A/HRC/53/26 the revenue agencies was severely restricted, and associations that assist migrants were required to complete various types of paperwork.28 39. The Special Rapporteur takes the opportunity to emphasize that undocumented migrants have rights, regardless of their migration status, under international human rights law and related standards and it is important to ensure that those rights are upheld. The human rights and protection needs of all persons moving across borders, including women and girls, children, trafficked persons, migrant workers, refugees, asylum-seekers, stateless persons and persons with disabilities, have also been recognized in specific international instruments. International and regional conventions and instruments on human rights and legal national frameworks ensure a wide range of rights and obligations. Such rights include the right to life, to human dignity, to asylum and non-refoulement, to a nationality, to protection from torture and inhumane treatment, to family life, to basic health services, to decent work and to access to justice, among others. 40. Some of the rights and obligations established by international human rights law may restrict the return of migrants and therefore constitute a non-discretionary ground for regularization. These include the absolute prohibition of non-refoulement under international human rights law, including when related to the risk of socioeconomic irreparable harm, for instance on medical grounds; the right to family life; the right to private life; and the right to rehabilitation of victims of torture. Regardless of the parents’ migration status, the best interests of the child must also be protected and children have the right to access basic education and should not be detained. D. Regularization of undocumented migrants 1. Objectives and human rights impact of regularization 41. Regularization processes and procedures can facilitate the enjoyment of human rights by migrants holistically through civil and political rights and economic, social and cultural rights, improving migrants’ access to social protection, including health care, decent work, education, adequate living conditions and family reunification. Providing undocumented migrants with regular migration status empowers them to live in less precarious conditions and to enjoy more certain and dignified lives, leading to the improvement of their socioeconomic situations and, hence, enhancing their physical and mental well-being. 29 Regular migration status protects migrants from detention and deportation and enables them to access social protection systems and participate fully in society, positively contributing to economic growth and development. As a result of their regularization, children and youth could also benefit from access to education, physical and mental health care, safe housing and other social services, improving their overall well-being. Regular status can also help children and youth to resist exploitation, abuse and discrimination and to access justice. 42. When regularization and integration processes are considered in migration policy, migrants, including women and girls, are better able to exercise and enjoy their rights. Regular migration status supports migrant women’s access to housing, banking services, education, the justice system and health care, including sexual and reproductive health services, and the ability to work in the formal economy. Regularization enables migrants to “come out of the shadows” and employ agency by joining unions, exercising freedom of expression and the right to assembly and association, advocating for services and defending their rights, including resisting all forms of discrimination and abuse. 30 Regularization also enables migrants to realize their right to decent work in just and favourable conditions and protects them from all forms of violence, including torture and exploitation, whether committed by State or private actors. 43. It must be acknowledged that the purpose of integrating migrant workers into the local labour market is principally to ensure their successful integration into the destination country, as such integration can diminish tensions between migrant communities and the national 28 29 30 10 See submission from Comitato per i Diritti Civili delle Prostitute APS. See submission from Better Engagement Between East and Southeast Asia. See submission from the Women in Migration Network. GE.23-06641