Cultural Rights provides for the right to the highest attainable standard of health for all
persons. States parties are therefore obliged to ensure that all persons, irrespective of their
migration status, have effective access to at least a minimum level of health care on a nondiscriminatory basis. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights considers
this to encompass primary health care, as well as preventive, curative and palliative health
services. The Committee on the Rights of the Child holds that every migrant child is entitled
to the same health care as nationals under article 24 of the Convention on the Rights of the
Child. To that effect, States parties shall ensure, inter alia, that all migrant workers and
members of their families have access to essential medicines and that migrant children are
provided with immunization against the major infectious diseases. They shall ensure that
migrant women have access to appropriate prenatal and postnatal health care, safe
reproductive health services, and to emergency obstetric care.
73. The Committee considers that access to urgent medical care must be ensured to all
migrant workers on the basis of equality of treatment with nationals and thus on a nondiscriminatory basis. Although medical care need not necessarily be free of charge, equality
of treatment requires that the same rules for payment of fees or exemption from payment
apply to migrant workers and members of their families as to nationals. States parties should
prohibit the charging of excessive fees from migrant workers in an irregular situation or
requiring immediate payment or proof of payment before the service is delivered. Urgent
medical care should never be withheld due to the inability to pay. States parties should also
ensure that migrant workers and members of their families are provided with information
on the medical care provided and information about their health rights. States parties
should also ensure that doctors and health professionals are provided with culturally
sensitive training regarding health care for migrant workers and members of their families.
74. Article 28 prohibits the refusal of such medical care to migrant workers because of an
irregularity with regard to their stay and employment. States parties should not use health
care as an instrument of immigration control, which would effectively prevent migrant
workers in an irregular situation from contacting public health care providers out of fear of
deportation. Toward this end, States parties shall not require public health institutions to
report or otherwise share data on the migration status of a patient to immigration authorities,
and health care providers should also not be required to do so.43 Moreover, States parties
shall not conduct immigration enforcement operations on or near facilities providing
medical care, as this would limit migrant workers and members of their families from
accessing such care.
4. Right to education
75. Article 30 of the Convention protects the “basic right of access to education” of all
children of migrant workers “on the basis of equality of treatment with nationals of the State
concerned.” Article 30 also provides that access to public preschool educational institutions
or schools shall be without prejudice to the migration status of the child concerned or
parents of the child. The Committee, in accordance with article 13 of the International
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, is of the view that States parties must
provide free and compulsory primary education for all, including children of migrant
workers, regardless of their migration status. As such, States parties have an obligation to
eliminate all direct costs of schooling, such as school fees, as well as alleviate the adverse
impact of indirect costs, such as expenses for school materials and uniforms. Access to
secondary education by children of migrant workers must be ensured on the basis of
equality of treatment with nationals. Accordingly, whenever children who are nationals
have access to free secondary education, States parties must ensure equal access by children
of migrant workers, irrespective of their migration status. Similarly, when States parties
provide different forms of secondary education, including vocational education, they
should also make them accessible to children of migrant workers. The same principle
applies to free preschool education or to scholarship schemes. Therefore, whenever children
who are nationals have access to free preschool education or scholarships, States parties
must ensure equal access by children of migrant workers, irrespective of their migration
status.
43
See note 12 above, para. 43.
73