E/C.12/2017/1
during conflicts and disasters. Such vulnerability is further exacerbated in the case of
undocumented women and girl migrants and refugees, who are reluctant to report such
abuses owing to their legal status and because they may lack confidence in the authorities
and fear deportation.
IV. Data collection as a basis for national rights plans
17.
The Committee notes that in a number of cases, the reports of States parties provide
insufficient information on the extent to which recognized refugees, asylum seekers and
undocumented migrants enjoy the Covenant rights. The Committee urges States parties to
collect such data, in order to allow it to assess the extent to which they comply with their
obligations under the Covenant. The collection of such data can make a significant
contribution to the adoption and implementation of policies aimed at improving, for
instance, the access to employment, to education or to health care, of migrants, including
undocumented migrants, under the jurisdiction of the State party.
V. International cooperation
18.
As confirmed in articles 2 (1), 11 (2) (b), 22 and 23 of the Covenant, the realization
of the rights enshrined in the Covenant is a common objective of all States parties. As
members of the United Nations, they have pledged to cooperate in fulfilling this aim. 12
International assistance and cooperation, in particular, are required in order to allow States
facing a sudden influx of refugees and migrants to comply with their core obligations, as
defined above. As the Committee made clear in its statement on poverty, such obligations
“give rise to national responsibilities for all States and international responsibilities for
developed States, as well as others that are ‘in a position to assist’” (see E/C.12/2001/10,
para. 16). The Committee is aware that, when confronted by large flows of migrants fleeing
conflict or persecution, some States face a heavier burden than others. It sees any measure
that States parties adopt to support the realization of the Covenant rights on the territory of
other States as contributing to the aims of the Covenant.
12
See Article 56 of the Charter of the United Nations.
5