CRC/C/77/D/3/2016 advance unedited version her daughter would still face deportation should they be located. The Committee therefore considers that it is not precluded from examining the present communication on the basis of Rule 13(1) of its Rules of Procedure. 10.6 The Committee therefore declares admissible the authors claims concerning the obligation of the State party to: (a) act in the best interests of the child (article 3); and (b) take measures to protect the child from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse. Consideration of the merits 11.1 The Committee on the Rights of the Child has considered the present communication in light of all the information made available to it by the parties, as required under article 10, paragraph 1, of the Optional Protocol. 11.2 The Committee takes note of the author’s allegations that her daughter’s return to the Puntland State of Somalia would expose her to a risk of being subjected to female genital mutilation, and that the State party failed to take the best interests of the child into account when deciding on the author’s asylum request, in violation of articles 3 and 19 of the Convention. 11.3 The Committee recalls in that respect its General Comment No. 6 that States shall not return a child to a country where there are substantial grounds for believing that there is a real risk of irreparable harm to the child, such as, but by no means limited to, those contemplated under articles 6 and 37 of the Convention; and that such non-refoulement obligations apply irrespective of whether serious violations of those rights guaranteed under the Convention originate from non-state actors or whether such violations are directly intended or are the indirect consequence of action or inaction. The assessment of the risk of such serious violations should be conducted in an age and gender-sensitive manner.14 In this sense, the Committee recalls that “when assessing refugee claims (…), States shall take into account the development of, and formative relationship between, international human rights and refugee law, including positions developed by UNHCR in exercising its supervisory functions under the 1951 Refugee Convention. In particular, the refugee definition in that Convention must be interpreted in an age and gender-sensitive manner, taking into account the particular motives for, and forms and manifestations of, persecution experienced by children (…). Persecution of kin; under-age recruitment; trafficking of children for prostitution; and sexual exploitation or subjection to female genital mutilation, are some of the child-specific forms and manifestations of persecution which may justify the granting of refugee status if such acts are related to one of the 1951 Refugee Convention grounds. States should, therefore, give utmost attention to such child-specific forms and manifestations of persecution as well as gender-based violence in national refugee status-determination procedures”.15 11.4 The Committee also recalls its General Comment No. 18 that female genital mutilation may have various immediate and/or long-term health consequences;16 and that the legislation and policies relating to immigration and asylum should, in particular, recognize the risk of being subjected to harmful practices or being persecuted as a result of such practices as a ground for granting asylum; and that consideration should also be given to providing protection to a relative who may be accompanying the girl or woman. 17 14 15 16 17 10 See the Committee’s General Comment No. 6, op. cit., para. 27, and the CEDAW General Recommendation No. 32 on the gender-related dimensions of refugee status, asylum, nationality and statelessness of women, para. 25. See the Committee’s General Comment No. 6, op. cit., para.74 See the Joint General recommendation No. 31 of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and the General Comment No. 18 of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on harmful practices (2014), para. 19. See the Joint General No. 31 of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and the General Comment No. 18 of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, op. cit., para. 55.