CMW/C/GC/3-CRC/C/GC/22
B.
Objective and scope of the joint general comment
7.
The objective of the present joint general comment is to provide authoritative
guidance on legislative, policy and other appropriate measures that should be taken to ensure
full compliance with the obligations under the Conventions to fully protect the rights of
children in the context of international migration.
8.
The Committees acknowledge that the phenomenon of international migration affects
all regions of the world and all societies and, increasingly, millions of children. While
migration can bring positive outcomes to individuals, families and broader communities in
countries of origin, transit, destination and return, the drivers of migration, in particular
unsafe and/or irregular migration, are often directly related to violations of human rights,
including the rights of the child as recognized in several human rights treaties, in particular
the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
9.
The present joint general comment addresses the human rights of all children in the
context of international migration, whether they have migrated with their parents or primary
caregivers, are unaccompanied or separated, have returned to their country of origin, were
born to migrant parents in countries of transit or destination, or remained in their country of
origin while one or both parents migrated to another country, and regardless of their or their
parents’ migration or residence status (migration status). The non-discrimination principle of
the Convention on the Rights of the Child obliges States parties to respect and ensure the
rights set forth in the Convention to all children, whether they are considered, inter alia,
migrants in regular or irregular situations, asylum seekers, refugees, stateless and/or victims
of trafficking, including in situations of return or deportation to the country of origin,
irrespective of the child’s or the parents’ or legal guardians’ nationality, migration status or
statelessness.4
10.
The present joint general comment should be read in conjunction with other relevant
general comments issued by the Committees; building upon those general comments and the
evolving challenges children face in the context of international migration, it should also be
read as authoritative guidance from the Committees as regards the rights of children in the
context of international migration.
II. General measures of implementation of the International
Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant
Workers and Members of Their Families and the Convention
on the Rights of the Child for the protection of children in the
context of international migration
11.
States should ensure that children in the context of international migration are treated
first and foremost as children. States parties to the Conventions have a duty to comply with
their obligations set out therein to respect, protect and fulfil the rights of children in the
context of international migration, regardless of their or their parents’ or legal guardians’
migration status.
12.
The obligations of States parties under the Conventions apply to each child within
their jurisdictions, including the jurisdiction arising from a State exercising effective control
outside its borders. Those obligations cannot be arbitrarily and unilaterally curtailed either
by excluding zones or areas from the territory of a State or by defining particular zones or
areas as not or only partly under the jurisdiction of the State, including in international waters
or other transit zones where States put in place migration control mechanisms. The
obligations apply within the borders of the State, including with respect to those children who
come under its jurisdiction while attempting to enter its territory.
4
See Committee on the Rights of the Child, general comment No. 6, para. 12.
3