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The Committee notes with regret that the Government's report contains no reply to its comments. It hopes that the next report will include full information on the matters raised in its previous direct request, which read as follows:

The Committee notes the Government's statement in its report that the Convention does not apply to Guinea-Bissau.

It also notes that no distinction is made in the national legislation between different population groups. As the Committee has indicated previously, this in itself is, however, not a sufficient reason for deciding that the Convention is not applicable to a country.

The Committee has also, however, examined other information on the population of Guinea-Bissau which indicates that the country's population is composed of a number of ethnic and linguistic groups. None of these groups appears to be isolated from the national community or to be in a relatively less advantaged position than other groups. Under the circumstances, the Committee considers that no segment of the population would presently fall within the definition contained in Article 1 of the Convention.

The Committee hopes that in future reports the Government will keep it informed of any developments which might affect the application of the Convention.