Description of the funding programme

• Author: Applica, Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion (European Commission), Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER)
• Pages: 47-50

Case study – Integrating refugee and migrant children into the education system in Greece

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1 Description of the funding programme

This case study is part of efforts to explore the feasibility of, and analyse the conditions

for, implementing a Child Guarantee for vulnerable children. It focuses on a specific

vulnerable group, namely children of recent ref ugees and migrants transiting or settled in

Greece, and an EU-funded special programme aimed at their integration into the education

system in Greece. It constitutes an innovative i ntervention for which the role of EU fu nds

has been invaluable. Before presenting and analysing the programme, as well as assessing

the use of EU funds, it is necessary to outline the context in which the programme has

been designed and implemented.

The context

In the course of 2015, nearly 1 million people55, mostly from Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan

and Iraq, entered or transited through Greece in order to escape conflict in their countries

and make their way to Europe. In the vast majority of cases, they did not want t o stay in

Greece but wished to continue their journey to northern European countries, mainly

Germany. For this reason, only a small number had made a sylum applications in Greece

by the beginning of 2016.

However, the full closure o f the refugee transi t route through the Balkans, along with the

EU-Turkey Agreement i n March 2016, changed both the wa y refugees behaved and the

way they were dealt with by the Greek government56. The only option for them was then

to apply for asylum in Greece, in order either to stay in the country or apply for relocation

to other EU countries. The lack of alternatives has led to an increase in the number of

asylum applications57 as well as to a significant drop in arrivals since March 201658.

Migration flows into Greece continued, but at a much slower pace.

A large number of refugees and migrants are currently hosted in the country. Available

data show that in April 2 019 just over 77,00059 refugees and migrants remain in the

country, among them approximately 28,500 childre n60 aged 0-18 (of whom 3,817 are

unaccompanied or separated children)61. This implies an imperative need for the Greek

government not only to ensure d ecent living conditions for all those recently arrived but

also to take specific action for gradual integrating into Greek society those who remain. To

this end, one of the fi rst government ini tiatives was the l aunching, in October 2016, of a

special education programme targeted at refugee and migrant children.

Design and implementation of t he ‘p rogramme fo r integrating refugee children

into the educational system’

At the beginning of 2016, the Greek government began to take action to ensure acc ess to

education for refugee and migrant children. In particular, the Ministry of Education,

55 In 2015, 861,630 people arrived; and in 2016 173,450, of whom around 64,200 (or 37%) were children. See

https://data2.unhcr.org/en/situations/mediterranean/location/5179 and

https://data2.unhcr.org/en/documents/download/53447.

56 According to the EU-Turkey Agreement, those entering Greece after 20 March 2016 who do not apply for

asylum or whose applications are considered unfounded or inadmissible (in accordance with the Asylum

Procedures Directive), will be sent back to Turkey. However, during the period March 2016-May 2019, only 1,867

people were returned to Turkey under the Agreement. See https://data2.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/69842.

57 According to the Asylum Service, in 2015 there were only 13,187 asylum applications, whereas in 2016 there

were 51,053, in 2017 58,642 and in 2018 66,967. In the first four months of 2019 there were 21,155. See

http://asylo.gov.gr/en/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Greek_Asylum_Stats_Apr2019_EN.pdf.

58 The drop in arrivals continued in both 2016 and 2017, whereas in 2018 an increase was observed (50,508

arrivals against 36,310 arrivals in 2017), which nevertheless was followed by a fall in the first four months of

2019 (11,150 in January-April against 14,750 in the same period in 2018). See

https://data2.unhcr.org/en/situations/mediterranean/location/5179.

59 It should be pointed out that data concerning refugees in Greece are changing almost on an everyday basis.

60 See https://www.unicef.org/eca/sites/unicef.org.eca/files/2019-

05/Refugee%20and%20migrant%20children%20Greece%20data%2030%20Apr%202019.pdf.

61 See https://www.unicef.org/eca/sites/unicef.org.eca/files/2019-

05/Unaccompanied%20children%20Greece%2030%20April%202019.pdf.