Mr President,
Allow me to extend the gratitude of Sweden to the Law Commissioner Mrs Leda Koursoumba and her delegation for taking an active part in our dialogue. We appreciate the strong commitment of the government to handle challenges within the area of Human Rights. We would like to raise two separate issues:
First; Sweden is concerned about indications of high levels of violence against women in Cyprus and persisting discrimination of women in the labour market. We note that Cyprus has recognized that traditional stereotyped attitudes, as pointed out by the CEDAW committee, has contributed to women’s disadvantaged position.
We welcome that this problem was addressed in the presentation today and would like to offer the following recommendations: (1) to fully implement the measures of the National Action Plan on Gender Equality for 2007-2013, especially those regarding the rights of women in the labour market, (2) to adopt an effective strategy to combat domestic violence and to ensure that women’s shelters are made available to ensure their security.
Our second issue relates to discrimination against migrants and asylum seekers. The CESCR committee expressed concern in May this year about continued limited access to employment and social isolation of third-country migrants. Also civil society organizations have issued reports on migrants lacking access to legal aid. We thank the Law Commissioner for the explanations and clarifications provided in her presentation.
Sweden recommends the government (3) to adopt an effective policy for the integration of migrants, and (4) to inform migrants of their rights.
Thank you, Mr President