safeguards when threatened with and during evictions. The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child raised concerns over structural discrimination against Traveller and Roma children, including in their access to education, health and an adequate standard of living. Sex workers A government bill which proposed to criminalize the purchase of sex, fails to take adequate account of sex workers’ needs and views or international evidence that criminalization increases their isolation and marginalization, and violates their safety and human rights. The bill did not fully decriminalize sex workers but maintained and even increased penalties for brothelkeeping and loitering offences that are frequently used against sex workers. REFUGEES’ AND ASYLUM-SEEKERS’ RIGHTS Provisions in 2015 legislation which established a single procedure for dealing with both claims for refugee status and other forms of protection came into force on 31 December. Concerns remained about the poor living conditions in “direct provision” accommodation centres for asylum-seekers and the slow implementation of recommendations for improvement set out in a government-established working group’s 2015 report. Concerns highlighted by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, included inadequate child protection services, access to education, and inappropriate clothing and food. Resettlement and relocation The Department of Justice and Equality confirmed that by the end of the year, only 240 of the 2,622 asylum-seekers agreed for relocation from the EU in 2015 had arrived in Ireland; 519 of 520 Syrian refugees agreed for resettlement from the Middle East, however, had arrived. In July, Ireland Amnesty International Report 2016/17 undertook to resettle another 260 refugees from Lebanon. National security deportation In July, the authorities deported a man to Jordan, deeming him a national security threat for allegedly organizing and facilitating travel of people to join the armed group Islamic State (IS). He faced the risk of torture and other ill-treatment in Jordan. His applications to the Irish courts and the European Court of Human Rights to prevent his deportation were unsuccessful.1 1. Ireland: Deportation to Jordan would risk backsliding on absolute ban on torture (News story, 6 July) ISRAEL AND THE OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES State of Israel Head of state: Reuven Rivlin Head of government: Benjamin Netanyahu Israeli forces unlawfully killed Palestinian civilians, including children, in both Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT), and detained thousands of Palestinians from the OPT who opposed Israel’s continuing military occupation, holding hundreds in administrative detention. Torture and other ill-treatment of detainees remained rife and was committed with impunity. The authorities continued to promote illegal settlements in the West Bank, including by attempting to retroactively “legalize” settlements built on private Palestinian land, and severely restricted Palestinians’ freedom of movement, closing some areas after attacks by Palestinians on Israelis. Israeli forces continued to blockade the Gaza Strip, 201