Committee on Elimination of Racial Discrimination adopts general recommendation on non-citizens

5 August 2004
MORNING






The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination this morning adopted a General Recommendation on the issue of discrimination against non-citizens as a means to raise awareness on the situation of these vulnerable groups to find solutions to the daily problems that they are faced with.

General Recommendation Number 30 asks States parties, among other things, to review their national legislation to ensure that it guarantees against racial discrimination applied to non-citizens and to pay greater attention to the issue of multiple discrimination faced by non-citizens, in particular concerning the children and spouses of non-citizen workers. The Recommendation also calls on State parties to address xenophobic attitudes and behaviour towards non-citizens, in particular hate speech and racial violence, and to promote better understanding of the principle of non-discrimination in respect of the situation of non-citizens.

The General Recommendation calls on States parties to ensure that particular groups of non-citizens are not discriminated against with regard to access to citizenship or naturalization; to ensure that non-citizens enjoy equal protection and recognition before the law; and to ensure that non-citizens detained or arrested in the fight against terrorism are properly protected by domestic law that complies with international standards on human rights, refugees and humanitarian law. Moreover, it calls on States parties to avoid segregated schooling and different standards of treatment applied to non-citizens and to take necessary measures to prevent practices that deny non-citizens their cultural identity.

Committee Expert Morten Kjaerum, who served as coordinator and rapporteur to the Working Group on drafting the General Recommendation, recalled that the Committee approved the English version of General Recommendation 30 at its last session in March 2004. Revisions, however, were required for the accompanying language versions before the overall document could be adopted. The Committee therefore adapted the language versions to keep it in line with the previously approved English text.
During the morning meeting, the Committee also continued to deliberate on its draft document concerning follow-up action to the Declaration and Programme of Action adopted at the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance held in 2001 in Durban, South Africa.

When the Committee reconvenes at 3 p.m. this afternoon, it will begin its consideration of the report of Belarus (CERD/C/431/Add.9)