Observación (CEACR) - Adopción: 2025, Publicación: 114ª reunión CIT (2026)

Convenio sobre las peores formas de trabajo infantil, 1999 (núm. 182) - Eritrea (Ratificación : 2019)

Articles 3(a) and 7(2)(b) of the Convention. Worst forms of child labour and effective and time-bound measures. All forms of slavery or practices similar to slavery and 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. Compulsory recruitment of children for use in armed conflict. The Committee previously took note of the practice of enrolment of all high school students in the 12th grade in the Sawa military training centre, as well as of reports of forced underage recruitment, including through the practice of roundups (giffa), despite the prohibition of conscription of children under the age of 18 under the Proclamation on National Service No. 82 of 1995. The Committee notes the Government’s indication, in its report, that underage children are not forced to enter the Sawa military training centre, but that students in grade 12 attend the Warsay Ykealo Secondary School at the Sawa Education and Training Centre to prepare them for the National Secondary Leaving Examination, as well as the four to six months of National Service Training.

The Committee takes note of the information contained in the report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Eritrea of 9 May 2023 (A/HRC/53/20), highlighting the continued and intensified policy of indefinite national service implemented by Eritrea as well as the numerous and credible reports of grave human rights violations in the context of forced national/military service. In this context, the Special Rapporteur reports that the authorities compelled families to hand over family members, including children, for conscription into national service or deployment to Tigray. The Special Rapporteur further noted that the increase in widespread and indiscriminate roundups resulted, among other things, in a significant number of school age children being removed from school and conscripted into the military. Furthermore, in order to avoid conscription, children are abandoning their studies to go into hiding and/or flee the country at an ever-younger age. As regards the practice of enrolment of all high school students in the 12th grade in the Sawa military training centre, the Special Rapporteur indicated that this requirement continued to discourage students from finalizing their studies and that witnesses revealed that the quality of the education that students receive at Sawa is inadequate and the majority of students do not attain the necessary grades for further education. As a result, they are recruited directly into national/military service. Moreover, persistent ill-treatment of students by Sawa military officials, including instances of sexual harassment and sexual violence against women and girls, have a negative impact on their right to receive education in a secure and conducive environment. The Committee also takes note of the deep concern expressed by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC), in its concluding observations of 31 January 2025 (CRC/C/ERI/CO/5-6), that students are required to complete national service and military training at the Sawa Education and Training Centre immediately preceding and following the final year of their secondary education.

The Committee deplores the intensified forced recruitment of children for national service and deployment, along with the mandatory attendance of students at the Sawa military training centre, especially as it entails other violations of the rights of the child, such as ill-treatment, sexual harassment, violence, and inadequate educational conditions. The Committee urges the Government to take the necessary measures to put a stop, in practice, to the forced recruitment of children under 18 years of age into the national armed forces, either through their forced recruitment for military training at the Sawa military training centre or through the practice of roundups (giffa).The Committee further requests the Government to ensure the full and immediate demobilization of all children who have been forcibly recruited into armed groups, to strengthen its measures to provide for their rehabilitation and social integration, and to provide concrete information on the number of children who have benefited from such measures.

Articles 3 and 5. Worst forms of child labour and monitoring mechanisms. Clause (a). All forms of slavery or practices similar to slavery. Sale and trafficking of children. The Committee notes the Government’s statement, in its report, that the provisions of the Eritrean Transitional Penal Code of 1957 and of the Penal Code of 2015, including those that establish penalties for sale and trafficking in persons, are fully respected and applied in practice. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that, despite notable progress achieved in conducting and finalizing criminal investigations, efforts are required to further develop the overall capacity of the police. The challenges identified include the scarcity of land and sea patrol activities and an underdeveloped software and network infrastructure to automate the case management system.

The Committee notes with regret the lack of concrete information regarding the number and nature of cases on child trafficking in the country. The Committee observes that the CRC, in its concluding observations, also notes the lack of information about child victims of trafficking and recommends that Eritrea systematically collect, analyse and disseminate disaggregated data on children who are victims of trafficking, along with information about investigations and prosecutions conducted in cases of trafficking in children, sentences imposed on perpetrators and reparations provided to victims (CRC/C/ERI/CO/5-6). The Committee strongly encourages the Government to take the necessary measures to address the challenges identified to develop the capacity of the police and other law enforcement agencies to detect and investigate cases of child trafficking. The Committee requests the Government to provide information in this regard and on the results achieved in terms of the number of cases of worst forms of child labour identified and investigated. Moreover, the Committee once again requests the Government to take the necessary measures to collect and share information on the number of prosecutions, convictions, and penalties imposed regarding child trafficking.

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