1. The situation of refugees and
internally displaced persons (IDPs) is an abnormal and temporary state that
must be resolved either by return, integration in the host country or
resettlement in a third country. A decision on which course to take should
be a matter of priority. Pending that decision, educational provision must
be made for each eventuality.
2. For refugees and IDPs education
is a basic essential, as also, depending on age, are further education and
vocational training. What is at stake is the preparation of such persons for
life in society, for employment and for democratic citizenship and this is
relevant for all persons in that position. It is made more difficult and
onerous by delay in the decision on whether to return or stay.
3. Education can also be a tool for
protection and for promoting tolerance, peace and conflict resolution
between opposing communities, for developing notions of intercultural
understanding and dialogue, for contributing actively to peacekeeping
operations and for combating the use of refugees as political hostages.
4. In addition to basic education,
refugees and IDPs require specific psychological care, cultural orientation
and language training. This calls for specially trained teachers and
specific material.
5. Co-ordination is necessary
between the host government (and the local community), governmental
organisations (such as the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR)
and Unicef) and non-governmental organisations working with refugees and
IDPs.
6. Considerable resources and
sustained commitment by governments and donors are necessary for the
education of refugees and IDPs. Such “soft sector” needs are too often
ignored. More effective intervention at an early stage can reduce the
long-term costs.
7. The Parliamentary Assembly has
considered the situation of refugees and IDPs on several occasions. The
present recommendation aims to reinforce attention on the problems and the
priority of education.
8. Careful attention should,
however, be paid to the very differing conditions of refugees and IDPs, in
different European countries. Their concentration is highest in the South
Caucasus and the Balkans. Education under post-conflict conditions in such
areas should be pragmatic and is very different from that in safe and
prosperous societies.
9. The Assembly recommends that the
Committee of Ministers invite member states to:
i. give priority to the planning
of adequate measures to ensure that access to education is available for
refugees and IDPs pending the possibility of a durable solution of either
voluntary repatriation or local integration;
ii. respect existing obligations
for the provision of education for refugees and IDPs within the human
rights framework and as indicated in the most recent UNHCR guidelines;
iii. change practices that dodge
such international obligations, for example by defining what “authorised
to stay” entails in terms of assessing educational assistance;
iv. make efforts to facilitate the
integration of refugee and IDP children into the school system of the host
country;
v. facilitate the provision of
further education and vocational training for refugees and IDPs so as to
reduce their dependence and to enable them to lead a normal life;
vi. take account of education
already acquired by refugees and IDPs;
vii. meet the supplementary costs
involved in the education and language teaching of refugees and IDPs so as
to give them both a chance to return to a viable life in their own country
and to remain in the host country;
viii. train teachers for the
specific education of refugees and IDPs.
10. The Assembly asks the Committee
of Ministers to:
i. examine models for teaching
refugees and IDPs in key fields such as history, culture, civic education,
religion and language;
ii. integrate the education and
training of refugees and IDPs into a new interdisciplinary project;
iii. enter into partnership
agreements with the European Union, UNHCR, Unicef and the World Health
Organisation to tackle the problems of refugees and IDPs in specific areas
of Europe in the fields of education, politics and social and health
services (respectively).
1. Text adopted by the Standing Committee acting on behalf
of the Assembly on 2 March 2004 (see
Doc. 9996, report of
the Committee on Culture, Science and Education, rapporteur: Mr R. Huseynov).
