E/C.12/2017/1 developing countries and it only concerns economic rights, in particular access to employment. It allows those States to determine the extent to which they will guarantee such rights, without allowing them to deny the enjoyment of such rights entirely. While acknowledging the concerns related to the protection of access to employment by nationals, the Committee notes, however, that a migrant who has access to employment, or to selfemployment, generally will contribute to the domestic economy (whereas he or she may require social assistance if left without any means of earning an income). It also notes that, whereas education has sometimes been described as an economic right, the right of each child to education should be recognized by States independently of the nationality or the legal status of his or her parents. Core obligations 9. The essential minimum content of each right should be preserved in all circumstances and the corresponding duties extended to all people under the effective control of the State, without exception. The Committee has underlined in the past that the duties to secure freedom from hunger, 7 to guarantee access to water to satisfy basic needs, 8 access to essential drugs9 and access to education, complying with “minimum educational standards”,10 are core obligations of the State and should therefore not be restricted on the basis of nationality or legal status. 10. The Committee has affirmed in the past that “in order for a State party to be able to attribute its failure to meet at least its minimum core obligations to a lack of available resources it must demonstrate that every effort has been made to use all resources that are at its disposition in an effort to satisfy, as a matter of priority, those minimum obligations”.11 Although States parties to the Covenant should accommodate refugees and migrant inflows commensurate with the extent of the maximum resources available, they would not, in principle, be justified in restricting the enjoyment of the essential content of the Covenant rights on the basis of a lack of resources, even when confronted with a sudden and quantitatively significant flow of refugees. As noted by the Committee in its statement on poverty, adopted in 2001, “because core obligations are non-derogable, they continue to exist in situations of conflict, emergency and natural disaster” (see E/C.12/2001/10, para. 18). III. Integration of refugees and migrants and the specific vulnerability of undocumented migrants 11. Beyond the immediate duty to ensure that the essential minimum content of the Covenant rights are guaranteed to all refugees and migrants under their jurisdiction, States parties to the Covenant should take the Covenant into account in defining the conditions of integration of refugees and migrants who are settling within their territory. The Committee draws the attention of States parties, in particular, to the fact that enjoyment of the Covenant rights should not depend on the legal status of the persons concerned. The lack of documentation frequently makes it impossible for parents to send their children to school, or for migrants to have access to health care, including emergency medical treatment, to take up employment, to apply for social housing or to engage in an economic activity in a self-employed capacity. That situation cannot be tolerated. Pending a decision on their claim to be reconized as refugees, asylum seekers should be granted a temporary status, allowing them to enjoy economic, social and cultural rights without discrimination. This goes beyond the elementary duty to register children at birth, as stated in article 7 (1) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and in article 29 of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families. Nor can undocumented migrants who are not seeking asylum simply be ignored. Without 7 8 9 10 11 See general comment No. 12 (1999) on the right to adequate food, paras. 6, 14 and 17. See general comment No. 15, para. 37. See general comment No. 14 (2000) on the right to the highest attainable standard of health, para. 43. See general comment No. 13 (1999) on the right to education, para. 57. See general comment No. 3 (1990), para. 10. 3