A/79/213 11. Children in migration contexts can be particularly vulnerable to de facto discrimination, 20 necessitating positive measures by States to counter conditions and attitudes that lead to and perpetuate de facto discrimination. 21 The non-discrimination obligation also requires States to identify any groups of children requiring special measures to enjoy their rights, taking into account intersecting factors, 22 including gender, gender identity or sexual orientation, race, colour, ethnicity or nationality, disability, religion, economic status and migration status. 2. Best interests of the child 12. There are no exceptions or limitations to the application of the Convention’s principle in article 3 that in all actions concerning children, the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration. 23 As articulated by the Committee on the Rights of the Child, the best interests principle serves three purposes: as a substantive right held by children as individual rights holders; as an interpretative legal principle that must inform the interpretation of all other child rights; and as a rule of procedure requiring all decision-making affecting children to include evaluation of possible impacts of the decision on the child or children concerned. 24 The latter applies to State actions affecting individual children and specific groups of children or children in general, 25 with the Committee on the Rights of the Child and the Committee on Migrant Workers reiterating that States shall ensure that the best interests of the child are taken fully into consideration in immigration law, planning, implementation and assessment of migration policies. 26 This demands a continuous process of child impact assessment and evaluation. 13. While children’s best interests need to be balanced with other affected interests, best-interests considerations cannot be overridden by considerations relating to general migration control. States must develop and implement robust and individualized best-interests assessment and determination procedures for a range of migration situations involving children – both unaccompanied and separated children and children with families – including decisions about entry, accommodation, residence, resettlement, return, deportation, or detention or deportation of an adult that could lead to children’s separation from a parent. 27 3. Right to life, survival and development 14. Every child’s right to life is protected by article 6 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which requires States to ensure children’s survival and development to the maximum extent possible. 28 The prohibition of collective expulsion and the principle of non-refoulement 29 are central to this, giving rise to child-specific considerations that must be taken into account to ensure that no child is returned to a place where they would be at risk of death, torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading __________________ 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 6/24 “De facto” discrimination occurs in practice rather than in law (“de jure” discrimination). Joint general comment No. 3/No. 22 (2017), para. 26. Committee on the Rights of the Child, general comment No. 5 (2003), para. 12. John Eekelaar and John Tobin, “Article 3. The Best Interests of the Child” in The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child: A Commentary, John Tobin, ed. (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2019), pp. 73–74. Committee on the Rights of the Child, general comment No. 14 (2013), para. 6. Ibid. Joint general comment No. 3/No. 22 (2017), para. 29. Ibid., paras. 31–33. See also International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, art. 6 (1) (right to life), and International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, art. 12 (1) (right to health). See, inter alia, Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, art. 33, Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, art. 3, and International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, art. 16. 24-13410