First, Canada may be in breach of Articles 2(1) and 28(1)(a) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child by discriminating on the basis of national, ethnic, social origin, birth or other status in the right of every child to education, and in particular making primary education compulsory and available free to all children.322 Second, Canada has international human rights obligations under Articles 2(2) and 13(2)(a) of the ICESCR to provide compulsory primary education freely available to all without discrimination on the basis of national, social origin, birth or other status. 323 In this respect, the CESCR states that “[t]he ground of nationality should not bar access to Covenant rights, e.g., all children within a State, including those with an undocumented status, have a right to receive education and access to adequate food and affordable health care. The Covenant rights apply to everyone including non-nationals, such as refugees, asylum-seekers, stateless persons, migrant workers, and victims of international trafficking, regardless of legal status and documentation.324 Third, the ICERD reinforces the ICESCR and prohibits Canada to discriminate on the basis of national or ethnic origin in the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights, and in particular, the right to education and training.325 In this regard the CERD has recommended that although some rights “may be confined to citizens, human rights are, in principle, to be enjoyed by all persons. States parties are under an obligation to guarantee equality between citizens and non-citizens in the enjoyment of these rights to the extent recognized under international law.”326 In particular the CERD recommends that States “[r]emove obstacles that prevent the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights by non-citizens, notably in the areas of education, housing, employment and health;…[and] ensure that public educational institutions are open to non-citizens and children of undocumented immigrants residing in the territory of a State party.”327 On a number of occasions the United Nations has previously made concluding observations respecting access to education for stateless persons and called on the Government of Canada to ensure access.328 Convention on the Rights of the Child, supra note 272, at Arts. 2(1) & 28(1)(a). ICESCR, supra note 235 at Arts. 2(2) & 13(2). 324 General Comment No. 20, supra note 234 at para. 30. 325 ICERD, supra note 274 at Art. 5(e)(v). 326 CERD General Recommendation No. 30, supra note 275 at para. 3. 327 Ibid., at paras. 29-30. 328 UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), Report of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination: seventieth session (19 February-9 March 2007) ; seventy-first session (30 July-17 August 2007), 1 October 2007, A/62/18, at para. 84, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/473424062.html [CERD Concluding Observations 2007]; UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), Report of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, Sixtieth Session (4-22 March 2002) and Sixty-first Session (5-23 August 2002), 1 November 2002, A/57/18, at para. 337, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/3f52f7aa4.html; UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC), UN Committee on the Rights of the Child: Concluding Observations: Canada, 27 October 2003, CRC/C/15/Add.215, at paras. 44-45, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/403a22804.html. 322 323 68