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Summary: This report extracts mentions of children's rights issues in the reports of the UN Special Procedures. This does not include reports of child specific Special Procedures, such as the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, which are available as separate reports. Scroll to: UN Representative of the Secretary-General on Internally Displaced Persons Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial summary or arbitrary executions ---------- Report by the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights of Migrants, Gabriela Rodríguez Pizarro (E/CN.4/2003/85/Add.4) Country visit: 20 May – 1 June 2002 Report published: 1 November 2002 Ms. Rodríguez Pizarro identified the following concerns: Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs): The Special Rapporteur is also concerned about the social costs of migration in the Philippines. Reportedly, approximately half (53 per cent) of migrant women are married, widowed or separated. This implies a growing number of motherless or parentless Filipino children. In 1999 there were an estimated 5,850,000 children below 17 years of age with at least one parent working overseas. The rate of divorce and separation among migrant women is 4.4 times higher than the national average and migrant women are 15 times more likely to be separated or divorced than their male counterparts. The pressure to provide the family with money sometimes causes migrants to avoid visiting home. Husbands left behind are not often prepared to take over their wives’ responsibilities. Distance and poor communications weaken relationships. The difficulty - often leading to failure - to maintain their relationships makes both the OFW and the spouse left behind emotionally vulnerable. Often, in case of family break-ups, the in-laws of OFWs argue with them over guardianship of children and control and use of the migrant’s property or remittances, with the children usually suffering as a result. (para 17) Reportedly, children of OFWs are more likely to become involved in delinquency or early marriage. Many children become quarrelsome and have difficulties developing healthy friendships with other children. In some cases, their grades in school decline. As a result of abandonment some children take up gambling, drinking, fighting, stealing and using drugs. Often, children are not told about the situation of their parent living abroad. Most of the parents intentionally do not keep their spouses regularly informed about the situation at home in order not to make them worry. The lack of effective and regular communications leads to the family’s growing apart. (para 18) A few countries provide for family reunification; others, like Saudi Arabia, condition this possibility on the specific work of OFWs. However, children taken abroad as dependants often face difficulties in integrating into the new culture, language, way of life and school system. (para 19) The Philippines sends abroad an average of 35,000 entertainers each year, about 95 per cent of them to Japan. The Special Rapporteur was informed that upon arrival in Japan, Filipina entertainers are often required to surrender their documents to the employer and are obliged to work as hostesses, stripteasers and sex workers. Reports of Filipina children working in the “entertainment business” in Japan were also provided by individuals and NGOs. (…) (para 29) The Special Rapporteur believes that, given the magnitude of the phenomenon in the country, there is a need to address seriously the social costs and effects of migration. In particular, efforts should be made to combat the adverse affects of migration on children, including through community support programmes, education and information campaigns and school programmes. Also, reintegration of OFWs must be facilitated. The process towards reintegration must begin even before deployment and must involve OFWs’ families and communities. (para 80) The Special Rapporteur recommends that: (a)The Government continue negotiating with receiving countries in order to conclude agreements and devise policies for the revision of immigration policies and the regularization of immigrants where there is a strong demand; the repealing of legislation that discriminates against OFWs and their inclusion in national labour and social legislation; the protection and non-criminalization of trafficked Filipino women and children; the extradition of traffickers/recruiters when cases have been filed against them in Philippine courts; the identification of measures to combat the phenomenon of mail-order brides. (…) (para 81) Illegal Recruitment: The Special Rapporteur received the testimony of a 15-year-old girl from Zamboanga del Norte. She reported that on 10 April 2002 she was visited by two friends, 17 and 18 years old, who convinced her to go with them to Malaysia to work as a waitress. The following day they were taken by “the broker” to a house in the centre of Zamboanga City together with other girls. On 13 April they boarded a boat and travelled to Lahad Datu, Malaysia. They were brought to a hotel where they met a Chinese man who “inspected” the girls one by one, by making them strip naked. On 14 April, the interviewee was taken to a house in Kota Kinabalu where she met Tina, a Filipino woman in charge of looking after the girls. Tina gave her a sexy dress and asked a driver to take her to a hotel where she was left with a Chinese “client”, who raped her. She tried to resist, but was later told by Tina that she should just obey the orders and never try to resist again. She was also told that she had to pay off a considerable debt for her passport, recruitment and travel. She was forced to meet other clients until she was rescued by embassy personnel on 29 April. (para 41) The Philippines has ratified the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the Convention. However, there is no national legislation on the crime of trafficking. At the time of the visit, there was a bill before the joint Senate Committees on Youth and on Women and Family on an Anti-Trafficking Act that had already been approved by the House of Representatives. (para 42) 60. During her visit to Zamboanga, the Special Rapporteur was informed that 6,962 Filipinos had been deported from Malaysia between February and April 2002 and that the Government of Malaysia was expected to deport 30,000 undocumented Filipinos by June 2002. DSWD, in cooperation with the city government and local NGOs, had extended assistance to the deportees in terms of food, shelter, medical assistance, counselling and referral to the appropriate government units. Transportation was provided for by the central Government. Many of the deportees came from the autonomous region of Mindanao and had no labour and employment documents. Minors reportedly were kept in Zamboanga until their families were found. The Police Southern Command and the city government have formed a repatriation task force that includes an emergency medical team. The Special Rapporteur was impressed by the valuable work carried out by local NGOs. Deportation: Deportees interviewed by the Special Rapporteur reported that they were detained from one to five months, received little food and water, had no access to doctors and medicines and were allowed out of their cells only for a few minutes a day. There were also reports of mistreatment by Malaysian authorities. Casualties were reported during the deportation: on 12 April two children, 2 and 10 years old, died from cardio-pulmonary arrest; on 24 April a woman gave birth prematurely and her child died. (para 61) Reintegration: Migrants interviewed by the Special Rapporteur and NGOs stressed that reintegration in the family is not easy: not infrequently spouses/partners have begun new relationships and children have suffered psychological problems because of absence of the parent. Dependency on migrant workers’ incomes has grown and families often do not engage in alternative income-generating activities. If the returnee finds a job, the wages are usually not enough to provide for the needs of his/her family. The few OFWs who manage to save money and attempt to set up a business upon return often fail because of lack of planning, training and information on business conditions in the Philippines. All these circumstances frequently leave returning OFWs with no choice other than to migrate again. (para 63) (…) The process of reintegration should start even before OFWs leave. The Special Rapporteur believes that the social and psychological impact of migration on OFWs and their families must be cushioned. To this end, it is important to ensure better communication between OFWs and their families. The Special Rapporteur learned about interesting programmes targeting OFWs initiated by NGOs, such as videoconferences and other communications services, and about the development of teaching modules on the situation of OFWs and the positive and negative effects of migration to be used in schools. (para 65) The Special Rapporteur was struck by reports on the situation of children born of marriages between OFWs and foreigners. Reportedly, women performing as entertainers in Japan often bear the children of their customers. Marriage does not always follow, and when it does in many cases it does not last long. Increasing numbers of Japanese-Filipino children in the Philippines and Japan are often neglected and not recognized by their Japanese fathers. Women returning from Japan with their children often are not well informed about the legal procedure for the recognition of children under the law of the Philippines and the necessity of registering their children as Filipino citizens. Because of their fathers’ abandonment and their mothers’ financial situation, these children often do not have access to education, adequate food, clothing and shelter. The stigma attached to their mothers becomes theirs as well, causing an identity crisis, a poor sense of dignity and low self-esteem. These children are often also discriminated against because of their Japanese features. Children of Filipino mothers and other foreign fathers reportedly also experience problems such as discrimination, alienation and identity crises. The Special Rapporteur learned about valuable NGOs programmes of psychological and legal assistance for these children and their mothers. (para 66) ------------------------------------ Report by the UN Representative of the Secretary-General on Internally Displaced Persons, Francis M. Deng. (E/CN.4/2003/86/Add.4) Country visit: 6 – 14 November 2002 Report published: 3 February 2003 Mr. Deng identified the following concerns: Education: As in most countries affected by displacement, women and children make up the great majority of the displaced population in the Philippines and experience additional vulnerabilities. The provinces of Central Mindanao, due to severe poverty, were reported to be among the most education-deprived areas in the country, creating a situation of uncertain access to education for many internally displaced children. In areas of return, internally displaced persons reported that classrooms were in poor condition and the number of teachers were inadequate. Moreover, displaced children often experienced difficulty in attending the public school system due to lack of financial means for transport and other necessities. (para 31) Health: The Representative was particularly concerned by the situation in the Dhawa Evacuation Center near Cotabato City, the only remaining centre in the area for persons displaced by the armed clashes that occurred in 2000. The remaining displaced in the centre, in particular women and children, were suffering from malnutrition and poor health; some children reportedly had died due to a lack of access to basic medicines. Despite the community services provided by the NGOs and the DSWD, the growing needs outpaced the resources available. (para 32) During his visit to the Patayas site in Manila, the Representative saw that returning and resettled persons had taken the initiative to organize themselves and establish savings associations, as for example in Kasiglahan and Suburban Village (San Jose, Montalban). While still recovering from the impact of the trash-slide in 2000, these groups were running community-based programmes that were providing child care, rehabilitation assistance for disabled persons, medical and other services for the most vulnerable groups as well as savings and credit schemes, which extended to displaced persons from other areas as well. This initiative and the emphasis that the displaced groups and NGOs assisting them were placing on supporting internally displaced persons to rebuild their lives were truly exemplary and deserved to be extended elsewhere and supported. (para 34 ------------------------------------ Report by the UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of Indigenous People, Rodolfo Stavenhage. (E/CN.4/2003/90/Add.3) Country visit: 2 – 11 December 2002 Report published: 5 march 2003 Mr. Stavenhage identified the following concerns: Social Services: Section 25 of IPRA provides that “the indigenous cultural communities/indigenous peoples have the right to special measures for the immediate, effective and continuing improvement of their economic and social conditions, including in the areas of employment, vocational training and retraining, housing, sanitation, health and social security. Particular attention should be paid to the rights and special needs of indigenous women, elderly, youth, children and differently-abled persons. Accordingly, the State shall guarantee the right of ICCs/IPs to government’s basic services which shall include, but not limited to, water and electric facilities, education, health, and infrastructure.” The Act provides a clear legal framework for the basic social services to which the Philippine indigenous peoples are entitled. (para 39) The Special Rapporteur would like to make the following recommendations to various actors for the better promotion and protection of the human rights of indigenous peoples in the Philippines: (…) (m) That the rights of indigenous peoples be a standard linchpin of all human rights education programmes at all levels of formal schooling, as well as in non-formal education (…) (para 67) Health: In the Cordillera region, malnutrition is on the increase. Nine per cent of pre-school children were classified as either moderately or severely underweight in 1999 as compared to 5 per cent in 1998. Maternal care, as well as access to water and basic sanitation facilities, continue to be a problem for indigenous peoples in this region. Only 19 per cent in Kalinga and 34 per cent in Ifugao have facilities for sewage and garbage disposal. The spectre of tuberculosis continues to haunt the region. (para 41) PASAKA, a regional confederation of Lumad organizations in Mindanao, expressed its concerns over an epidemic in Malabog in which 38 children died. This organization denounced the Government for building up the armed conflict instead of satisfying the indigenous peoples’ basic needs, particularly in the field of health. The indigenous peoples in San Luis composed of the Manobo, Banwaon and the Talaandig are reported to be among the poorest in the country. Many of them suffer from the effects of poverty: periods of hunger, high morbidity and infant mortality rates, illiteracy, and a serious lack of basic social and other services.2 (para 42) Economic developments: The Philippine Indigenous Peoples Links reports: Women who are dominant in the subsistence agricultural sector suffer particularly with the introduction of mining. Lost livelihoods for women are replaced by a few work opportunities, mainly for men. Women and family life also suffer in the restricted residential conditions often associated with mine sites (Lepanto, Philex, Benguet Corp-Benguet Province). Families live in one room. There is little or no chance for privacy. Family breakdowns and domestic violence are increasing in mining camps, according to a Cordillera Women’s Education and Resource Center Study. (para 43) Human rights violations frequently occur as one of the negative effects experienced by Philippine indigenous peoples of various economic development projects, including dams, mining, logging and commercial plantations. Such effects upon the livelihoods and lifestyles of indigenous peoples are aptly described as “development aggression”. They involve damage to the traditional environment, involuntary displacements, threats to health, disruption of the right to food and shelter, imposed changes in economic activity and livelihoods, and cultural and psychological traumas. Such effects are particularly hard on women and children, especially indigenous girls. The Special Rapporteur concludes that unless adequate measures of protection are taken urgently to diminish or halt these development-induced negative impacts, the very survival of indigenous peoples may be at stake. (para 63) Militarization: In the Cordillera region, it was also reported that militarization has engendered human rights violations against women and children. Most of these abuses are cases of rape, sexual harassment, forcing girls to serve as “comfort women” in military camps, and compulsory prostitution. After the military leave the area, the victims are abandoned. This has caused fear, coercion, intimidation, and humiliation of indigenous communities. Also in Mindanao, various indigenous leaders complained about numerous cases of rape by members of the armed forces. Only a few of such abuses are reported, and even fewer are prosecuted and punished. (para 50) ------------------------------------ UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial summary or arbitrary executions, Philip Alston (A/HRC/8/3/Add.2) Country visit: 12 – 21 February 2007 Report published: 16 April 2008 No mentions of children's rights ------------------------------------ (5 November 2012) No report available. Visits requested Visits accepted
Please note that the language may have been edited in places for the purpose of clarity
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