COI Report March 2012 - UK Border Agency - Home Office

7 MARCH 2012 SRI LANKA
activities.
―Complaints of violations for child labor, child trafficking, forced child labor, commercial
sexual exploitation of children and the use of children working in illicit activities can be
made via two hotlines, operated by either the NCPA or the WCBSLP.‖
21.32 Please also see he website of the National Child Protection Authority (NCPA).
21.33 Additional information is also available from the websites of Save the Children in Sri
Lanka and UNICEF Sri Lanka.
Government and Non Government Organisation (NGO) childcare
21.34 The UNICEF comments to the UN in its Universal Periodic Review of Sri Lanka,
undated, accessed 20 September 2010 424 , observed that:
―Institutional care is at present the most common solution for children deprived of
parental care in Sri Lanka. At the end of 2006 more than 19,000 children were living in
these institutions, separated from their families; girls outnumber boys by 8 percent (i.e.
they represent 54%).
―Fostering is possible through the issuing of a Fit Person Order, but such an order is
utilized only in cases where children can be entrusted to a relative. Furthermore, the
recourse to institutional care is frequently practiced also to solve family problems not
related to parental care: children are sent to institutions either through an intervention of
the officers of the Department of Probation and Child Care Service (DPCCS) - which is
the agency providing social services to children - or directly by parents.‖
21.35 A comprehensive list of NGOs for children operating in Sri Lanka is available from the
website of CRIN (Child Rights Information Network)
21.36 The UN Consideration of reports submitted by states parties under article 44 of the
convention, Concluding Observations: Sri Lanka 425 , dated 1 October 2010 observed
that:
―The Committee is seriously concerned that the State Party has not formulated a
coherent national policy on de-institutionalization of children and continues to put
emphasis on the placement of children in institutions although a large number of
institutions remain unregistered and/or not adequately regulated and monitored, with
the effect that :
―(a) Mechanisms to deinstitutionalize and/or reintegrate children into their
families are not in place in most of these institutions and many children often do
not maintain relationships with their families ;
424 UNICEF, Comments to the UN’s Universal Periodic Review of Sri Lanka, undated
http://lib.ohchr.org/HRBodies/UPR/Documents/Session2/LK/UNICEF_LKA_UPR_2008_UnitedNations
ChildrensFund_uprsubmission.pdf date accessed: 20 September 2010
425 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, p11
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.
165