by Athena Tsalikidou
Greek Border
Atrocious living conditions in refugee centres, hostile attitudes towards non-nationals, and a climate of fear are some of the first things refugees and asylum-seekers experience upon arrival to Greece.
“Unaccompanied minors need solution in terms of safe shelter, education and future prospects”
said Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, after visiting an education centre in Mytilene
To date, approximately 12,900 children have made their way to the country, including 2,100 unaccompanied or separated minors. Most of them embarked on the boat of hope to European soil dreaming of receiving education and putting their future in their own hands. “Will I be able to start school there immediately?” wonders Jalila, before arriving at the Moria camp. But the sad truth is that she will find out that there is no school there.
In law, asylum-seeking children have the same right to public Greek education as Greek nationals. In practice, children seeking asylum cannot escape the so-called “hotspots” – where “prison-like” conditions prevail – due to geographical restrictions thus being effectively deprived of their access to education.
Access to education denied
Events across mainland Greece and the East Aegean islands testify the state’s incapacity to protect the right to education of refugee and asylum-seeking children. Even though the school year has begun many of the children once living in continental Greece have been deported to Moria, having to forcibly disrupt their education. The children of Moria have been described as a “lost generation”. There, education is not provided at all.
In other camps, the situation is equally shameful. Out of the 6,300 school-age children who live in Lesbos only 150 are registered in formal schools. In a refugee camp located in Kavala, 23 infants are deprived of education because teachers have not been hired yet.
“Not all have access to education, especially the 8,000 school–aged children who live at the moment in the reception centres on the islands”
reveals a UNHCR Fact Sheet.
Surprisingly, the new Greek law on asylum provides that children of asylum-seekers not only possess the right to enroll in Greek public schools, but also that this registration is a requirement for the assessment of the family’s asylum application. Yet, the good news stops here. From July 2019, newly arrived asylum seekers are denied access to public healthcare. In practice, asylum-seeking children are unable to get vaccinated, which is a prerequisite for school enrolment. This evidently results in a deadlock over access to education for asylum-seeking children. In the Kavala camp, 350 children have not been vaccinated which makes it difficult for them to enroll in school.
In need of assistance
NGOs across Greece act as the “good fairies” of these children whose right to education is encroached by filling in the gaps of Greek state’s inadequate solutions to issues of paramount importance.
UNHCR supports refugee and asylum-seeking children’s education on the Aegean islands by offering children learning, skills-building and psychosocial support. Outside school, ARSIS, a partner NGO of UNHCR, runs morning and evening classes for children aged seven to eighteen near the Pyli refugee camp in Kos. Over 400 children have entered KEDU’s classroom since its opening.
“I love everything about school”
– Mohammad, a 16-year-old boy.
NGOs’ work is admirable and should not be neglected.
NGOs’ initiatives attest that hope in humanity has not been lost. Yet, this is not enough to reverse the injustices. Education is not optional; education is necessary; it is a right for all. It is essential for the well-being and personal development of children and if robust action is not taken it is most likely that refugee and asylum-seeking children will see their dreams being killed inside the Greek camps of shame.
