Fulfilling the right to inclusive education for refugee children. A human rights assessment of Greece

Abstract

This thesis examines how well Greece meets its human rights obligations to provide inclusive education for refugee and asylum-seeking children. The analysis is set within international, European, and national legal frameworks. The study uses standards from the CRC, ICESCR, CRPD, EU secondary law, and the Council of Europe to establish a baseline for evaluating state responsibilities to make education available, accessible, acceptable, and adaptable. Through a qualitative human rights approach, the thesis reviews Greece’s constitution, laws, and policies, and their implementation, with a focus on Greece’s position as a frontline EU country facing ongoing migration. The findings show that Greece has created a strong legal and policy framework that officially recognizes refugee children’s right to education and promises inclusive, non-discriminatory access. Still, implementing these policies is uneven and inconsistent, affected by structural challenges, changing political priorities, regional differences, and weak coordination among agencies. Ongoing problems, such as delays in enrolling children in school, insufficient language and mental health support, separate reception classes, and limited teacher training, make it hard to achieve real inclusion. The analysis finds that Greece partly meets its human rights obligations: there has been real progress, but the system does not yet provide fair, high-quality, and fully inclusive education for all refugee children. The thesis suggests that greater compliance will require ongoing investment in teacher training, stronger accountability systems, and a shift toward a human rights-based, inclusive educational approach that centers on the lived experiences of refugee students. By combining legal analysis with policy review, this study contributes to wider discussions of refugee education in Europe and provides a framework for others to assess how states perform in complex migration situations.