A/HRC/13/60 to survive, develop and reach their fullest potential. Such discrimination was also frequently compounded by discrimination on other grounds, such as on the basis of sex or disability. Very often that discrimination deprived children of the enjoyment of rights generally, including the rights to life, to be free from torture, to education and to health. Children who experienced racial discrimination were also often denied access to basic social services. 69. During its latest session, the Committee on the Rights of the Child expressed concern at the significant disparities in a State party in the implementation of the rights enshrined in the Convention, reflected in a range of social indicators, such as enrolment in and completion of education, infant mortality rates and access to health care, which indicated persistent discrimination against indigenous and Afro-descendent children from economically disadvantaged families. Among its recommendations to address these issues was the development of awareness-raising campaigns to prevent and eliminate all forms of de facto discrimination against those children. 70. The panellist noted that much more was required to address the direct and indirect effects of racism, racial discrimination and xenophobia on children in all contexts, including schools and other educational settings, care and justice systems and in the community. 71. Moreover, the implementation of legal obligations and recommendations remained a challenge. That area should be prioritized. United Nations entities, civil society, including NHRIs and NGOs should actively seek out information in that context. Various ideas could be considered, including an expert seminar on the topic. Measures to monitor progress in this area through the exchange of best practices and lessons learned could be discussed. Further ways to gather data and information on the nature of discrimination experienced by children and its effects could be explored. 72. Karolina Lindholm-Billing, senior liaison officer at UNHCR, highlighted that children were sometimes discriminated against to such a degree that they were forced to flee and seek asylum abroad. The discrimination could have such serious impact on their enjoyment of one or several of their human rights that it amounted to persecution in the sense of the definition of a refugee in the 1951 Refugee Convention. It was noted that in line with the general comment No. 6 of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on treatment of unaccompanied and separated children outside their country of origin, it was important to interpret the refugee definition in a child, gender and diversity-sensitive way. 73. The speaker stated that rights-based, victims-oriented protection response must include the right to seek asylum and protection against refoulement. 74. The panellist pointed out that children who were not citizens of the country in which they lived were often discriminated against in legislation and in practice. In addition, those children often faced discrimination because they were asylum-seekers, refugees, or stateless. And those children who in addition were, for example, disabled or from an ethnic minority or held a certain religious belief could face additional discrimination on those and other grounds. 75. Ms. Lindholm-Billing noted that in mixed migration situations, security and immigration concerns tended to prevail over the welfare and rights of children, including that to seek asylum. 76. It was pointed out that one of the most pressing protection problems facing asylumseeking, refugee and sometimes also stateless children, was their lack of access to national child protection systems due to discrimination, living in remote areas far away from local infrastructure and services, and lack of documentation which de facto precluded children from accession to national child protection systems and essential services, such as health or GE.10-10828 11