Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2023, published 112nd ILC session (2024)

Seafarers' Identity Documents Convention (Revised), 2003, as amended (No. 185) - Yemen (Ratification: 2008)

The Committee notes the complexity of the situation prevailing on the ground and the presence of armed groups and armed conflict in the country.

The Committee notes with regret that the Government has not submitted a report on the application of the Convention following the entry into force for Yemen of the 2016 amendments to the Annexes of the Convention. The Committee recalls that these amendments aim at aligning the technical requirements of the Convention with the latest standards adopted by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) with respect to the technology for seafarers’ identity documents (SIDs) provided for in the Convention. In particular, they intend to change the biometric template in SIDs from a fingerprint template in a two-dimensional barcode to a facial image stored in a contactless chip as required by ICAO Document 9303. The Committee understands that no steps have so far been taken by the Government for the implementation of the specific provisions of the Convention concerning the issuance and verification of SIDs. The Committee requests the Government to adopt in the near future the necessary measures to give full effect to all the provisions of the Convention, as amended. It requests the Government to provide detailed information on such measures, including a copy of the applicable national provisions. The Committee also requests the Government to supply a specimen of a SID compliant with the Convention as soon as it becomes available. The Committee reminds the Government of the possibility to avail itself of the Office technical assistance.

[The Government is asked to reply in full to the present comments in 2024.]