CRC/C/BGD/CO/4
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(d) Ensure the full rights of child refugees in the territory and fully implement
existing High Court Orders that would facilitate equal enjoyment of their rights;
(e) Ensure that family reunification is dealt with in a positive, humane and
expeditious manner, in accordance with article 10 of the Convention;
(f) Consider ratifying the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees;
(g) Seek international assistance from the Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and UNICEF.
Children in armed conflict
80.
The Committee reiterates its concluding observations after consideration of the initial
report of the State party on the implementation of the Optional Protocol on the involvement of
children in armed conflict and notes with concern the recruitment of children into the armed
forces in the State party. Given the serious constraints of the birth registration system, the
Committee is also concerned that in many cases determining the real age of the recruits might be
very difficult (CRC/C/OPAC/BGD/CO/1, paras. 15-16).
81.
The Committee recommends that the State party continue to develop and
strengthen measures to guarantee that:
(a) No child under the minimum age of conscription be enrolled in the army, by
establishing and systematically implementing safeguards to verify the age of volunteers,
based on objective elements such as birth certificate, school diplomas and, in the absence of
documents, medical examination to determine the exact age of the child;
(b) Recruitment of children into the army at the age of 16 and 17 is genuinely
voluntary, based on an informed decision and only occurs with prior consent of the parents
or legal guardians.
Economic exploitation, including child labour
82.
The Committee notes with appreciation the important measures taken by the State party
to eliminate child labour from the ready-made garment sector and the establishment of a Child
Labour Eradication Network in eight districts. Nevertheless, the Committee is concerned at the
continuing high incidence of child workers in five selected worst forms of child labour- namely,
welding, auto workshops, road transport, battery recharging and recycling, and work in tobacco
factories. The Committee is also concerned at the lack of enforcement mechanisms of specific
laws to protect child workers, absence of mechanisms to monitor child workers’ working
conditions, insufficient awareness among the public of the negative effects of child labour and its
worst forms, and the very limited data on the number of children affected. Moreover, the
Committee notes with concern that girls engaged as child domestic workers are more vulnerable
to violence and exploitation, although among child workers in general, the proportion of boys is
higher than that of girls.
83.
The Committee recommends that the State party take urgent measures to monitor
and address exploitative forms of child labour and to: