fostering an environment in which NGOs can carry out their activities without any interference. Indigenous peoples 19.The Committee is concerned that the State party does not recognize indigenous peoples living in its territory. The Committee is also concerned about reported discrimination in access to food, water, health and education experienced by indigenous peoples, combined with an inadequate response from the State party. The Committee is further concerned that development activities are impeding indigenous peoples from accessing their lands, and about the lack of a legal framework for consultation with the affected communities prior to embarking on such activities (arts. 1 and 2). 20. The Committee recommends that the State party: (a) Adopt legislation and measures to recognize the status of indigenous peoples living in the State party and strengthen legislative and administrative measures in order to guarantee the rights of indigenous peoples to their land and to freely dispose of their natural wealth and resources; (b) Adopt specific measures targeted at improving access to social services by indigenous peoples; (c) Seek the free, prior and informed consent of indigenous peoples before granting licences to businesses for economic activities on territories traditionally owned, occupied or otherwise used by indigenous peoples; (d) Ensure that licensing agreements with businesses provide for adequate compensation of the affected communities; (e) Consider adopting the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 (No. 169) of the International Labour Organization. Anti-discrimination legislation 21.The Committee expresses concern at the lack of comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation in the State party (art. 2). 22. The Committee recommends that the State party take steps to adopt comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation that covers all prohibited grounds of discrimination set out in article 2 of the Covenant, including discrimination on the basis of “any other status”, taking also into account the Committee’s general comment No. 20 (2009) on nondiscrimination in economic, social and cultural rights. Asylum seekers and refugees 23.While welcoming the new law on the right of asylum and refugee status adopted in 2015, the Committee regrets the lack of implementation mechanisms, including asylum procedures. It is also concerned about: (a)Reports of mass expulsions of migrants and asylum seekers, including those in need of international protection, without carrying out the necessary individual assessments; (b)The large number of undocumented asylum seekers and refugees owing to the suspension of registration procedures, subjecting many of them to automatic detention for allegedly illegal stay in the State party; (c)The limited access to basic social services by asylum seekers staying in reception centres and that they are obliged to stay in immigration centres, which are in poor condition, throughout the adjudication process. 24. The Committee urges the State party to: (a) Ensure the implementation of the law on the right of asylum and refugee status and put in place fair and effective asylum procedures, embracing protection against refoulement; (b) Ensure that detention of asylum seekers and refugees is used only as a last resort and that those detained in reception centres are provided with legal safeguards and have access to legal counsel as well as interpretation services; (c) Establish alternatives to the detention of children and families with children; (d) Issue and renew identification documents for asylum seekers and refugees in a timely manner so as to facilitate their access to basic social services, and prevent their arbitrary detention; (e) Improve the material conditions of reception centres and ensure that asylum seekers staying in these centres are guaranteed an adequate standard of living and enjoy access to basic social services; (f) Introduce the necessary legislative and policy amendments to remove the requirement that asylum seekers must reside in closed reception centres. Equality between women and men 25.The Committee is concerned about the persistence of traditional stereotypes regarding the roles of women and men in the family and in society, which have an adverse impact on the enjoyment by women of their economic, social and cultural rights as well as on their presence and influence in the public and political domains. While noting the information provided by the delegation on the