LA POLÍTICA COMO PROCESO
2.1 El periodo autoritario
2.1.2 La dictadura militar personalista: el Martinato
Concerning access to education, the regulatory frameworks in place in all Member States differ widely.
A considerable number of Member States provide access to education (or make that education compulsory) for all migrant children residing in the country, irrespective of their residence status (Estonia, Greece, Spain, France, Ireland, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Slovenia and the United Kingdom). This includes primary and secondary education and may also include vocational training.
In six Member States, access to education is available for children who reside in a reception centre or other shelter (Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Spain, Hungary and Romania). Without making this more explicit the national reports of Cyprus, Italy and Malta make clear that under their national law trafficked children have full access to education. In Finland all school-aged children who are suspected to be victims of trafficking have access to primary and secondary schooling during the investigation
persons that received shelter services from NGOs 63 persons have also received medical aid, 52 – psychological care; and of 358 persons that received services from NGOs (without shelter) 84 received medical aid, 105 – psychological care. The exact number of minors is not provided, but it is stated that 14.8% of all participants were underage girls. There is not information about the amount of underage boys. Report of the Ministry of Interior on the implementation of measures of the 2005-2008 Programme on Prevention and Control of Trafficking in Human Beings in 2007.
319 For the years 2000-2004 no Romanian statistics are available. In 2005 77 children received full
health care services, compared to 73 in 2006 and 216 in 2007. Of these 216 children in 2007, 186 children were victims of trafficking within Romanian borders (so-called internal trafficking). Letter of the National Authority for Protection of Children’s Rights no. 5483/13.06.2008, on file with the national Romanian Fralex expert.
320 The Slovakian report points out that even is these statistics would be existent, the authorities
process.321 Child victims who enter the assistance system are automatically entitled to
education.
In Lithuania unaccompanied minor aliens, minor asylum applicants and minors enjoying temporary protection in the Republic of Lithuania (thus supposedly all child victims of trafficking) are entitled to education. Luxembourg’s asylum law provides that minors receiving asylum status or subsidiary protection will have full access to the Luxembourg educational system, under the same conditions as Luxembourg citizens.322 Under
Swedish law asylum-seeking children are entitled to education, pre-school activities and school childcare on the same terms as children resident in Sweden.323 Children who
have had their asylum application rejected and who are avoiding enforcement of a refusal of entry or deportation order (‘children in hiding’), do not have a corresponding right. The municipalities may however on a voluntary basis receive those children at school and they have also been allocated extra funds from the Government in order to do so.
In Portugal, during the reflection period access to education is provided to a child victim of trafficking on the same footing as Portuguese national.
In Germany, the right to attend school for children who illegally reside in the country is not clearly regulated, and practices vary considerably as a result of the German federal system and the fact that the power to legislate on schooling and education falls within the competence of the Länder.324
As the national reports of Bulgaria and Hungary show, there may be a gap between law and practice in both countries on the basis of the law325 child victims of trafficking (at
least minor asylum seekers) are entitled to access to education. In practice however
321 Ministry of the Interior, written answer on questions, received on 19 June 2008 and telephone
interview on 9 June 2008.
322 Luxembourg/Loi du 5 mai relative au droit d’asile et à des formes complémentaires de
protection, Art. 49 (05.05.2006), as amended.
323 Sweden’s Fourth Periodic Report to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child 2002 2007
page 53.
324 The German report reads: ‘While some heads of schools take on such children in the same way
as children legally residing in the country, others turn down the applications, referring to the illegal stay in the country and the requirement to report those cases to the relevant authorities.’ R. Fodor/E. Peter (2005) Aufenthaltsrechtliche Illegalität und soziale Mindeststandards. Das Recht des statuslosen Kindes auf Bildung. Rechtsgutachten im Auftrag der der Max Traeger Stiftung, p. 1, http://www.gew.de/Binaries/Binary29225/RG_im_Auftrag_der_Max- Traeger-Stiftung,_Das_Recht_des_stat%C2%85.pdf (25.07.08).
325 Art. 23 of the Bulgarian Combating Trafficking in Human Beings Act education in state and
municipal schools under the conditions and order of Public Education Act should be ensured for children who are victims of trafficking. Furthermore, the Constitution of the Republic of Bulgaria and the Public Education Act recognise the right to education as a universal right, and stipulate that education is compulsory and free of charge for all children up to the age of 16. Bulgaria/КонституциянаРепубликаБългария (13.07.1991), Art. 53. Bulgaria/Законза народнатапросвета (18.10.1991), Art. 4.
Hungary/Act No 79 of 1993/12.07.1993 on public education, Article 110 says that nursery and school service are accessible with the same conditions for Hungarian and other children under asylum seeking procedure or for refugee children.
there are problems ensuring this right. This may be due to the fact that the child does not speak the language, or lacks basic literacy skills, or to the fact that the high school is located at a great distance from their shelter and there is no transportation provided for, or because difficulties in identifying the personal data or providing medical care for the child do not allow his/her enrolment in school.326 Research327 has shown that half of the
children seeking asylum in Hungary do not attend school.328
4.6.5.1.
Statistics on access to education
On the basis of the national report it may be concluded that in none of the Member States exact statistics on the number of children receiving education or training in the period 2000-2007, are available. The reports of Czech Republic, Greece, Spain, Italy, Cyprus, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Austria, Slovakia329, Romania, Finland
and Sweden, explicitly state that no such statistics are available, because these categories of data are not recorded. In Hungary, merely general statistics on foreign national children receiving education are available (but these are not included in the national report).
The reports of the remaining Member States do not provide any information on numbers of trafficked children receiving education/training in the period 2000-2007.