A/HRC/19/43 professions or participation in certain employment sectors, as well as fixed quotas on foreign labour, also serve to curtail access to the formal labour market for non-citizens.42 G. Right to social security 27. Closely related to the right to work are the rights to social security and social insurance, as provided in article 9 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights. As stated by the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the right to social security encompasses the right to access and maintain benefits, whether in cash or in kind, without discrimination in order to secure protection, inter alia, from lack of work-related income caused by sickness, disability, maternity, employment injury, unemployment, old age, or death of a family member; unaffordable access to health care; and insufficient family support, particularly for children and adult dependents. 43 28. The Committee has further recalled that article 2, paragraph 2, of the Covenant prohibits discrimination on grounds of nationality. The Committee has noted that the Covenant contains no express jurisdictional limitation and, therefore, where non-citizens, including migrant workers, have contributed to a social security scheme, they should be able to benefit from that contribution or retrieve their contributions if they leave the country.44 Moreover, according to the Committee, non-citizens should be able to access non-contributory schemes for income support, affordable access to health care and family support. Refugees, stateless persons and asylum-seekers, and other disadvantaged and marginalized individuals and groups, should enjoy equal treatment in access to noncontributory social security schemes, including reasonable access to health care and family support, consistent with international standards. Indeed, all persons, irrespective of their nationality, residency or immigration status, are entitled to primary and emergency medical care. Any restrictions, including a qualification period, must be proportionate and reasonable.45 29. However, it should be noted that social security is an area in which States have used bilateral agreements to define the treatment of non-citizens. Where arbitrary deprivation of nationality renders a person stateless, they will likely be unable to benefit from such bilateral arrangements. H. Right to health 30. Article 12 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights provides that everyone has the right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has stated that everyone, regardless of nationality, statelessness or legal status, should have access to existing health-care opportunities.46 Indeed, article 2, paragraph 2, the Covenant prohibits discrimination of any kind as to race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or 42 43 44 45 46 Laura van Waas, “The situation of stateless persons in the Middle East and North Africa” (Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), 2010), p. 24; Marjorie Farquharson, “Statelessness in Central Asia” (UNHCR, 2011), p. 65. General comment No. 19 (2008) on the right to social security, para. 2. Ibid., para. 36 Ibid., paras. 37 and 38. General comment No. 14 (2000) on the right to the highest attainable standard of health, para. 12 (b). See also Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, general recommendation No. 30, para. 36. 11