E4R_International and regional legal frameworks on education for refugees and migrants_PrBorraccetti

Summary

This video explores the complex integration of refugees into higher education, particularly within the EU framework. It presents multiple layers of legal frameworks addressing education rights for refugees, from international to EU and national levels. The talk emphasizes key documents like the Global Compact on Refugees and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which advocate for accessible education, including tertiary. It highlights the challenges refugees face, especially asylum seekers, in accessing higher education and the legal nuances that affect their educational opportunities.

Highlights

• The right to higher education is crucial but not always explicitly mentioned in international frameworks. 🌐
• The Global Compact on Refugees and the International Covenant highlight the importance of education for refugee integration. 🤝
• EU's Qualification Directive impacts asylum seekers' educational opportunities, yet is undergoing changes. 📋
• Differences for refugees and asylum seekers regarding educational rights and access, especially in the EU. 🔍
• Member states can limit educational grants and loans for asylum seekers, impacting university access. 🔑

Key Takeaways

• The Global Compact on Refugees emphasizes tertiary education access for refugees. 📚
• International covenants advocate for education based on capacity, not financial means. 💡
• EU frameworks are less explicit about higher education access for refugees. 🌍
• Asylum seekers face additional barriers but could benefit from labor market access. 🔄
• National laws play a crucial role in determining educational access for refugees. 🏛️

Overview

Navigating the educational landscape for refugees is no easy feat, especially when diving into the intricacies of international and regional legal frameworks. Starting with the Global Compact on Refugees, there's a clear push for enhancing educational opportunities — including tertiary education — to aid refugee integration. Yet, despite this international guidance, practical challenges abound in its implementation.

When it comes to the EU, the picture is a bit murky. The European Union's legal documents, like the Qualification Directive, offer some pathways for refugees and asylum seekers, albeit not without hurdles. Asylum seekers find themselves in a particular bind: potential opportunities for education tied to their access to the labor market, but member states hold the reins on financial support such as grants and loans, leaving many to fend for themselves.

National legal frameworks add another layer to this complex narrative. Member states have the autonomy to shape how refugees and asylum seekers access education, which can lead to varying degrees of accessibility and support across Europe. This creates a patchwork of possibilities, balancing between the promise of education as a tool for integration and the realities of each country's political and social landscape.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 00:30: Introduction to Integration and Education The chapter discusses the complex topic of integrating refugees into higher education, highlighting various challenges and issues. It explores the right of refugees to access higher education and the barriers they face in achieving this, such as language barriers, lack of recognition of prior learning, and the need for supportive policies and infrastructure. The chapter also suggests potential solutions and approaches to improve access and integration for refugees in higher education systems.
• 00:30 - 01:00: Levels of Education Rights in the EU The right of education within the EU context is examined through various levels, beginning with the international level, followed by the European Union level, and finally the national level in each member state. Although education rights are included in overarching institutions, they may not always be explicitly stated, requiring a nuanced analysis across these different governing levels.
• 01:00 - 02:00: Global Compact on Refugees The chapter discusses the importance of education as a means of integration for refugees. It emphasizes the need to consider the Global Compact on Refugees, which was approved in October 2018, as part of this integration strategy. The compact, along with the Global Compact on Migration, represents the culmination of a process that began in 2016.
• 02:00 - 03:00: Education in the Global Compact on Refugees The chapter discusses the 2016 New York Declaration and its impact on the Global Compact on Refugees, emphasizing its goal to provide more opportunities for refugees to advance their lives away from their countries of origin.
• 03:00 - 04:00: International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights The chapter on the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights emphasizes the importance of ensuring access to education, particularly as highlighted in the global compact of refugees. This document highlights resilience and stresses facilitating educational opportunities for refugees as a crucial component in addressing their needs.
• 04:00 - 05:00: Universal Declaration of Human Rights and EU Context The chapter discusses the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in the context of the European Union, focusing on the right to education. It emphasizes access to primary and secondary education for minors, including both boys and girls, noting that according to the Global Compact on Refugees, education also includes tertiary education.
• 05:00 - 06:00: EU Fundamental Rights and Higher Education The chapter discusses various international agreements that emphasize the importance of education, especially in the context of refugees and international human rights. It highlights specific international covenants, such as the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which explicitly mention the significance of education in their articles.
• 06:00 - 07:00: Qualification Directive and Future Regulation The chapter titled 'Qualification Directive and Future Regulation' discusses Article 13, focusing on the right to education for everyone, including higher education as part of tertiary education. It emphasizes the importance of accessibility to education at all levels.
• 07:00 - 08:00: Asylum Seekers' Access to Education The chapter discusses the accessibility of education for asylum seekers, highlighting the importance of making education equally accessible to all based on capacity. It emphasizes the need for progressive steps towards free education and recognizes the current global challenges in guaranteeing free access to higher education.
• 08:00 - 09:00: Refugees vs. Asylum Seekers in Higher Education The chapter discusses the differences between refugees and asylum seekers in the context of higher education. It highlights that refugees often start from different personal experiences and life conditions compared to other potential students. This discrepancy necessitates the importance of ensuring adequate support and opportunities for refugees in educational settings to bridge these gaps.
• 09:00 - 10:00: Practical Issues with University Access This chapter discusses practical issues related to accessing higher education, specifically focusing on refugees. It emphasizes considering the unique life conditions and experiences of refugees, in accordance with Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which asserts the right to education for everyone.

E4R_International and regional legal frameworks on education for refugees and migrants_PrBorraccetti Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 [Music] speaking about integration of refugees and higher education is a challenging topic because of different issues uh the right of higher education
• 00:30 - 01:00 is included in right of education but not necessary explicitly um pointed out and in a situation like the one in the European Union or in the member state of the European Union we should take into consideration different level the first level is the international level the second one is the European Union level the third one is the national level let's start with the first level
• 01:00 - 01:30 when we are speaking about uh access to ucation as a way to integration we should take into consideration first of all the global compact on refugees that was a approved in October 2018 and it is uh with the um Global compact on migration the final result of a process that start in 20
• 01:30 - 02:00 2016 in New York with the New York declaration uh the one of the goal of the global compact on refugees is to uh give more opportunities to refugees that are given their situation away from the country of Origins and uh give more opportunities to go ahead in the development of their life so in practice to enance their self
• 02:00 - 02:30 resilience in particular if you read the global compact of refugees 68 stress the importance to facilitate the access to education when we are speaking uh about access to education
• 02:30 - 03:00 in general we are speaking about we are thinking about the access to primary or secondary education for uh minors for children both boys and girls but uh according to the global compact of refugees according to point 68 education includes also tertiary education so the So-Cal highered ucation
• 03:00 - 03:30 level but the global compa of refugees uh is not uh the only um PCT convenant or International act that is explicit speaking about the importance of a education for example the international Convent uh on um economic social and cultural rights at its Article
• 03:30 - 04:00 13 recognize the right of everyone to education also in this situation uh Article 13 include higher education as part of the education so as a tertiary level and it stressed the importance that it should be
• 04:00 - 04:30 made equally accessible to all on the basis of capacity by every appropriate means and in particular by the progressive introduction of free education we know at this period of human history that the access to higher education is not everywhere um guarantee as a free education and for sure it should be recognized on
• 04:30 - 05:00 the basis of capacity what is the point of refugees that they starting point because their personal uh experience by personal life the condition of their life are not necessary on the same level uh of all the other uh potential student so it is true that it is important to guarantee
• 05:00 - 05:30 the access to higher education the basis of capacity but we should take into consideration the specificity of the life of the condition of Life of refugees of of what they experience before a third Act is the universal Declaration of Human right article 26 where uh it is stressed that everyone has the right to education
• 05:30 - 06:00 and also as in the international convenant on economic social cultural light the same expression higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of Merit the difference between Merit and capacity but the meaning is the same so not uh because of the financial resources but of the capacity of the compet
• 06:00 - 06:30 of any um any potential student there are no references if we go to the um European Union dimension on higher education when we are speaking about the chter of fundamental right because the chter of fundamental right speaking about the right to education uh without uh mentioning with without
• 06:30 - 07:00 stressing uh higher education as a compet of right to education but according to article 14 of the charter of fundamental rights uh it is a uh stress the importance that everyone has the right to education and to have the access to vocational and continuing training so uh in this situation we can give an interpretation of uh education including also higher
• 07:00 - 07:30 education uh but the focus mainly is on minor and on the obligation of their parents to ensure their education following their uh right to be to be educated if we are considering uh European Union law the H peculiar
• 07:30 - 08:00 situation uh of refugees Andy Seeker is set is managed by the qualification directive that uh uh from year 2026 will be um peeled by a uh regulation uh this is the effect of a decision taken by the legislators the
• 08:00 - 08:30 European Union legislators as the Parliament and the council H in the approval of the measures set by the new pact on migration and asy the current situation is about the uh possibility for minors to go at school and to receive education but there are no references to higher education the only possibility is
• 08:30 - 09:00 that uh is included in Article 15 of the qualification directive that in the part of employment is mentioning directly and in express way the importance of permanent training not only also the art article 16 is on vocational training ER that should be or better
• 09:00 - 09:30 must be guarantee irrespective of whether the interested person have access to the labor market apart of it there are there is no uh mention of higher education so we can say that um we it is not excluded but so it is also not expressly included in the education with the the new uh regulation on the
• 09:30 - 10:00 qualification regulation uh the situation will change in a sensitive way because the new article on employment will be article 17 we speak about Asylum seeker and the refugees what is the difference in this situation refugees they have their status they have access to education at the same condition of the national of the member state
• 10:00 - 10:30 but what about Asylum Seeker why uh focusing on Asylum Seeker because the situation is very important for a reason as even if in some member State Asylum procedures are fast or reasonably fast so concerned persons H are in a limbo waiting for the answer just for few month
• 10:30 - 11:00 in some other member states the procedure are much longer so first of all after at least uh after sorry no later than six months they should have access to the labor market the current situation is that this period is of N9 month in a future in the future will be of six month but why I'm speaking about uh the
• 11:00 - 11:30 access to the labor market if we want to focus our attention on education because article 17 include the possibility for Asylum Seekers that have the right to access to the labor market to have access to educational and vocational training training including training courses for for improving skills practic workplace
• 11:30 - 12:00 experiences and employment guid that services in this situation it means that it it is focusing on the importance of training but at the same time the same uh article include the possibility for the member state to derogate the obligation to have equal treatment for Asylum Seekers compared
• 12:00 - 12:30 to the refugees or the citizens living in that country today rate in which sense uh according to the same article but point4 the member State could exclude Asylum Seekers to have access to Grants or to loans related to education and vocational training and the payment of
• 12:30 - 13:00 fees in according uh that in accordance with national law are set to access the university so it is the only situation where ulw related to refugees and Asylum Seeker is speaking about University so in practice our interpretation could be that Asylum Seekers once they have the
• 13:00 - 13:30 access to the labor markets they could have also access to H higher education but member states are allowed to limit the possibility for them to access to Grants on loans to or uh to be Exempted by the payment of fees to have access to the universities in practice in this situation Asylum
• 13:30 - 14:00 Seekers could have access to the universities according to the national law but paying uh the fees or um without any type of Grant or law it doesn't mean that the member state are forced to exclude this group of people from this benefit the regulation is just a allowing the member state to do
• 14:00 - 14:30 it where is the ratio of this uh of this specific rule we cannot exclude that The Rao is that the member state or better uh the legislator didn't want to create a situation where an asylum Seeker enroll at the University
• 14:30 - 15:00 once uh the um application for international protection is uh uh rejected could continue uh of would continue to stay to study at the University so in practice they want probably to prevent any uh way for the asum Seeker to find
• 15:00 - 15:30 the reason to continue to stay even if the asum application or the international protection application is rejected the justification of it could be found also on the data published by the commission and the eurostat According to which in between the 50 60% of the application in first instance are
• 15:30 - 16:00 accepted that means that almost the first 40% of the application in first instance are rejected but if we go to the Practical issue for the University it means that above all in that countries where the Asylum procedure or International protection procedure is long it could create problems uh for the
• 16:00 - 16:30 access to the universities to the uh today's for the Z Seekers