COI Report March 2012 - UK Border Agency - Home Office
COI Report March 2012 - UK Border Agency - Home Office
COI Report March 2012 - UK Border Agency - Home Office
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SRI LANKA 7 MARCH <strong>2012</strong><br />
―With regard to the children, we asked the Salvation Army spokesperson if she was<br />
aware if they were discriminated against solely because of their illegitimacy. She said<br />
she was not. We further asked if she was aware of any particular problems regarding<br />
illegitimate children born from mixed relationships, including those born to women who<br />
had been abused by their Middle Eastern employers and were of mixed Sri Lankan –<br />
Arab appearance. Again she had no knowledge of any discrimination against them. She<br />
added that there were always prospective parents for a child of Sri Lankan – Arab<br />
appearance because generally they were attractive looking children.‖<br />
20.09 Information on national laws on children in Sri Lanka is available from a dedicated<br />
section of the website of Child Rights International Network (CRIN), Sri Lanka,<br />
accessible from here.<br />
VIOLENCE AGAINST CHILDREN<br />
See also Childcare and protection for information about problems with the protection<br />
system.<br />
21.10 The US State Department 2010 Human Rights <strong>Report</strong>: Sri Lanka (USSD 2010) 404 ,<br />
released on 8 April 2011 noted that:<br />
―Under the law the definition of child abuse includes all acts of sexual violence against,<br />
trafficking in, and cruelty to children. The law also prohibits the use of children in<br />
exploitative labor or illegal activities, or in any way contrary to compulsory education<br />
regulations. It also defines child abuse to include the involvement of children in war.<br />
―NGOs attributed the problem of exploitation of children to the lack of enforcement,<br />
rather than inadequate legislation. The BPCW [Bureau for the Protection of Children<br />
and Women] conducted investigations into crimes against children and women, and the<br />
National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) included representatives from the education,<br />
medical, police, and legal professions and reported directly to the president. During<br />
2009 the BPCW received 1,974 complaints of grave violent crimes and 986 of minor<br />
crimes against children.<br />
―The government advocated greater international cooperation to bring those guilty of<br />
sexual exploitation of children to justice. Although the government did not keep records<br />
of particular types of violations, the law prohibits sexual violations against children,<br />
defined as persons less than 18 years of age, particularly in regard to child<br />
pornography, child prostitution, and the trafficking of children. Penalties for violations<br />
related to pornography and prostitution range from two to five years' imprisonment. The<br />
penalties for sexual assault of children range from five to 20 years' imprisonment and an<br />
unspecified fine. By the end of 2009 the government opened 1,575 files, of which 497<br />
resulted in indictments for sexual assault and exploitation of children, including<br />
kidnapping, cruelty to children, rape, and statutory rape; 299 cases were dismissed, and<br />
303 cases were referred to the police for further investigation. The remaining were<br />
pending at the end of 2009, and no further details were available at year's end.‖<br />
21.11 The USSD 2010 report 405 continued:<br />
404 US State Department 2010 Human Rights <strong>Report</strong>: Sri Lanka (USSD 2010), released on 8 April 2011,<br />
http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2010/sca/154486.htm , date accessed 11 May 2011, Section 6<br />
158 The main text of this <strong>COI</strong> <strong>Report</strong> contains the most up to date publicly available information as at 3 February <strong>2012</strong>.<br />
Further brief information on recent events and reports has been provided in the Latest News section<br />
to 2 <strong>March</strong> <strong>2012</strong>.