CRC/C/TLS/CO/1 page 9 best interests of the child. The Committee also notes the particular problem of children who were separated from their families as a result of foreign occupation. 46. The Committee recommends that the State party: (a) Intensify efforts to develop family support programmes and to regulate practices involving the removal of children from their parents, including with a view to ensuring that children are not separated from their parents against their will, except in the circumstances set out in article 9 of the Convention; (b) Undertake regular follow-up action with regard to cases of separation related to abandonment and neglect; and (c) Disseminate widely the National Guidelines on Separated and Unaccompanied Children among actors involved in relief operations in order to protect children at risk of separation or who have been separated from their families. 47. The Committee encourages the State party to continue its efforts to resolve the remaining cases of children separated from their families as a result of foreign occupation, in particular those cases in which children remain separated from their parents without clear parental consent. Alternative and institutional care 48. The Committee welcomes the work carried out on the draft Decree Law for Child Care Centres and Boarding Houses, which aims at establishing appropriate procedures for regulating placements of children in institutions as well as improving standards of care in institutions. However, the Committee notes with concern the high demand for institutional care and the high number of institutions, resulting from the widespread and persistent poverty on one hand and the apparent active soliciting by individuals operating various institutions on the other hand. The Committee also notes that this situation is aggravated by the apparent absence of reliable arrangements for a periodic review of placements. 49. The Committee recommends that the State party: (a) Reduce the large number of children placed in alternative care by parents by developing a comprehensive policy for the provision of assistance to families and a complimentary community-based service and protection system; (b) Ensure that the placement of children in alternative care is based on a carefully conducted assessment of the needs and best interests of the child by a competent and multidisciplinary group of experts, based on clear criteria and subject to judicial review; and that the placement is regularly reviewed in accordance with article 25 of the Convention, with due regard to the recommendations adopted on the Committee’s day of general discussion on children without parental care in September 2005 (CRC/C/153, paragraphs 636-689); and (c) Finalize and adopt the Decree Law on Child Care Centres and Boarding Houses, and take measures to restrict the arbitrary establishment of new institutions.

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