CRC/C/BTN/CO/2
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63.
The Committee recommends that the State party, in light of its
obligations under articles 28, 2 and 30 of the Convention, provide education for
all children within its jurisdiction, including for children of Nepalese ethnic
origin, non-Bhutanese and stateless children.
8. Special protection measures
(arts. 22, 38, 39, 40, 37(b)-(d), 32-36 and 30 of the Convention)
Refugee children
64.
The Committee notes information by the State party report indicating efforts to
negotiate an agreement for Bhutanese refugees living in camps in Eastern Nepal,
particularly the institution of the Joint Verification Team to identify refugees for
resettlement. However, the Committee notes with concern that no durable solution has
yet been found. The Committee is concerned about the number of refugee children
who have been separated from their family in Bhutan and over the lack of measures to
achieve family reunification.
65.
The Committee recommends that the State party:
(a)
Enhance efforts in negotiations in order to find peaceful and prompt
solution for either the return or resettlement of people living in
refugee camps, with particular attention to children and reunification
with their families;
(b)
Ensure the transparency of the procedure for the determination of the
nationality of refugees, and based on the right to a nationality and the
right to leave and return to one’s country, with due consideration of
the best interests of the child;
(c)
Consider acceding to the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of
Refugees and its 1967 Protocol;
(d)
Seek technical assistance from UNHCR and the International
Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
Economic exploitation
66.
The Committee welcomes that the State party has established the minimum
age for admission to employment at 18 in the Labour and Employment Code of 2007.
However it notes that underage children are still required to work under certain
circumstances. The Committee is concerned over the high incidence of child labour,
insufficient awareness among the public of the negative effects of child labour and the
lack of available data on the number of children affected, as recognized in the State
party's report.
67.
The Committee recommends that the State party:
(a) Undertake a national study to ascertain the root causes and extent of
child labour;