CMW/C/GC/2 members of their families within their territory are in an irregular situation, to ensure that such a situation does not persist (art. 69, para. 1). States parties shall therefore consider the possibility of regularizing the situation of such persons in each individual case, in accordance with applicable national legislation and bilateral or multilateral agreements, taking into account the circumstances of their entry, the duration of their stay and other relevant considerations, in particular those relating to their family situation (art. 69, para. 2). When States parties provide for the regularization of migrant workers in their national legislation, they must ensure that all migrant workers and members of their families in an irregular situation have non-discriminatory and effective access to such regularization procedures and that those procedures are not applied in an arbitrary manner (arts. 7 and 69). 16. The Committee recalls that regularization is the most effective measure to address the extreme vulnerability of migrant workers and members of their families in an irregular situation. 11 States parties should therefore consider policies, including regularization programmes, for avoiding or resolving situations whereby migrant workers and members of their families are in, or are at risk of falling into, an irregular situation (art. 69, para. 1). 4. International cooperation (Part VI) 17. States parties shall cooperate in promoting sound, equitable, humane and lawful conditions for international migration (art. 64, para. 1). Coordinated policies, which ensure that migrant workers and members of their families have access to regular channels for migration, based on actual or projected labour market needs – at all skills levels – and resources (art. 64, para. 2), are an important element of such cooperation. By making regular channels of migration available, States parties also contribute to the aim of preventing and eliminating illegal or clandestine movements and employment of migrant workers in an irregular situation (art. 68). B. Non-discrimination (Part II) 18. The principle of non-discrimination is central to all international human rights instruments and to the Charter of the United Nations. Article 7 of the Convention explicitly includes nationality among the prohibited grounds of discrimination. Treaty bodies have also interpreted the prohibition of discrimination to include non-nationals, such as migrant workers, regardless of legal status and documentation. 12 The rights in Part III of the Convention also apply to all migrant workers and members of their families, including those in an irregular situation. Therefore, any differential treatment based on nationality or migration status amounts to discrimination unless the reasons for such differentiation are prescribed by law, pursue a legitimate aim under the Convention, are necessary in the specific circumstances, and proportionate to the legitimate aim pursued. 13 19. Article 7 requires States parties “to respect and to ensure” to all migrant workers and members of their families without discrimination the rights provided for in the Convention. Article 7 does not provide an autonomous right. Its application is limited to those rights of migrant workers and members of their families in an irregular situation that are protected in 11 12 13 Committee’s general comment No. 1 (2011) on migrant domestic workers, para. 52. Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, general comment No. 20 (2009) on nondiscrimination in economic, social and cultural rights, para. 30. See Human Rights Committee, general comment No. 18 (1989) on non-discrimination, para. 13; and Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, general comment No. 20 on the right to education, para. 13. 7