CAT/C/MAR/CO/4 Corporal punishment 24. The Committee notes with concern that there is no law in Morocco that prohibits the use of corporal punishment within the home, at school or in institutions that provide child protection services (art. 16). The State party should amend its laws in order to prohibit the use of corporal punishment in schools, in the home and in centres that provide child protection services. It should also raise public awareness of positive, participatory and nonviolent forms of discipline. Treatment of refugees and asylum-seekers 25. The Committee takes note of the information furnished by the State party concerning its increased cooperation with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which has included capacity-building activities with regard to the admission, identification and protection of asylum-seekers and refugees by the State party. It is nonetheless disturbed by the absence of a specific legal framework for refugees and asylum-seekers that would differentiate them from undocumented migrants. The Committee is concerned by the fact that, as things now stand, asylum-seekers are not always in a position to file their request for asylum with the proper authorities. This is particularly the case at points of entry into Moroccan territory, where asylum-seekers are often treated as if they were undocumented immigrants. The Committee is also concerned by the absence of a specific office for the efficient processing of applications for asylum from refugees and stateless persons and of safeguards for all the rights of refugees while on Moroccan territory (arts. 2, 3 and 16). The State party should establish a legal framework to safeguard the rights of refugees and asylum-seekers and should develop institutional and administrative instruments for their protection by, inter alia, increasing its cooperation with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and allowing UNHCR to take part in the reform of the asylum system as an observer. The State party should see to it that procedures and mechanisms are put in place for the systematic identification of potential asylum-seekers at all points of entry into Moroccan territory. The State party should allow such persons to submit applications for asylum. These mechanisms should also ensure that decisions concerning asylum requests are subject to appeal, that such appeals have suspensive effect, and that no one is returned to a country where there is a risk of torture. The State party should consider becoming a party to the Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons of 1954 and the Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness of 1961. Treatment of migrants and foreign nationals 26. The Committee takes note of the information supplied by the State party regarding the legal provisions governing the expulsion of undocumented migrants, particularly Act No. 02-03 on the entry and residence of foreign nationals in Morocco, and the examples it has provided of instances in which foreign nationals have been expelled in accordance with the provisions of that law. It is nevertheless concerned by reports that undocumented migrants have been escorted to the border or otherwise expelled in violation of Moroccan law without having been given the opportunity to exercise their rights. Several allegations have been made that hundreds of migrants have been abandoned in the desert without food or water. The Committee deeply regrets the State party’s failure to provide information about these events or about the places and regimes of detention used for foreign nationals awaiting deportation that do not come under the authority of the Prison Service. The GE.11-47997 11