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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.