Human rights are not privileges and they can’t be invalidated as they are universal and imprescriptible.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), adopted in 1948, states in Article 26:
‘Everyone has the right to education’. Since then, the right to education has been reaffirmed in various international treaties including: UNESCO Convention against Discrimination in Education (1960)
In this respect, with a view to achieving the full realization of this right, including for refugees, and as main duty-bearers, States must provide free and compulsory primary education; make secondary education, in its different forms, including technical and vocational secondary education, generally available and accessible by every appropriate means, and in particular by the progressive introduction of free education; developing the school system at all levels, establish an adequate fellowship system, and continuously improve the material conditions for teaching staff; end discrimination at all levels of educational systems and guarantee educational freedom of choice. States are also bound by the principles of non-retrogression and by allocating the maximum level of available resources with a view to achieving progressively the full realization of the right to education for all.
Trinidad and Tobago signed onto the 1951 Geneva Convention in the year 2000, and the convention defines who a refugee is and sets out the rights of individuals who are granted asylum and the responsibilities of nations that grant asylum.
Currently within Trinidad and Tobago there are no accommodations for the children of migrants/refugees to have access to any level of education. In fact, we are allowing these children to grow up with no level of education which without they would never be able to adapt into society. Education is a value which must be cherished and it is with great disappointment and dismay that Trinidad and Tobago do not have facilities in place to integrate these children into the education system. These children will grow up with no access to jobs or a way of living without having the valuable access to education.
I recently conducted an anonymous online poll on Social Media where I proposed the following question: Should the children of migrants/refugees have the fundamental right to access the Trinidad and Tobago education system? Out of a pool of answers from over one hundred answers 92% were in favor of granting children of asylum seekers the right to access education. Any attempt to refuse to integrate children into the school system is a fragrant human rights violation.
I pen this article to bring attention to the Government of Trinidad and Tobago, the United Nation High Commission for Refugees and by extension the Ministry of Education. I am requesting that a special select committee consisting of the Ministry of Education, Office of the Prime Minister, UNHCR and human rights groups be formed with the goal of creating policies geared towards integrating these innocent children into schools and society by any means necessary. If any group or person is interested in providing feedback on this article and its content I could be reached by email: danielbertie@gmail.com
I finally end with these simple but powerful words: NO CHILD SHOULD BE LEFT BEHIND!
Daniel Bertie
Port of Spain
Trinidad & Tobago
