The right to education at risk? : a study on the right to access to education for undocumented children in Sweden and Greece

Abstract

During the last decades European countries receive high numbers of irregular migrants and asylum seekers. Among them, children are in the most vulnerable situation. States are mostly concerned in policy planning to regulate this phenomenon, while the rights of these groups are often ignored. Particularly, when it comes to the right to access to education for irregular migrant children and asylum seeking children1 the situation becomes complicated. The international legal framework guarantees the fundamental right to education. Nevertheless, it is interesting to study whether European states comply with it. For this reason, Greece and Sweden have been chosen. Their study reveals inadequate protection of the right to education in different areas for each country. Greece shows a deficit in practice, whereas Sweden lacks a legislative framework. Besides that, in this study, the right to access to education includes the right to receive education in consistence with the particular needs of undocumented children. Intercultural Education has the potential to meet their needs and provide equality of opportunities for every child. However, is Intercultural Education feasible in reality? Greece and Sweden are used to examine that. At last, the drawn conclusions serve to engage in an exchange of positive practices between the two countries and provide recommendations