GENEVA – The UN Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child have decided to examine in detail the rights of children in the context of international migration and issue key guidance for States in dealing with the issue of child migrants and children of migrants.
“International migration is a complex, multidimensional phenomenon that is posing an increasing number of challenges and risks to millions of children,” said CMW Committee member Pablo Ceriani. “However, most States have not developed adequate policies and practices, much less child-sensitive ones, to address migration, and migration-related issues are largely absent from childhood policies.” According to the CRC Chairperson, Benyam Dawit Mezmur, “the impact of migration on children’s rights and development is enormous. All children affected by migration are entitled to the protection of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and this was reiterated during the Day of General Discussion in 2012 on the topic.”
This joint general comment* will provide a comprehensive, rights-based approach to the situation of children affected by migration, in conformity with the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (ICPRMW) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). The Committees’ aim is that the general comment will serve as key reference and guidance for States parties in the design and implementation of migration and child protection policies. It is particularly important that migration policies include a child perspective to ensure that the particular needs and rights of migrant children are properly addressed, and that States examine whether existing migration laws and policies comply with standards and principles set out in the CRC.
The Committees will be seeking input from stakeholders towards at the end of 2015, with a view to adopting the general comment in early 2017.
For more information, please contact Bradford Smith: [email protected]