Eritrea's
Violation of Children's Rights
EHDR-UK -
3 Feb 2004
Unicef
stated that Eritrea is breaking human rights regulations by making
children complete the final year of their secondary education at the site
of a military training camp. Unicef's representative in Eritrea, Mr.
Christian Balslev Olesen, said that Eritrea is breaching the rights of the
child. This was reported by the BBC's Eritrea correspondent, Jonah Fisher
(BBC).
The
statement was so damning that it prompted a fierce reaction by supporters
of the government's unfinished and half-baked policy. The report concerns
the sending of Eritrean children to Sawa military camp on the pretext that
the regime has no resources to expand secondary schools around the
country. Unicef believes that this separation of 17/18 year olds from
their parents is a breach of basic human rights and Eritrea is violating
the convention on the rights of the child, of which it became a signatory
on 2nd September 1994 (http://www.unhchr.ch/pdf/report.pdf).
Article
9 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child states:
1.
States/Parties shall ensure that a child shall not be separated from his
or her parents against their will, except when competent authorities
subject to judicial review determine, in accordance with applicable law
and procedures, that such separation is necessary for the best interests
of the child. Such determination may be necessary in a particular case
such as one involving abuse or neglect of the child by the parents, or
one where the parents are living separately and a decision must be made
as to the child's place of residence.
Eritreans
for Human and Democratic Rights - UK (EHDR-UK)
agrees with this Unicef assessment and believes that this exercise is a
continuation of the militerisation of the whole society. This is yet
another example of an ill thought out policy, which is to be implemented
without any proper study, consultation or due consideration of those
affected. It is to be remembered that about a year ago the Eritrean
government publicly confessed that the educational system in the last 12
years had been a failure.
The
government now seems to want to add an additional year to the secondary
schooling without the necessary resources being allocated to the project
and without consideration of its obligations under the Convention. For us
Eritreans, it is another disaster in a series of never ending abuses of
our people's rights. The sad situation is that Unicef is not allowed to
visit the school because it is in a military establishment.
We
appeal to all Eritreans and international bodies to monitor the school
closely, considering the reported abuses, and campaign against this
flagrant violation of young Eritreans' basic human rights.
EHDR-UK
Board
of Directors
Click
here
to read the article in Tigrinya.
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