Human Rights Watch has found that, on the Aegean Islands, no more than 400 asylum-seeking children were enrolled in formal (school) education by the end of the 2017-2018 school year, although there are more than 3,000 school-age children on the island at any given time. For most asylum-seeking children on the islands, the right to education is not being fulfilled.
The Greek government has argued that it is impractical to provide formal education to children in the Aegean Island camps. But Greek law states that education is compulsory from ages five to fifteen and that all children have the right to go to school, including asylum-seekers. Since the children in the Aegean Island camps are unable to leave the islands, pending adjudication of their asylum claims or another decision transferring them off the islands, it stands to reason that the government is not meeting its own duties and obligations regarding access to education.
The Greek education ministry has opened formal classes tailored to children who do not speak Greek and who have been out of school, but they serve only a small number of children who were allowed to leave the government camps for shelters or subsidised housing. And while there has been progress regarding the education of refugee children on the mainland, access to education on the islands still lags behind.
The lack of access to education hinders the ability of refugee children to integrate and contribute in Europe. Meanwhile, investing in education more than pays for itself; every dollar spent on education reaps two in earnings and health benefits.
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