A/69/44 Non-citizen residents (16) While welcoming the significant reduction in the number of so-called “non-citizen residents” from 29 per cent in 1995 to 13 per cent at present and the amendments to the Citizenship Law introduced in May 2013 allowing for a simplified naturalization procedure, the Committee is concerned at the large number of non-citizens residing permanently in the State party (arts. 2 and 16). The State party should: (a) Invite non-citizen residents to avail themselves of the simplified naturalization procedure in the Citizenship Law, as amended in May 2013, and facilitate the granting of citizenship to and naturalization and integration of noncitizens; (b) Enhance efforts to raise the awareness of parents whose children are eligible for naturalization and consider granting automatic citizenship at birth, without previous registration by parents, to the children of non-citizen parents who do not acquire any other nationality, with a view to preventing statelessness; (c) Consider offering language courses free of charge to all non-citizen residents and stateless persons who wish to apply for Latvian citizenship. Situation of asylum seekers (17) The Committee is concerned: (a) That persons seeking asylum may not enjoy all the procedural guarantees, including access to legal counsel and the right to appeal negative decisions; (b) That the risk of refoulement may exist in cases where appeals of negative decisions under the accelerated asylum procedure may not have a suspensive effect; (c) That the detention of asylum seekers is not only used as a measure of last resort and that asylum seekers who are minors may be detained starting at the age of 14 (arts. 3 and 16). The State party should: (a) Take all necessary measures to abide by its obligations under article 3 of the Convention and refrain from expelling, returning (refouler) or extraditing a person to another State where there are substantial grounds for believing that he or she would be in danger of being subjected to torture; (b) Ensure that all persons seeking asylum in the State party, including at its border-crossing points, enjoy all procedural guarantees, including access to legal assistance and interpreters and the right of appeal against negative decisions; (c) Ensure that decisions concerning asylum, including under the accelerated procedure, can be appealed and have a suspensive effect in order to avoid the risk of refoulement; (d) Use detention of asylum seekers only as a measure of last resort for as short a period as possible, refrain from detaining minors and revise policy in order to bring it in line with the Guidelines on the Applicable Criteria and Standards relating to the Detention of Asylum Seekers and Alternatives to Detention of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Training (18) The Committee is concerned at the absence of specific methodologies to evaluate the effectiveness and impact on a reduction in the number of cases of torture and ill50 GE.14-12596