General comment No. 20: Non-discrimination in economic, social and cultural rights (art. 2, para. 2, of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights)
This report focuses on those who have crossed national borders, who generally are at risk of marginalisation and specifically to discrimination in the provision of education. The report aims to inform and assist Governments and interested parties in their efforts to address these matters and develop best practices so as to ensure the enjoyment of the currently unfulfilled right to education for migrants, refugees and asylum-seekers. This report addresses six core issues: the legal and normative framework; social and cultural issues; language and curriculum; teachers; accreditation; and learning for life.
This paper was commissioned by the Global Education Monitoring Report as background information to assist in drafting the 2019 GEM Report, Migration, displacement and education: Building bridges, not walls.
In 2017, there were an estimated 258 million people living outside their country of origin. Of them, about 30 million were school-aged. Migrants include different groups such as refugees, asylum seekers, migrant workers, stateless, undocumented migrants and internal displaced persons. The right to education of migrants, irrespective of their legal or migration status, is guaranteed under international law on the basis of the human rights principles of equality and non-discrimination. The main treaties guaranteeing the right to education apply to all migrants. In addition, migrant-specific treaties include provisions on the right to education. This international legal framework applies only to the extent that states have committed to it. At national level, migrants face legal and practical barriers to effectively enjoying their right to education. Some states show good examples of protecting the right to education of migrants in law and in practice.
This report highlights the right to education in Iraq and different barriers that iraqis and internally displaced persons are facing to access education. It put a particular emphasis on the legacy of ISIL territorial control on access to education.
This General Comment 6 of the Committee on the Rights of the Child interprets the Convention on the Rights of the Child as regards the treatment of unaccompanied and separated children outside their country of origin. Paragraphs 41 to 43 and 63 and 90 refers to the right to education.
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This General Comment 2 of the Committee on Migrants Workers interprets the Convention on the Protection of all Migrant Workers and Members of their Families as regards the rights of migrants workwers in an irregular situation and members of their families. Paragraphs 75 to 79 refer to the right to education.
This joint general comment 3 and 22 of the Committee on the Rights of the Child and the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families recalls the importance of protection children in contexte of international migration. Paragraph 18 and 32 refer to the right to education.
This joint general comment 4 and 23 of the Committee on the Rights of the Child and the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families recalls the State obligations regarding the protection of children in contexte of international migration. Paragraph 59 to 63 refer to the State obligations to ensure the right to education.
The Convention relating to the Status of Refugees guarantees specifically the right to education of refugees in its Article 22.
The Kampala Convention is the first international treaty, adopted at regional level (Africa), that protect internally displaced persons. It binds governments to provide legal protection for the rights and well-being of those forced to flee inside their home countries due to conflict, violence, natural disasters, and other human rights abuses. Article 9.2 (b) refers to education.