A/HRC/15/29
requirement of immediate payment or proof of payment can also impede access to the
health service; the use of health care and services as an instrument of immigration control
policies such as the duty to report undocumented migrants by health professionals; fear of
deportation or detention of themselves or their families; and, finally, lack of information
about migrant’s entitlements and guarantees in relation to health services and goods. A
particular area of concern lies in the area of childhood immunization; many migrant
children are unable to gain access to vaccinations in a timely manner, with long-term
effects on their health.
H.
Access to social services: Housing
64.
Migrant children and their families can often be found living in substandard
housing, whether because they cannot pay high rents, because their legal status prevents
them from renting legally or because they have joined diaspora communities that live in
run-down and spatially segregated parts of the city. Children who work, including domestic
workers, may live in employer-provided accommodation which is overcrowded and
unsanitary.55
65.
Article 27 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child recognizes the right of every
child to a standard of living adequate for the child’s physical, mental, spiritual, moral and
social development, and calls on States to provide material assistance and support
programmes, particularly with regard to nutrition, clothing and housing. The Committee on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has stated that “the right to adequate housing applies
to everyone” and that “individuals, as well as families, are entitled to adequate housing
regardless of age, economic status, group or other affiliation or status and other such
factors.”56
66.
The Committee has expressed concern that migrant families are “disproportionately
concentrated in poor residential areas characterised by low-quality, poorly maintained large
housing complexes” and recommended the “effective implementation of existing legislation
to combat discrimination in housing, including discriminatory practices carried out by
private actors”.57
67.
The European Committee of Social Rights has ruled that irregular migrant children
should not be evicted from reception centres following failed asylum proceedings,
observing that States are required to provide adequate shelter to all children in the territory,
and that any other solution would run counter to the respect for their human dignity and not
take account of the particularly vulnerable situation of children.58
I.
Access to social services: Education
68.
Children in the context of migration can face practical and legal obstacles to
realizing their right to education. Fears that their irregular situation will be reported can
deter enrolment, as can an inability to pay fees and buy uniforms and school materials.
Migrant children can also face xenophobia and racism in the classroom, or pressure from
their families to earn an income, leading to high dropout rates.
55
56
57
58
16
Save the Children, Children on the Move (UK, 2007).
Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, general comment No. 4 on the right to adequate
housing.
Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, concluding observations on France,
E/C.12/FRA/CO/3.
Defence for Children International vs. The Netherlands, case No. 47/2008, 20 October 2009.
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