CMW/C/GC/3-CRC/C/GC/22
United Nations
International Convention on the
Protection of the Rights of
All Migrant Workers and
Members of Their Families
Distr.: General
16 November 2017
Original: English
Convention on the Rights of
the Child
Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All
Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families
Committee on the Rights of the Child
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the
Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and
Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the
Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general
principles regarding the human rights of children in the
context of international migration*
I. Introduction
1.
The present joint general comment was adopted at the same time as joint general
comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant
Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights
of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of children in the context of
international migration in countries of origin, transit, destination and return. While that
general comment and the present one are stand-alone documents in their own right, the two
complement each other and should be read and implemented together. The drafting process
included a series of global and regional consultations held between May and July 2017 with
representatives of key stakeholders and experts, including children and migrant
organizations, in Bangkok, Beirut, Berlin, Dakar, Geneva, Madrid and Mexico City. In
addition, the Committees received more than 80 written contributions from States, United
Nations agencies and entities, civil society organizations, national human rights institutions
and other stakeholders from every region of the world between November 2015 and August
2017.
2.
The International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant
Workers and Members of Their Families and the Convention on the Rights of the Child
contain legally binding obligations that relate both in general and specific terms to the
protection of the rights of children in the context of international migration
3.
In the context of international migration, children may be in a situation of double
vulnerability as children and as children affected by migration who (a) are migrants
themselves, either alone or with their families, (b) were born to migrant parents in countries
of destination or (c) remain in their country of origin while one or both parents have
migrated to another country. Additional vulnerabilities could relate to their national, ethnic
or social origin; gender; sexual orientation or gender identity; religion; disability; migration
* The present joint general comment should be read in conjunction with joint general comment No. 4
(2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of
Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations
regarding the human rights of children in the context of international migration in countries of origin,
transit, destination and return.
GE.17-19871(E)