CRC

International Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)

Adopted and opened for signature, ratification and accession by General Assembly resolution 44/25 of 20 November 1989. Entry into force on 2 September 1990, in accordance with article 49. With regard to migrant workers: see articles 7, 9, 10, 15, 27, 28, 29, 30, 32.

Status of ratification, reservations and declarations

The Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) monitors implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child by its State parties. It also monitors implementation of two optional protocols to the Convention, on involvement of children in armed conflict and on sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.

The main concern of the Committee is discrimination in access to adequate social services, in particular health and education, for migrant children, notably for irregular migrant children. Other concerns of CRC are trafficking, the issue of birth registration for undocumented migrant children and children born of foreign parents, child labour and economic exploitation, the situation of migrant children in immigrant reception centres and in detention, children left with relatives or institution by parents that emigrate. The Committee often refers to the situation of vulnerability of migrant children and unaccompanied minors and expresses concern at the legal standards, administrative frameworks and procedures that fail to ensure their protection and insists most on a good dissemination of information about the Convention. For further information on the topic see The UN Treaty Monitoring Bodies and Migrants Workers: a Samizdat.

Main CRC’s General Comments concerning migrants:

• CRC General Comment N. 3 (2003), HIV/AIDS and the rights of the children, states that: “Vulnerability to HIV/AIDS is more acute for a number of children, including migrant children, and underlines their need for special protection.”
• CRC General Comment N. 6 (2005), Treatment of unaccompanied and separated children outside their country of origin, affirms that “State obligations under the Convention apply to each child within the State’s territory and to all children subject to its jurisdiction (art. 2). (…)Therefore, the enjoyment of rights stipulated in the Convention is not limited to children who are citizens of a State party and must therefore, if not explicitly stated otherwise in the Convention, also be available to all children - including asylum-seeking, refugee and migrant children - irrespective of their nationality, immigration status or statelessness.”
• CRC General Comment N. 12 (2009), The right of the child to be heard, as regards children in immigration and asylum proceedings, asserts that “Children who come to a country following their parents in search of work or as refugees are in a particularly vulnerable situation. For this reason it is urgent to fully implement their right to express their views on all aspects of the immigration and asylum proceedings. In the case of migration, the child has to be heard on his or her educational expectations and health conditions in order to integrate him or her into school and health services. (…)The Committee emphasizes that these children have to be provided with all relevant information, in their own language, on their entitlements, the services available, including means of communication, and the immigration and asylum process, in order to make their voice heard and to be given due weight in the proceedings. A guardian or adviser should be appointed, free of charge.”

Documents and links:

- Fact Sheet No.10 (Rev.1), The Rights of the Child

- NGO Group for the Convention on the Rights of the Child