CRC/C/DZA/CO/3-4
66.
The Committee urges the State party to adopt a comprehensive legal
framework for refugees and asylum seekers in line with international standards and
to develop an efficient and well founded cooperation mechanism with UNHCR to
identify and provide assistance to children in need of protection, especially
unaccompanied asylum seeking children. The Committee also urges the State party:
(a)
To ensure that unaccompanied children, refugees and asylum-seeking
children are not arrested and/or detained because of illegal entry/stay and have
effectively the right to seek asylum and to stay in the State party until the end of
asylum procedures;
(b)
To ensure that all children born on its territory are properly registered
at birth, regardless of the status of their parents and that they fully enjoy their
economic, social and cultural rights including their rights to access public schools,
obtain diplomas and pass national exams in the same way as nationals;
(c)
To ensure that UNHCR has unimpeded access to all centres where
refugees and potential asylum seekers are held as well as to all refugee camps in the
Tindouf Province. In this regard, the Committee reminds the State party that
ensuring an adequate standard of living to children living with their families in the
Tindouf province falls under its responsibility; and
(d)
To consider ratifying the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of
Statelessness.
Children in situations of migration
67.
The Committee expresses concern about the vulnerability of children of migrant
workers living in the State party who lack access to their basic rights as highlighted by the
Committee on the Rights of Migrants Workers (CMW/C/DZA/CO/1, para. 20).
68.
The Committee urges the State party to decriminalize irregular migration as
recommended by the Committee on the Rights of Migrant Workers
(CMW/C/DZA/CO/1, para. 21) and to take all the necessary measures to ensure that
children of migrant workers enjoy their rights without discrimination.
Children in armed conflict
69.
The Committee is concerned that the minimum age for voluntary recruitment into
the armed forces or paramilitary forces is unclear.
70.
The Committee urges the State party to establish by law the minimum age for
voluntary recruitment into the national armed forces under which recruitment of
children would be prohibited with no exceptions, thus ensuring that persons under the
age of 18 do not serve in the Algerian armed forces.
Economic exploitation, including child labour
71.
The Committee welcomes the various initiatives taken by the State party to eradicate
child labour, including the awareness-raising days on the harm caused by child labour, held
in the 48 Wilayas in 2006 and which involved 300,000 children in educational and
vocational training establishments. However, the Committee reiterates its concern
(CRC/C/15/Add.269, par. 74) that the minimum age for admission to employment (16
years) and the prohibition of hazardous work (Act No. 90-11 of 21 April 1990) is not fully
applied in all contexts, in particular for children working in the informal sector.
Furthermore, the Committee is also concerned that the State party has still not determined
the types of hazardous work prohibited under the age of 18 although thousands of children
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