A/HRC/31/29
prisoners or detainees, minorities, asylum seekers and irregular migrants, 62 and that any
discrimination in access to health care is proscribed by the International Covenant on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (E/C.12/2000/4, para. 18). Despite these provisions,
stateless children often face discrimination in their enjoyment of this right. More than 30
States require documentation to treat a child at a health facility. In at least 20 States,
stateless children cannot be legally vaccinated. 63 Stateless Roma children in Europe have
been denied access to public paediatric services or to child health education. Additional
factors, such as travel restrictions, higher medical costs for non-nationals and
discrimination, impede stateless children’s right to health.64
D.
Right to family life
36.
Article 17 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights provides for
the right of every person to be protected against arbitrary or unlawful interference with his
private and family life. Article 23 recognizes that the family is entitled to protection by
society and the State. Articles 7, 9, 10, 16 and 18 of the Convention on the Rights of the
Child stipulate that States should ensure that the child’s right to a family life is preserved
and protected. The arbitrary deprivation of nationality of children can have a negative
impact on the enjoyment of these rights, compounded also by limitations to the right to
enter or reside in the territory of a State (A/HRC/19/43, para. 21). The Human Rights
Committee has ruled that a deportation order issued against two stateless parents of a child
was a violation of rights relating to the protection of the family and of the child
(CCPR/C/72/D/930/2000, annex). Similarly, the European Court of Human Rights has held
that the failure to recognize the legal link between parents and their surrogate children and
the deprivation of nationality of the children amounts to a violation of the children’s right to
a family life.65
E.
Freedom of movement
37.
Article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and article 12 of the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights guarantee the freedom of movement of
all persons, including children. The lack of documentation – in particular, the inability to
obtain passports – and, in some circumstances, the imposition of restrictions on movement
of stateless minorities, undermines stateless children’s enjoyment of the freedom of
movement. As noted by the Secretary-General, persons who have been arbitrarily deprived
of their nationality may face severe limitations on their ability to travel and to choose a
place of residence if, by depriving them of their nationality, the State has put them in a
situation of irregularity concerning their country of residence (A/HRC/19/43, para. 8).
F.
Right to an adequate standard of living
38.
Article 11 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
recognizes the right of everyone to an adequate standard of living for himself and his
62
63
64
65
12
Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, general comment No. 14 (2000)
(E/C.12/2000/4), para. 34; Committee on the Rights of the Child, general comment No. 15 (2013)
(CRC/C/GC/15), para. 8.
UNHCR, I Am Here, I Belong (see footnote 1), p. 12.
Ibid.
See Mennesson v. France.
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