CRC/C/15/Add.225 page 6 4. Civil rights and freedoms Birth registration and nationality 27. The Committee is concerned at the extent of non-registration of births in the State party, a problem which seems to be connected with the increasing number of births at home and the difficulty of travelling to regional centres from remote areas to register births. 28. The Committee recommends that the State party strengthen efforts to ensure that all children born in Armenia are registered, including by facilitating birth registration procedures and assisting families in acquiring the necessary documentation and waiving fees for the poor. 29. The Committee welcomes progress made in the formulation of amendments to the Law on Refugees of 1999. It notes, however, that these amendments do not include explicit provisions on family reunification for asylum-seekers and refugees. 30. The Committee recommends that the draft law on amendments to the Law on Refugees of 1999 currently under consideration provide explicit protection of the family unity of asylum-seekers and refugees. The amendments should also ensure that refugee children automatically acquire Armenian citizenship when their parents do so, and that the Law on Citizenship is revised accordingly. Freedom of thought, conscience and religion 31. The Committee notes that in 2002 the study of the history of the Armenian Apostolic Church was made a compulsory subject in schools. 32. In the light of article 14, the Committee recommends that the compulsory teaching of that subject does not infringe on the rights of children belonging to religious minorities. 5. Family environment and alternative care Assistance to parents 33. The Committee recognizes the State party’s strong emphasis on the role of family life in Armenian society and its desire to provide adequate care for children in Armenian families. However, it is concerned that there is a serious lack of community-based services to assist families in difficult circumstances in resolving their problems and to prevent the separation of children from their parents. 34. The Committee recommends that the State party take further measures to strengthen community-based and other services to assist families in difficult circumstances. Alternative care 35. The Committee reiterates its concern about the high number of children living in institutions (including boarding schools). In particular, the Committee notes with concern the rising numbers of de facto orphans in the State party, due to the protracted social and economic