated groups (FSA), the Kurdish People Protection Units (YPG), Ahrar al-Sham, Islamic State in Iraq and Sham (ISIS) and other armed groups are reportedly recruiting and using children for logistics, handling ammunition, manning checkpoints and as combatants. Most children with FSA affiliated groups, some as young as 14 years of age indicated that they had received weapon trainings and were paid 4,000–8,000 Syrian pounds (SYP) per month. The Committee also notes from the Report of the Secretary-General, January 2014, that there have been reports of the use of children, both girls and boys between the ages of 10 and 12, as human shields by the Government forces. This report further indicates that more than 10,000 children are estimated to have been killed since the outset of the conflict in 2011.

The Committee further notes from the report submitted by the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic to the UN Human Rights Council, February 2015 (Report of the Commission of Inquiry, 2015), that ISIS has instrumentalized and abused children on a scale not seen before in the Syrian conflict. It has established “cubs camps” across areas under its control, where children are taught how to use weapons and trained to be deployed as suicide bombers. According to this report, ISIS is also reported to have abducted children, including girls, and detained and subjected them to harsh punishments. While many of them were executed for being members of other armed groups, some of them as young as 10 years old were used as executioners. Moreover, the YPG is also reported to have abducted children and accepted children, including girls, into their ranks for roles that involve direct participation in hostilities. The Committee deeply deplores the current situation of children affected by armed conflict in Syria, especially as it entails other violations of the rights of the child, such as abductions, murders and sexual violence. It recalls that, under Article 3(a) of the Convention, the forced or compulsory recruitment of children under 18 years of age for use in armed conflict is considered to be one of the worst forms of child labour and that, under Article 1 of the Convention, member States must take immediate and effective measures to secure the elimination of the worst forms of child labour as a matter of urgency. The Committee therefore strongly urges the Government to take measures as a matter of urgency to ensure the full and immediate demobilization of all children and to put a stop, in practice, to the forced recruitment of children under 18 years of age into armed forces and groups. With reference to Security Council Resolution 2068 of 19 September 2012, which recalls “the responsibilities of States to end impunity and to prosecute those responsible for genocide, crimes against humanity and other egregious crimes perpetrated against children”, the Committee urges the Government to take immediate and effective measures to ensure that thorough investigations and robust prosecutions of all persons, who forcibly recruit children under 18 years of age for use in armed conflict, are carried out and that sufficiently effective and dissuasive penalties are imposed in practice, pursuant to Law No. 11 of 2013. It requests the Government to provide information on the number of investigations conducted, prosecutions brought and convictions handed down against such persons.

Article 7(2). Effective and time-bound measures. Clause (a). Preventing the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labour. Access to free basic education. The Committee notes from the Report of the Commission of Inquiry, 2015, that with approximately 5,000 schools destroyed in the Syrian Arab Republic the resulting sharp decline in children’s education continues to be a matter of great concern among the population. This report also indicates that more than half of Syrian school-aged children, up to 2.4 million, are out of school as a consequence of the occupation, destruction and insecurity of schools. The Committee further notes that the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), in its concluding observations of July 2014, expressed concern at the increase in the already high rate of girls dropping out of school as well as the challenges faced by children, especially girls in besieged areas or in areas out of the control of the State party in accessing programmes aimed at the continuation of education (CEDAW/C/SYR/CO/2, paragraph 39). The Committee is, therefore, bound to express its deep concern at the large number of children who are deprived of education because of the climate of insecurity prevailing in the country. While acknowledging the complexity of the situation prevailing on the ground and the presence of armed groups and armed conflict in the country, the Committee urges the Government to take effective and time-bound measures to improve the functioning of the educational system in the country and to facilitate access to free basic education for all Syrian children, especially in areas affected by armed conflict and giving particular attention to the situation of girls. It requests the Government to provide information on concrete measures taken in this regard.

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. 1. Child soldiers. The Committee notes the information contained in the Report of the Secretary-General, January 2014, that the United Nations is currently supporting the Ministry of Social Affairs to develop a strategy to prevent and end the association of children with armed forces and groups. Moreover, according to the Report of the Secretary-General, May 2014, the Government established an inter-ministerial committee on children and armed conflict in September 2013. The Committee further notes from this report that the General Command of the YPG issued a command order in October 2013 condemning and prohibiting the recruitment of children. The Committee notes, however, from a Report from the UN Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, 13 March 2015, that the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict in Syria has become common and that a great majority of the children recruited are trained, armed and used in combat. The Committee, therefore, urges the Government to take effective and time-bound measures to remove children from armed forces and groups and ensure their rehabilitation and social integration. It also requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken in this regard and on the number of child soldiers removed from armed forces and groups and reintegrated.

2. Sexual slavery. The Committee notes from the Report of the Commission of Inquiry, 2015, that, during August 2014, ISIS abducted hundreds of Yazidi women and girls, most of whom were sold as “war booty” or given as “concubines” to ISIS fighters. This report also indicates that dozens of girls and women were transported to various locations in Syria, including Al Raqqah, Al Hasakah and Dayr az Zawr, where they were kept in sexual slavery. The Committee urges the Government to take effective and time-bound measures to remove children under 18 years of age who are victims of forced labour for sexual exploitation and ensure their rehabilitation and social integration. It requests the Government to provide information on specific measures taken in this regard, and the number of children removed from sexual exploitation and rehabilitated.

Clause (d). Identifying and reaching out to children at special risk. Internally displaced children and refugees. The Committee notes from the Report the of Secretary-General, January 2014, that, by early 2013, there were 3 million children displaced and in need of assistance inside the Syrian Arab Republic and over 1.1 million Syrian child refugees living in neighbouring countries. This report further indicates that the recruitment of children by armed groups from refugee populations in neighbouring countries is a matter of particular concern. The Committee also notes from the Report of the Commission of Inquiry, 2015, that children separated from their communities, and often from their families and parents, are at risk of being targeted and instrumentalized in the armed conflict. Observing with concern that internally displaced children and refugees 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. It requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken in this regard and on the results achieved.

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

The Committee hopes that the Government will make every effort to take the necessary action in the near future.

Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2015, published 105th ILC session (2016)

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. Following its previous comments, the Committee notes that section 4 of Legislative Decree No. 3 of 2010 defines trafficking in persons as transporting, kidnapping, sheltering, deporting or hosting persons in order to be employed or used for illicit activities, including the use of a child for prostitution and production of pornography (section 5) in return for material or moral compensation. It also notes that, according to section 7 of Legislative Decree No. 3 of 2010, penalties for the offences related to trafficking in persons comprises imprisonment for a minimum of seven years and fines of 1–3 million Syrian pounds (SYP) (US$1 is approximately equal to SYP189) and confiscation of property, while section 8 provides for harsher penalties if the victim is a child (defined under section 1(3) of Legislative Decree No. 3 of 2010 as a person under the age of 18 years).

Article 5. Monitoring mechanisms. Sale and trafficking of children. Following its previous comments, the Committee notes the Government’s information that the Department of Combating Trafficking in Persons established pursuant to Legislative Decree No. 3 of 2010 has carried out several inspection campaigns to monitor trafficking in persons, in particular trafficking in children. According to the statistical data provided by the Government, a total of 21 cases relating to trafficking in children were reported from 2010 to 2014. The Committee notes, however, that the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), in its concluding observations of July 2014, expressed concern that trafficking in women and girls has increased during the conflict and that they are at high risk of trafficking for purposes of sexual exploitation (CEDAW/C/SYR/CO/2, paragraph 33). While acknowledging the difficult situation prevailing in the country, the Committee requests the Government to take the necessary measures to prevent the sale and trafficking of children under 18 years of age for sexual exploitation and to provide information on the measures taken in this regard. The Committee also requests the Government to continue providing information on the number of cases concerning the sale of children and child trafficking that have been reported by the Department of Combating Trafficking in Persons, as well as on the investigations, prosecutions, convictions and sanctions applied relating to this worst form of child labour.

Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2015, published 105th ILC session (2016)

Article 3 of the Convention. Worst forms of child labour. Clause (a). All forms of slavery or similar practices. Forced recruitment of children for use in armed conflict. The Committee notes from the Report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict to the United Nations (UN) Security Council, January 2014 (Report of the Secretary-General, January 2014) that the Syrian Arab Republic adopted a series of legislative reforms such as Law No. 11/2013 which criminalizes all forms of recruitment and the use of children under the age of 18 years by armed forces and armed groups, including taking part in direct combat, carrying and transporting weapons or equipment or ammunition, planting explosives, standing at checkpoints or carrying out surveillance or reconnaissance, acting as human shields or assisting and/or serving the perpetrators in any way or form.

However, the Committee notes the information contained in the Report of the Secretary-General to the UN Security Council on children and armed conflict, May 2014 (A/68/878-S/2014/339) (Report of the Secretary-General, May 2014) that numerous armed groups in Syria, including the Free Syrian Army affiliated groups (FSA), the Kurdish People Protection Units (YPG), Ahrar al-Sham, Islamic State in Iraq and Sham (ISIS) and other armed groups are reportedly recruiting and using children for logistics, handling ammunition, manning checkpoints and as combatants. Most children with FSA affiliated groups, some as young as 14 years of age indicated that they had received weapon trainings and were paid 4,000–8,000 Syrian pounds (SYP) per month. The Committee also notes from the Report of the Secretary-General, January 2014, that there have been reports of the use of children, both girls and boys between the ages of 10 and 12, as human shields by the Government forces. This report further indicates that more than 10,000 children are estimated to have been killed since the outset of the conflict in 2011.

The Committee further notes from the report submitted by the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic to the UN Human Rights Council, February 2015 (Report of the Commission of Inquiry, 2015), that ISIS has instrumentalized and abused children on a scale not seen before in the Syrian conflict. It has established “cubs camps” across areas under its control, where children are taught how to use weapons and trained to be deployed as suicide bombers. According to this report, ISIS is also reported to have abducted children, including girls, and detained and subjected them to harsh punishments. While many of them were executed for being members of other armed groups, some of them as young as 10 years old were used as executioners. Moreover, the YPG is also reported to have abducted children and accepted children, including girls, into their ranks for roles that involve direct participation in hostilities. The Committee deeply deplores the current situation of children affected by armed conflict in Syria, especially as it entails other violations of the rights of the child, such as abductions, murders and sexual violence. It recalls that, under Article 3(a) of the Convention, the forced or compulsory recruitment of children under 18 years of age for use in armed conflict is considered to be one of the worst forms of child labour and that, under Article 1 of the Convention, member States must take immediate and effective measures to secure the elimination of the worst forms of child labour as a matter of urgency. The Committee therefore strongly urges the Government to take measures as a matter of urgency to ensure the full and immediate demobilization of all children and to put a stop, in practice, to the forced recruitment of children under 18 years of age into armed forces and groups. With reference to Security Council Resolution 2068 of 19 September 2012, which recalls “the responsibilities of States to end impunity and to prosecute those responsible for genocide, crimes against humanity and other egregious crimes perpetrated against children”, the Committee urges the Government to take immediate and effective measures to ensure that thorough investigations and robust prosecutions of all persons, who forcibly recruit children under 18 years of age for use in armed conflict, are carried out and that sufficiently effective and dissuasive penalties are imposed in practice, pursuant to Law No. 11 of 2013. It requests the Government to provide information on the number of investigations conducted, prosecutions brought and convictions handed down against such persons.

Article 7(2). Effective and time-bound measures. Clause (a). Preventing the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labour. Access to free basic education. The Committee notes from the Report of the Commission of Inquiry, 2015, that with approximately 5,000 schools destroyed in the Syrian Arab Republic the resulting sharp decline in children’s education continues to be a matter of great concern among the population. This report also indicates that more than half of Syrian school-aged children, up to 2.4 million, are out of school as a consequence of the occupation, destruction and insecurity of schools. The Committee further notes that the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), in its concluding observations of July 2014, expressed concern at the increase in the already high rate of girls dropping out of school as well as the challenges faced by children, especially girls in besieged areas or in areas out of the control of the State party in accessing programmes aimed at the continuation of education (CEDAW/C/SYR/CO/2, paragraph 39). The Committee is, therefore, bound to express its deep concern at the large number of children who are deprived of education because of the climate of insecurity prevailing in the country. While acknowledging the complexity of the situation prevailing on the ground and the presence of armed groups and armed conflict in the country, the Committee urges the Government to take effective and time-bound measures to improve the functioning of the educational system in the country and to facilitate access to free basic education for all Syrian children, especially in areas affected by armed conflict and giving particular attention to the situation of girls. It requests the Government to provide information on concrete measures taken in this regard.

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. 1. Child soldiers. The Committee notes the information contained in the Report of the Secretary-General, January 2014, that the United Nations is currently supporting the Ministry of Social Affairs to develop a strategy to prevent and end the association of children with armed forces and groups. Moreover, according to the Report of the Secretary-General, May 2014, the Government established an inter-ministerial committee on children and armed conflict in September 2013. The Committee further notes from this report that the General Command of the YPG issued a command order in October 2013 condemning and prohibiting the recruitment of children. The Committee notes, however, from a Report from the UN Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, 13 March 2015, that the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict in Syria has become common and that a great majority of the children recruited are trained, armed and used in combat. The Committee, therefore, urges the Government to take effective and time-bound measures to remove children from armed forces and groups and ensure their rehabilitation and social integration. It also requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken in this regard and on the number of child soldiers removed from armed forces and groups and reintegrated.

2. Sexual slavery. The Committee notes from the Report of the Commission of Inquiry, 2015, that, during August 2014, ISIS abducted hundreds of Yazidi women and girls, most of whom were sold as “war booty” or given as “concubines” to ISIS fighters. This report also indicates that dozens of girls and women were transported to various locations in Syria, including Al Raqqah, Al Hasakah and Dayr az Zawr, where they were kept in sexual slavery. The Committee urges the Government to take effective and time-bound measures to remove children under 18 years of age who are victims of forced labour for sexual exploitation and ensure their rehabilitation and social integration. It requests the Government to provide information on specific measures taken in this regard, and the number of children removed from sexual exploitation and rehabilitated.

Clause (d). Identifying and reaching out to children at special risk. Internally displaced children and refugees. The Committee notes from the Report the of Secretary-General, January 2014, that, by early 2013, there were 3 million children displaced and in need of assistance inside the Syrian Arab Republic and over 1.1 million Syrian child refugees living in neighbouring countries. This report further indicates that the recruitment of children by armed groups from refugee populations in neighbouring countries is a matter of particular concern. The Committee also notes from the Report of the Commission of Inquiry, 2015, that children separated from their communities, and often from their families and parents, are at risk of being targeted and instrumentalized in the armed conflict. Observing with concern that internally displaced children and refugees 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. It requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken in this regard and on the results achieved.

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

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

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 previous direct request, which read as follows:

Repetition

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 the Government’s indication that it was preparing a comprehensive law to combat the crime of trafficking in persons and that a copy of this law would be sent to the Committee when promulgated. In this regard, the Committee expressed the hope that this law would prohibit the sale and trafficking of children under 18 years for the purposes of both sexual and labour exploitation.

The Committee noted the Government’s statement that Legislative Decree No. 3 of 2010, which relates to human trafficking crimes, has been adopted. The Government stated that this law aims to prohibit and combat human trafficking and to pay special attention to women and children who are victims of this crime. The Committee requests the Government to provide a copy of Legislative Decree No. 3 of 2010 with its next report.

Article 5. Monitoring mechanisms. 1. Trafficking. The Committee previously noted the Government’s statement in its written reply to the list of issues raised by the Committee on Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families (CMW), that the Syrian Arab Republic’s geographical location makes the country an environment that is conducive to organized trafficking (3 April 2008, CMW/C/SYR/Q/1/Add.1, paragraph 78). The Committee also noted the CMW’s recommendation that the Government step up its efforts to counter migrant smuggling and trafficking in persons, especially women and children (CMW/C/SYR/CO/1, paragraph 40).

The Committee noted the information in the Government’s report that Legislative Decree No. 3 of 2010 establishes the Department to Combat Human Trafficking in Persons. The Government indicated that this Department will be responsible for regulating and providing a database on investigations (including statistical data on human trafficking), and will provide relevant bodies with this information. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on specific measures taken by the Department to Combat Human Trafficking in Persons with regard to combating child trafficking. It also requests the Government to provide up-to-date statistical information from the database run by this Department pertaining to cases of trafficking involving victims under the age of 18, including information on the number and nature of infringements reported, investigations, prosecutions, convictions and penalties applied.

2. Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour and the labour inspectorate. In previous comments, the Committee noted that, through the Decent Work Pilot Programme (DWPP), measures would be taken to increase the capacities of labour inspection employees in the agricultural and industrial sectors. The Government indicated that it was formulating a plan for the labour inspectorate in this regard and was developing mechanisms for the coordination of various bodies responsible for the implementation of inspections.

The Committee noted the statement in the Government’s report that, through the Capacity-Building Programme for labour inspectors and the National Programme for the Elimination of Worst Forms of Child Labour, three training and rehabilitation courses were held for labour inspectors in the agricultural and industrial sectors. The Government indicated that these courses also included training on occupational health and safety with regard to child labour. The Committee also noted the Government’s statement in its report to the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) of 2 June 2010 that the second phase of the DWPP will focus on children working in industry in Aleppo and in agriculture in Dayr al Zawr (CRC/C/SYR/3-4, paragraph 284). The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the impact of the measures taken within the framework of the DWPP with regard to strengthening the capacity of the labour inspectorate to monitor the worst forms of child labour.

Article 7(2). Effective and time-bound measures. Clause (b). Providing the necessary and appropriate direct assistance for the removal of children from the worst forms of child labour, and for their rehabilitation and social integration. Child victims of trafficking. The Committee previously noted the Government’s indication that the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) on national capacity building with regard to the running of a shelter for victims of human trafficking in the Syrian Arab Republic.

The Committee noted the information in the Government’s report that, through the National Programme for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour, in collaboration with the ILO, it intends to establish a centre for the rehabilitation of children, focused on their reintegration. The Government also indicated that the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour has upgraded its social support centres through this Programme. Moreover, the Committee noted the Government’s statement that Legislative Decree No. 3 of 2010 includes measures to upgrade a shelter for the care of human trafficking victims. It also noted the Government’s statement, in its report to the CRC of 2 June 2010, that a shelter for victims of human trafficking was opened in Damascus on 31 December 2008, through collaboration with the IOM, and that another shelter for this purpose is intended for Aleppo (CRC/C/SYR/3-4, paragraph 158). The Committee once again requests the Government to provide information on the number of child victims of trafficking who have benefited from appropriate services from the shelters established for victims of trafficking and the support centres of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour.

Parts IV and V of the report form. Application of the Convention in practice. The Committee previously noted that the Government encountered various difficulties in the application of the Convention, including the lack of comprehensive integrated national systems for the collection and analysis of data and weak follow-up and monitoring mechanisms on cases of the employment of children.

The Committee noted the information in the Government’s report that it is undertaking an analytical study on the situation of child labour in Syria, in collaboration with the ILO and UNICEF. The Government indicated that a database is being developed on the subject. The Committee requests the Government to provide information from the analytical study on child labour in the Syrian Arab Republic, with its next report, particularly information related to the nature, extent and trends of the worst forms of child labour, and the number of children covered by the measures giving effect to the Convention.

Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2011, published 101st ILC session (2012)

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 the Government’s indication that it was preparing a comprehensive law to combat the crime of trafficking in persons and that a copy of this law would be sent to the Committee when promulgated. In this regard, the Committee expressed the hope that this law would prohibit the sale and trafficking of children under 18 years for the purposes of both sexual and labour exploitation.

The Committee notes the Government’s statement that Legislative Decree No. 3 of 2010, which relates to human trafficking crimes, has been adopted. The Government states that this law aims to prohibit and combat human trafficking and to pay special attention to women and children who are victims of this crime. The Committee requests the Government to provide a copy of Legislative Decree No. 3 of 2010 with its next report.

Article 5. Monitoring mechanisms. Trafficking. The Committee previously noted the Government’s statement in its written reply to the list of issues raised by the Committee on Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families (CMW), that the Syrian Arab Republic’s geographical location makes the country an environment that is conducive to organized trafficking (3 April 2008, CMW/C/SYR/Q/1/Add.1, paragraph 78). The Committee also noted the CMW’s recommendation that the Government step up its efforts to counter migrant smuggling and trafficking in persons, especially women and children (CMW/C/SYR/CO/1, paragraph 40).

The Committee notes the information in the Government’s report that Legislative Decree No. 3 of 2010 establishes the Department to Combat Human Trafficking in Persons. The Government indicates that this Department will be responsible for regulating and providing a database on investigations (including statistical data on human trafficking), and will provide relevant bodies with this information. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on specific measures taken by the Department to Combat Human Trafficking in Persons with regard to combating child trafficking. It also requests the Government to provide up-to-date statistical information from the database run by this Department pertaining to cases of trafficking involving victims under the age of 18, including information on the number and nature of infringements reported, investigations, prosecutions, convictions and penalties applied.

Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour and the labour inspectorate. In previous comments, the Committee noted that, through the Decent Work Pilot Programme (DWPP), measures would be taken to increase the capacities of labour inspection employees in the agricultural and industrial sectors. The Government indicated that it was formulating a plan for the labour inspectorate in this regard and was developing mechanisms for the coordination of various bodies responsible for the implementation of inspections.

The Committee notes the statement in the Government’s report that, through the Capacity-Building Programme for labour inspectors and the National Programme for the Elimination of Worst Forms of Child Labour, three training and rehabilitation courses were held for labour inspectors in the agricultural and industrial sectors. The Government indicates that these courses also included training on occupational health and safety with regard to child labour. The Committee also notes the Government’s statement in its report to the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) of 2 June 2010 that the second phase of the DWPP will focus on children working in industry in Aleppo and in agriculture in Dayr al-Zawr (CRC/C/SYR/3-4, paragraph 284). The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the impact of the measures taken within the framework of the DWPP with regard to strengthening the capacity of the labour inspectorate to monitor the worst forms of child labour.

Article 7(2). Effective and time-bound measures. Clause (b). Providing the necessary and appropriate direct assistance for the removal of children from the worst forms of child labour, and for their rehabilitation and social integration. Child victims of trafficking. The Committee previously noted the Government’s indication that the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) on national capacity building with regard to the running of a shelter for victims of human trafficking in the Syrian Arab Republic.

The Committee notes the information in the Government’s report that, through the National Programme for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour, in collaboration with the ILO, it intends to establish a centre for the rehabilitation of children, focused on their reintegration. The Government also indicates that the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour has upgraded its social support centres through this Programme. Moreover, the Committee notes the Government’s statement that Legislative Decree No. 3 of 2010 includes measures to upgrade a shelter for the care of human trafficking victims. It also notes the Government’s statement, in its report to the CRC of 2 June 2010, that a shelter for victims of human trafficking was opened in Damascus on 31 December 2008, through collaboration with the IOM, and that another shelter for this purpose is intended for Aleppo (CRC/C/SYR/3-4, paragraph 158). The Committee once again requests the Government to provide information on the number of child victims of trafficking who have benefited from appropriate services from the shelters established for victims of trafficking and the support centres of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour.

Parts IV and V of the report form. Application of the Convention in practice. The Committee previously noted that the Government encountered various difficulties in the application of the Convention, including the lack of comprehensive integrated national systems for the collection and analysis of data and weak follow-up and monitoring mechanisms on cases of the employment of children.

The Committee notes the information in the Government’s report that it is undertaking an analytical study on the situation of child labour in Syria, in collaboration with the ILO and UNICEF. The Government indicates that a database is being developed on the subject. The Committee requests the Government to provide information from the analytical study on child labour in the Syrian Arab Republic, with its next report, particularly information related to the nature, extent and trends of the worst forms of child labour, and the number of children covered by the measures giving effect to the Convention.

Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2009, published 99th ILC session (2010)

Article 3 of the Convention. Worst forms of child labour. Clause (a). All forms of slavery or practices similar to slavery. 1. Sale and trafficking of children. The Committee previously noted the Government’s indication that, in addition to the provisions relating to trafficking in the Act on Prostitution and the Constitution, the Government was preparing a comprehensive law to combat the crime of trafficking of persons. The Committee expressed the hope that this law would prohibit the sale and trafficking of children under 18 years for the purposes of both sexual and labour exploitation, and requested the Government to provide information on any developments made towards its adoption. The Committee notes the Government’s statement that the National Committee has completed the draft bill on combating trafficking in persons, and submitted it to the supervisory bodies to complete its promulgation. The Committee notes the Government’s statement that a copy of this law will be sent to the Committee when it is issued. The Committee encourages the Government to ensure the adoption of this draft bill on combating trafficking in persons, and to supply a copy of this text with its next report.

Article 5. Monitoring mechanisms. Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour and the labour inspectorate. In previous comments, the Committee noted that, through the Decent Work Pilot Programme (DWPP), in cooperation with the ILO, work was under way to strengthen the capacities of labour inspection employees in the agricultural and industrial sectors. The Committee requested the Government to provide information on the impact of the DWPP on strengthening the capacity of the agricultural and industrial labour inspectorate to monitor children involved in the worst forms of child labour.

The Committee notes the Government’s statement that it is currently formulating a new plan for a labour inspectorate, through the DWPP. This plan is based on strengthening the capacities of inspectors and developing mechanisms for the coordination of various bodies responsible for the implementation of the inspections, necessitated by the expanding role of the private sector, the increasing numbers of private institutions, and the expansion of the informal sector. The Committee also notes the Government’s indication that a training course for this purpose was organized in August 2009 aimed at capacity development, and that a draft law has been formulated. The Committee further notes the information in the Government’s report that an annual inspection report for 2007 has been issued. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the impact of the measures taken to strengthen the capacities of the labour inspectorate through the DWPP on the monitoring of children working in the worst forms of child labour, particularly in the informal sector. The Committee also requests the Government to supply a copy of the draft bill on labour inspection, when it is adopted. The Committee further requests the Government to include a copy of the inspection report for 2007 with its next report, in addition to any labour inspection reports subsequently issued.

2. Trafficking. The Committee notes the Government’s statement in its written reply to the list of issues raised by the Committee on Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families (CMW), in connection with the consideration of the Government’s report on the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families, that the Syrian Arab Republic’s geographical location makes the country an environment that is conducive to organized trafficking, despite the fact that Syrian legislation includes various provisions penalizing trafficking and the elements that constitute trafficking offences (CMW/C/SYR/Q/1/Add.1, paragraph 78). The Committee notes that the CMW recommended that the Government step up its efforts to counter migrant smuggling and trafficking in persons, especially women and children, including by taking appropriate steps to detect the illegal or clandestine movements of migrant workers and their families and punish the criminals and groups who orchestrate or assist such movements (CMW/C/SYR/CO/1, paragraph 40). The Committee requests the Government to provide information on measures taken or envisaged to strengthen anti‑trafficking monitoring mechanisms, particularly with regard to the prevention of the trafficking of children.

Article 7, paragraph 2. Clause (b). Providing the necessary and appropriate direct assistance for the removal of children from the worst forms of child labour, and for their rehabilitation and social integration. Child victims of trafficking. The Committee notes the Government’s information in its written reply to the list of issues raised by the CMW, that the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour (MoSAL) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the International Organization for Migration on national capacity building with regard to the running of a shelter for victims of human trafficking in the Syrian Arab Republic (CMW/C/SYR/Q/1/Add.1 paragraph 80). This agreement is aimed at building and enhancing the technical capacity of government workers and of civil society associations responsible for running the shelter. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the number of child victims of trafficking who have been rehabilitated and reintegrated into society through this shelter for victims of trafficking, as well as information on any other measures taken in this regard.

Clause (d). Identify and reach out to children at special risk. Beggars and vagrant children. In previous comments, the Committee noted that the MoSAL, the Ministry of Education and a number of NGOs were in charge of developing and following up on programmes aimed at combating child begging and providing rehabilitation and social assistance to delinquent and vagrant children. The Committee noted that centres for beggars and vagrants were established, starting in Damascus, and requested the Government to indicate the number of children under 18 years who have been removed from begging and rehabilitated through these centres. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that these centres provide the necessary care and services for the accommodation of occupants, and provide them with educational services, training and vocational rehabilitation (which suit their physical capacities). The Committee further notes the statistical information on these centres included in the Government’s report, which indicates that in 2008, 1,121 persons under 18 were provided with services from this centre.

Parts IV and V of the report form. Application of the Convention in practice. The Committee previously noted that the Government encountered various difficulties in the application of the Convention, including the lack of comprehensive integrated national systems for the collection of data and statistics and their analysis and the weak follow-up and monitoring mechanisms on cases of the employment of children. The Committee again notes that the Government provides no information on any progress made in resolving the abovementioned difficulties. It requests the Government to provide information on this point in its next report. The Committee also requests the Government to provide information on the nature, extent and trends of the worst forms of child labour, studies and inquiries and statistical data on the number of children covered by the measures giving effect to the Convention, the number and nature of infringements reported, investigations, prosecutions, convictions and penalties applied.

Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2007, published 97th ILC session (2008)

The Committee notes the Government’s first report. It requests the Government to provide further information on the following points.

Article 3 of the Convention. Worst forms of child labour. Clause (a). All forms of slavery or practices similar to slavery. 1. Sale and trafficking of children. The Committee had previously noted that procuring children to leave the country for the purpose of engagement in acts of prostitution or debauchery constitutes an offence (sections 1–3 of the Act on Prostitution). It had noted, however, that no provisions appeared to exist in the relevant legislation which prohibits the sale and trafficking of children for labour exploitation. The Committee notes the Government’s information that the Syrian Constitution considers freedom as a sacred right of every child to be guaranteed by the State. Citizens may not be pushed away from their nation and trafficking is prohibited and punishable. Syrian laws specify a harsher penalty if the victim has not reached 18 years of age. Traffickers shall be punished for the crime of trafficking irrespective of the result, or whether it is for profit or for labour exploitation. The Committee also notes the Government’s information that it is currently preparing a comprehensive law to combat the crime of trafficking of persons. The Committee trusts that the comprehensive law to combat trafficking of persons will also prohibit the sale and trafficking of children under 18 years for purposes of sexual and labour exploitation. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on any developments made towards the adoption of the comprehensive law to combat trafficking of persons.

Article 5. Monitoring mechanisms. Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour and the labour inspectorate. The Committee had previously noted that the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour (MSAL) issued the necessary circulars in the governorates in order to intensify inspections in agricultural, commercial and industrial undertakings. Furthermore, a project for the establishment and rehabilitation of the Agricultural and Industrial Labour Inspectorate in collaboration with the ILO Office in Beirut and with the Ministry of Labour of Jordan would be set up. The Committee notes the Government’s information that the MSAL provides employees involved in inspection with several training courses aimed at strengthening and building their scientific and practical capacities. Moreover, work is currently under way so as to strengthen the capacities of employees in agricultural and industrial labour inspection, through the Decent Work Pilot Programme, which will be carried out in cooperation with the ILO. The Committee also notes the Government’s information that the labour inspectorate monitors the provisions of the Labour Code, especially sections 124, 125 and 126 relating to the employment of children and young persons. When inspectors find that violations occur, they refer them to the competent courts. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the impact of the Decent Work Pilot Programme on strengthening the capacity of the Agricultural and Industrial Labour Inspectorate to monitor children involved in the worst forms of child labour. It also requests the Government to supply, with its next report, extracts of the inspection reports specifying the extent and nature of violations detected concerning children and young persons involved in the worst forms of child labour.

Article 7, clause (d). Identify and reach out to children at special risk. Beggars and vagrant children. The Committee had previously noted that the MSAL, the Ministry of Education and a number of NGOs were in charge of developing and following up on programmes aimed at combating child begging and providing rehabilitation and social assistance to delinquent and vagrant children. The Committee notes the Government’s information that the MSAL, based on Act No. 16 of 1975, seeks to upgrade the centres for beggars and vagrants, starting with Damascus, where there is the highest population density in the country. These centres, regulated by internal regulation No. 589 of 1977, provide vagrants with clothing, accommodation, social services, psychological and health care, and other rehabilitative measures. The Committee notes the Government’s information that the MSAL currently promotes the centres for vagrants in coordination with the governorate of Aleppo. The Committee requests the Government to indicate the number of children under 18 years who have been removed from begging and rehabilitated through these centres.

Parts IV and V of the report form. Application of the Convention in practice. The Committee had previously noted that the Government encountered various difficulties in the application of the Convention, including: (a) the lack of comprehensive integrated national systems for the collection of data and statistics and their analysis; (b) the weak follow-up and monitoring mechanisms on cases of the employment of children; and (c) the lack of specialized centres (due to poor financial resources) for the protection of child victims of exploitation and for their reintegration into society. The Committee notes that the Government provides no information on any progress made in resolving the abovementioned difficulties. It requests the Government to provide information on this point in its next report.

 The Committee notes that the Government refers to the Industrial Labour Inspectorate inspection report for 2006, which indicates the infringements committed and their nature. It also notes the Government’s information that no cases of exploitation of children were reported. It requests the Government to provide a copy of the Industrial Labour Inspectorate inspection report for 2006.

Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2006, published 96th ILC session (2007)

The Committee notes the Government’s first report. It requests it to provide further information on the following points.

Article 3 of the Convention. Worst forms of child labour. Clause (a). All forms of slavery or practices similar to slavery. 1. Sale and trafficking of children. The Committee notes the Government’s information that the Syrian Arab Republic signed on 13 December 2000 the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime. It also notes the Government’s statement that Syrian laws have confirmed the prohibition of child trafficking. It notes that, by virtue of sections 5 and 6 of the Act on Prostitution (Act. No. 10 of 1961), anyone who facilitates any other person to enter the Syrian Arab Republic for the purposes of prostitution or debauchery commits an offence. It also notes that, according to the Government’s initial report of 1996 to the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC/C/28/ADD.2, paragraphs 268‑269), sections 1-3 of the Act on Prostitution punish any act of incitement or any attempt to help children to leave the country for the purpose of engagement in acts of prostitution or debauchery. The Committee notes that no provisions appear to exist in the relevant legislation which prohibits the sale and trafficking of children for labour exploitation. It accordingly requests the Government to indicate the measures taken or envisaged to prohibit the sale and trafficking of children under 18 years of age for the purpose of labour exploitation. The Committee also requests the Government to provide a copy of Act No. 10 of 1961 with its next report.

2. Slavery and forced labour. The Committee notes that article 25 of the Constitution stipulates that freedom is a sacred right and the State protects the personal freedom of the citizens and safeguards their dignity and security. It notes that, according to the Government’s initial report to the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC/C/28/Add.2, paragraph 98), section 8 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which forms part of the Syrian national legislation under the terms of Decree No. 3 of 1969, states that all forms of slavery are prohibited, including the slave trade, and no one shall be required to perform forced or compulsory labour. The Committee requests the Government to provide a copy of Decree No. 3 of 1969 with its next report.

3. Compulsory recruitment of a child for use in armed conflict. The Committee notes the Government’s information that there is no armed conflict or operations involving children inside the Syrian Arab Republic. It also notes that, according to the Government’s initial report to the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC/C/28/Add.2, paragraph 338), section 6 of the Military Service Act promulgated by Legislative Decree no. 115 of 1993, as amended, states that “every Syrian is required to perform compulsory military service on reaching the age at which it becomes obligatory. The said age begins on the first day of the month of January in the year in which he reaches the age of 19 years”. The Committee requests the Government to provide a copy of this text in its next report.

Clause (b). 1. Use, procuring or offering of a child for prostitution. The Committee notes that, according to section 510 of the Penal Code, anyone, in order to satisfy the passions of others, hires, trains or corrupts a woman or a girl who has not turned 21 years of age, even with her consent, commits an offence. Section 511 punishes anyone who retains against his/her will, a person in a house of debauchery, or who forces this person into prostitution. Section 512 punishes anyone who facilitates prostitution and section 513 punishes anyone living off the profits of prostitution. The Committee notes the Government’s information that Act No. 10 of 1961 on prostitution punishes anyone who uses, incites or tempts another person, male or female, for the purposes of committing prostitution or debauchery, through deceit, force, threat or abuse of power (sections 3 and 4).

2. Use, procuring or offering of a child for pornography or pornographic performances. The Committee notes the Government’s information that section 519 of the Penal Code states that any person who manufactures, exports, imports or is found in possession of publications, photos, films or signs or any other obscene objects for the purpose of trafficking, distribution, or was found to know the way of obtaining it, commits an offence. It notes that the Penal Code also punishes the incitement of young persons under 18 years to debauchery or corruption (section 509). The Committee notes the Government’s statement that, instead of formulating a special legal provision for children, the penalty is increased when children are used in such acts or when such a crime is committed by the child’s parents, or by a guardian. It further notes the Government’s information that Act No. 50 of 2001 on publications punishes any person who behaves in a manner which is contrary to public morals, such as through photos, leaflets, publications and films (section 50). It notes that, according to the Government, Order No. 472/n of 22 June 2004 regulates the work of Internet cafes. This Order also emphasizes the importance of ensuring health and security conditions at such cafes and the need to secure the procedures which hinder visiting pornographic sites especially for children under 18.

Clause (c). Use, procuring or offering a child for illicit activities. Production and trafficking of drugs. The Committee notes that section 39 of the Narcotic Drugs Law No. 12 of 1993 punishes: (a) anyone who smuggles narcotic drugs (including the traffic and illicit transport of narcotic drugs in transit); (b) anyone who manufactures narcotic drugs, in circumstances other than those authorized by this law; (c) anyone who cultivates any of the plants listed in Schedule No. 4, in circumstances other than those authorized by this law, or who smuggles such plants in any stage of their growth, or who smuggles their seeds. According to section 39(b)(iii), the use of a minor in the perpetration of one of the offences provided for in this provision, constitutes an aggravating circumstance. The Committee notes that section 604 of the Penal Code punishes anyone who, for personal gain, induces a minor under 18 years to beg.

Articles 3(d) and 4, paragraph 1. Hazardous work. The Committee notes that section 124(c) of the Labour Code, as amended by the Law No. 24 of 2000, provides that the Minister may prohibit the employment of young persons under 18 years in some industries. The Committee notes that Order No. 183 of 2001, based on section 124(c) of the Labour Code, identifies 50 industries and occupations in which young persons under 18 years shall not be employed, such as: underground work in mines and quarries; work with blast furnaces for mineral smelting; work involving the manufacture of lead; work involving the manufacture and preparation of benzyls, chlorides, petroleum and a number of poisoning substances; work involving the manufacture of explosives; slaughter and skinning of animals; work with any source of harmful radiation; loading, unloading and handling of goods in ports, yards and railway stations. Section 3 of this Order further states that young persons under 18 years of age may not be employed in lifting, pulling or pushing heavy weights exceeding the weight indicated in the annexed tables.

Article 5. Mechanisms to monitor the implementation of the provisions giving effect to the Convention. The Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour and the labour inspectorate. The Committee notes the Government’s information that the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour collaborates with a number of bodies to give effect the provisions of the Convention, such as the Ministries of the Interior, Justice, Information, Foreign Affairs and Education, the Syrian Authority for Family Affairs, the Authority on State Planning, the Central Office for Statistics, popular organizations and civil society associations. It also notes the Government’s information that the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour follows up on the application and implementation of the Convention through the labour inspectorate, located all over the country and through inspections of agricultural, commercial and industrial undertakings besides the work carried out by the social security inspectors also attached to the Ministry. According to section 212 of the Labour Code, inspectors are entitled to enter workplaces and carry out inspections by day and night, within or outside working hours and during holidays, and can examine any books, records and documents kept by employers or their representatives. It notes the Government’s information that the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour issued the necessary circulars in the governorates in order to intensify inspections in agricultural, commercial and industrial undertakings. Furthermore, a project for the establishment and rehabilitation of the agricultural and industrial labour inspectorate in collaboration with the ILO Office in Beirut and with the Ministry of Labour of Jordan will be set up. The Committee asks the Government to continue providing information on the activities of the labour inspectorate. It also requests the Government to provide information on the implementation of the project for the establishment and rehabilitation of the agricultural and industrial labour inspectorate.

Article 6. Programmes of action to eliminate as a priority the worst forms of child labour. The Committee notes that, notwithstanding the launch by the Government of numerous initiatives generally aimed at protecting children, no programmes of action seem to have been adopted aimed at eliminating the worst forms of child labour. The Committee reminds the Government that Article 6 of the Convention requires ratifying member States to take measures to design and implement programmes of action to eliminate as a priority the worst forms of child labour and that, by virtue of Article 1 of the Convention, member States are required to take immediate and effective measures to secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour as a matter or urgency. The Committee accordingly requests the Government to design and adopt the necessary programmes of action, in consultation with workers’ and employers’ organizations and taking into account the views of other concerned groups, to ensure that the worst forms of child labour do not exist or arise in the Syrian Arab Republic.

Article 7, paragraph 1. Penalties. The Committee notes that sufficiently dissuasive and effective penalties of imprisonment are imposed on anyone who commits the following offences: trafficking for the purpose of prostitution (sections 1, 3, 5 and 6 of Act No. 10 of 1961); incitement to prostitution (sections 3 and 4 of Act No. 10 of 1961); manufacture, import or export of obscene material (section 519 of the Penal Code). It also notes that section 216 of the Labour Code, as amended by Law No. 24 of 2000, provides that any person who violates the provisions of sections 124, 125 and 126 relating to the employment of children and young persons, including the prohibition of hazardous work, shall be liable to a maximum fine of 1,000 Syrian liras. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the penalties imposed in practice.

Article 7, paragraph 2. Effective and time-bound measures. Clause (a). Prevent the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labour. 1. Commercial sexual exploitation. The Committee notes the Government’s information that the Syrian Authority for Family Affairs has set up national committees for the protection of women and children against violence and exploitation in all forms. Moreover, the Syrian Authority for Family Affairs is currently examining the possibility of determining the extent of sexual exploitation of children and child labour in a precise manner. The Committee notes the Government’s information that collaboration was ensured between the Rainbow Foundation for a Better Childhood and UNICEF to set up a national team for child protection against sexual exploitation in May 2005. A symposium on child protection was held on 9-11 December 2004 in collaboration with the Rainbow Foundation for a Better Childhood, the Association of Psychologists in Syria, the Syrian Authority for Family Affairs, UNICEF and ISPCAN. The Committee requests the Government to continue providing information on the initiatives of the Syrian Authority for Family Affairs and their impact on preventing children from being engaged in commercial sexual exploitation.

2. Ensuring access to free basic education. The Committee notes the Government’s information that it gives great attention to education. In particular, it ensures the setting up of schools in all population agglomerations and seeks to upgrade educational techniques. It notes the Government’s information that education is provided free of charge in all phases, and is compulsory in the primary phase of education until the age of 15 years (by virtue of Law No. 32 of 2002). It notes the Government’s information that the Ministry of Education implements the Compulsory Basic Education Act (No. 35 of 1981) and follows up on the implementation of illiteracy eradication programmes formulated by the Upper Council for Illiteracy Eradication and the monitoring of programmes against students dropping out of schools, in collaboration with UNICEF and UNESCO. Furthermore, several ministries, such as the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Local Administration and the Ministry of Information contribute to the issue of education. The Committee finally notes that, in its Periodic Reports to the Committee on the Rights of the Child, (CRC/C/93/Add.2, 18 October 2002, paragraph 135) the Government stated that, with regard to the mechanisms created to guarantee all children, including girls and boys with special needs and children living in particularly difficult circumstances, access to education, special schools have been set up for children with different categories of special needs.

Clause (b). Providing the necessary and appropriate assistance for the removal of children from the worst forms of child labour, and for their rehabilitation and social integration. Child victims of sexual commercial exploitation. The Committee notes the Government’s information that collaboration was ensured between the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour and some NGOs to upgrade two centres for the protection of women and children against exploitation and violence. It also notes that the National Plan for Child Protection against Violence has envisaged the setting up of a special centre for the protection of children who are victims of violence and sexual exploitation. The centre will secure the protection of such children and provide for their rehabilitation and social reintegration. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the number of child victims of commercial sexual exploitation who have been rehabilitated through the abovementioned centres.

Clause (d). Identify and reach out to children at special risk. Beggars and vagrant children. The Committee notes the Government’s information that the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour follows up on development and social care programmes for children through centres for the rehabilitation of delinquent and vagrant children. The Ministry of Education monitors the programmes on fighting, begging and providing for social assistance, which are provided by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour in collaboration with NGOs. The Committee notes the Government’s information that a number of NGOs in the Syrian Arab Republic were set up with the aim of, amongst others, protecting children against begging and employment. One such example includes the Child Protection in Homes set up in 2005. The Committee requests the Government to continue providing information on measures aimed at protecting and removing child beggars and vagrant children from the worst forms of child labour.

Article 8. International cooperation. The Committee notes the Government’s information that the Syrian Arab Republic collaborates with international organizations, such as the ILO, the Arab Labour Organization, UNICEF, UNIFEM, UNDP and some NGOs working on child protection, such as ISPCAN, in order to improve the situation of children. The Syrian Arab Republic also collaborates with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees with the aim of securing appropriate conditions for refugees, especially children. It further offers all facilities to UNRWA. The Committee notes the Government’s information that the Syrian Arab Republic signed a Partnership Agreement with the European Union on 19 October 2004, which is expected to lead to a qualitative improvement in the process of development. Collaboration is also ensured with Japan through its numerous grants and loans aimed at combating poverty.

Part III of the report form. The Committee notes the Government’s statement that competent Syrian courts have rendered different sentences on child labour in fields specified in the Convention. The Committee requests the Government to provide a copy of such sentences with its next report.

Part IV of the report form. The Committee notes the Government’s information that it encountered the following difficulties in the application of the Convention: (a) the lack of comprehensive integrated national systems for the collection of data and statistics and their analysis; (b) the weak follow-up and monitoring mechanisms in cases of aggression on children and their employment; (c) the lack of specialized judges on children’s issues; (d) the lack of specialized centres (due to poor financial resources) for protection of child victims, for treatment after aggression and for their reintegration into the society. In this regard, the Committee notes the Government’s information that the Syrian Authority for Family Affairs, in collaboration with the Judicial Institute, is currently examining a programme to train judges in order to enable them to deal with children’s issues. The Committee requests the Government to continue providing information on the manner in which the Convention is applied, including any progress made with regard to the abovementioned difficulties encountered in the implementation of the Convention.

Part V of the report form. The Committee notes the Government’s information that the annual inspection report pursuant to Convention No. 81, and the report on the inspection of agricultural work pursuant to Convention No. 129, are regularly sent to the Office once they are issued. These reports contain information on the number and nature of violations reported, and the penalties imposed. The Committee notes that, according to the Labour Inspection Annual Report of 2001, a total of 3,380 general inspections were undertaken in 2001, covering all the 12 governorates. The table annexed to the inspection report indicates the number of adolescent workers as 275, but it contains no information on the number and nature of infringements reported regarding children. The Committee notes the Government’s information that no cases of trafficking in humans for exploitation purposes were reported. Moreover, no field statistics and studies on child labour are available. The Committee requests the Government to continue supplying copies or extracts of inspection reports, specifying the extent and nature of violations detected concerning children and young persons involved in the worst forms of child labour. It also requests the Government to provide, as soon as it becomes available, information on the nature extent and trends of the worst forms of child labour, the number of children covered by the measures giving effect to the Convention, the number and nature of infringements reported, investigations, prosecutions, convictions and penalties imposed.