CRC/C/CHN/CO/3-4
(c)
The State party failed to recognize the Kachin asylum seekers, including
children, as refugees despite their circumstances and forcibly returned them to Myanmar in
August 2012;
(d)
There is an absence of special reception procedures or facilities for
unaccompanied and separated refugee and asylum-seeking children and that they lack
access to health care, special care and protection.
82.
The Committee notes as positive the decision of Hong Kong, China to grant asylumseeking and refugee children access to the national public school system. However, it is
concerned about the lack of special care and protection for asylum-seeking children upon
their arrival and the administrative practice of detaining such children, as well as
unaccompanied children arriving in Hong Kong, China by air and children who are refused
entry, in juvenile detention facilities.
83.
The Committee recommends that the State party:
(a)
Respect the principle of non-refoulement and reminds it of its obligation
under the Convention to ensure that no accompanied, unaccompanied or separated
child, including those from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, is returned to
a country where there are substantial grounds for believing that she or he will suffer
irreparable harm, and that this principle applies to all children and their families
without distinction and regardless of nationality;
(b)
Ensure that Kachin child refugees and their families are provided with
temporary protection in view of the ongoing conflict in northern Myanmar; it should
also allow the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees free and
unfettered access to Yunnan Province to conduct refugee status determinations;
(c)
Cease the arrest and repatriation of citizens of the Democratic People’s
Republic of Korea, especially children, and women who have children with Chinese
men, and ensure that children of mothers from the Democratic People’s Republic of
Korea have access to fundamental rights, including the right to identity and education;
(d)
Take immediate initiatives to meet the special needs and vulnerabilities
of unaccompanied and separated children seeking asylum and provide appropriate
care and cater for the special needs of these unaccompanied and separated children.
84.
The Committee recommends that Hong Kong, China:
(a)
Cease the administrative practice of detaining asylum-seeking and
refugee children;
(b)
Ensure that asylum-seeking and refugee children are provided with
accessible and adequate support, including special care, protection and adequate
guardianship and legal representation;
(c)
Accede to the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and its
1967 Protocol.
Economic exploitation, including child labour
85.
The Committee is concerned about the absence of specific data on child labour in
mainland China, while reports indicate that child labour and exploitation, including through
abduction and sale of children by criminal gangs, is widespread. It is further concerned about:
(a)
The common practice of the re-education through labour (RTL) programme
and “work study schools” (gongdu xuexiao) and the use of forced and exploitative child
labour under these programmes;
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