COI Report March 2012 - UK Border Agency - Home Office

SRI LANKA 7 MARCH 2012
of cruelty to children and sexual exploitation of children. The figures for 2006; 2007 and
2008 were respectively: 362; 366 and 340.
See also Female Genital Mutilation
Missing, unaccompanied and orphaned children in the North
21.22 The report of the UN Secretary-General Children and armed conflict 416 , dated 13 April
2010 recorded:
―As of the end of November [2009], 1,221 separated, unaccompanied and orphaned
children have been identified in the north of the country. Of those, 517 have been
reunified with their families or relatives and 704 have been placed in residential homes.
In addition, 162 parents have reported to probation officers that their children are
missing and families continue to file requests for tracing their children at the Family
Tracing and Reunification Unit established in Vavuniya in December 2009.‖
21.23 The UN Consideration of reports submitted by states parties under article 44 of the
convention, Concluding Observations: Sri Lanka 417 , dated 1 October 2010 observed
that:
―The Committee expresses deep concern over the poor living conditions of children,
among them unaccompanied children and children with disabilities, who have been kept
for months in IDP camps in Vavuniya and Jaffna districts and at Menik Farm, as well as,
of children currently living in transit and return areas. The Committee expresses serious
concern that internally displaced children who have suffered trauma through multiple
forced displacements, separation from families, and experienced denial of essential
basic services are prevented from receiving assistance due to inadequate support from
the State party and the restrictions placed since June 2010 on the activities of
international and national humanitarian agencies.‖
21.24 The UN Consideration of reports submitted by States parties under article 8 of the
Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of
children in armed conflict, Concluding observations: Sri Lanka 418 , dated 1 October 2010
noted that:
―The Committee expresses serious concern that in spite of some progress made in
terms of family tracing, the whereabouts of hundreds of children who are missing have
not been clarified and that many children remain unidentified due mainly to the lack of
coordinated tracing structure and the obstacles met by humanitarian agencies, including
those with specific expertise in family tracing and reunification to access to camps,
416
United Nations, Report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict in Sri Lanka, 13 April
2010
http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/pdfid/4bfcce6a2.pdf date accessed 27 August 2010, Paragraph 156
417
UN Consideration of reports submitted by states parties under article 44 of the convention, Concluding
Observations: Sri Lanka, http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/crc/docs/co/CRC-C-LKA-CO-3-4.doc
date accessed 26 May 2011, p17
418
UN Consideration of reports submitted by States parties under article 8 of the Optional Protocol to the
Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict, Concluding
observations: Sri Lanka , 1 October 2010 http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/crc/docs/co/CRC-C-
OPAC-LKA-CO-1.doc date accessed 26 May 2011
162 The main text of this COI Report contains the most up to date publicly available information as at 3 February 2012.
Further brief information on recent events and reports has been provided in the Latest News section
to 2 March 2012.