A Qualitative Exploration of Experiences of Asylum Seekers and People with Refugee Backgrounds in Accessing the Education System in Romania

Abstract

Refugees and asylum seekers often confront particular challenges when accessing essential services in host countries. The difficulties these vulnerable groups face in meeting educational needs are documented in numerous studies. Although Romania experienced mainly transit migration, it is recently becoming a destination for refugees and irregular migrants. Most people entering the country are young or minors, and access to education is crucial for their economic future and a successful integration process. The present paper primarily explores the challenges and difficulties asylum seekers and people with refugee backgrounds experience in accessing educational services in Romania. It is framed within an interpretive paradigm using qualitative interviews with asylum seekers, people with refugee backgrounds, and NGO representatives to collect data. This exploratory research is designed on thematic analysis: four themes and eight subthemes were identified, capturing participants’ perceptions about the Romanian education system and their barriers to accessing education programs. The findings suggest that access to education for refugees and asylum seekers was restricted primarily by language-related or bureaucratic and legal obstacles. Therefore, efforts should be made to raise awareness among the general population and specialised educational institutions. Additionally, creating more opportunities for interactions between people of different backgrounds can alleviate the persisting inequalities experienced by this vulnerable population.

1. Introduction

Migration is a widespread phenomenon which is impossible to fully quantify. However, its amplitude is evident, given that the International Organization for Migration (IOM) serves the needs of over 281 million migrants worldwide, of which 10–12% were undocumented or in an irregular situation [1]. In a global context, irregular migration refers to “movements of persons that occur outside the laws, regulations, or international agreements governing the entry into or exit from the State of origin, transit or destination”. In an EU (European Union) context, irregular migrants represent “third-country nationals found to be illegally present on the territory of an EU Member State”. The term ‘irregular’ is preferable to ‘illegal’ migrants because the latter carries a criminal connotation [2]. Irregular migrants have also been defined as those who need to use irregular methods to enter, travel, or stay in a country of safety to avoid persecution in their country of origin [3]. There are different categories of irregular migrants, but refugees and asylum seekers who are minors or unaccompanied minors require enhanced standards of protection. Despite statistical data problems related to irregular migration, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNCHR), the number of refugees continues to grow, rising to 27 million in 2021.

Several international regulations and conventions have addressed the definition and conditions of refugees and the basic rights to which they are entitled.

According to the 1967 Protocol of the 1951 Refugee Convention [4], a refugee is a person who “owing to a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinions, is outside the country of his nationality”. The 1984 Cartagena Declaration reiterates the reasons people leave their country, including the fact that their lives, security, or freedom were in danger due to widespread violence, foreign aggression, internal conflicts, massive human rights violations, or other situations that seriously disrupt public order. In 2016, the UN General Assembly’s Summit on refugees and migrants noted that migration could benefit both migrants and the countries involved. For example, in societies marked by demographic ageing, the immigration of young workers could lessen the load on pension systems and the cost of caring for the elderly [5].

Multiple events, such as the Syrian conflict, the continuous violence in Afghanistan and Eritrea, to name just a few, and poverty in much of eastern and southern Europe, have been pushing people to leave their countries [6]. In addition, the economic and social turmoil caused by the COVID-19 pandemic strongly affected the less developed regions of the world, thus increasing the desire to migrate towards Europe. Furthermore, there are signs that, due to insufficient economic recovery (an estimated meagre 5.1% GDP growth for low-income countries), arrivals from North African countries, Somalia, Pakistan, and Bangladesh will rise [7]. This increase in the number of people trying to reach European countries is happening even though EU Member States have implemented new policies restricting access to their territory, with proposals such as the “Council Decision on provisional emergency measures for the benefit of Latvia, Lithuania and Poland” [8] and the “Proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council addressing situations of instrumentalisation in the field of migration and asylum” [9]. There is a concern that such proposals may lead to reduced access to asylum, accelerated border procedures that might limit migrants’ rights, increased detention periods, lack of decent reception conditions, ethnic profiling, and increased border surveillance [10].

Nonetheless, the EU Agency for Asylum stepped up its operations in January 2022. In June 2022, Member States agreed on negotiating mandates for the Screening and Eurodac regulations for more effective procedures to mitigate irregular migration, improve returns, and better support the asylum system. They also started the voluntary solidarity mechanism. This mechanism states that countries with available reception capacity will receive people. Along the Western Balkans, there were over 86,000 irregular border crossings in the first part of 2022, nearly three times more than in 2021 and more than ten times that in 2019. In response to the violence in Ukraine and the unprecedented number of people fleeing for safety, the EU activated the Temporary Protection Directive, set up a Solidarity Platform, and implemented a coordinated response [11]. On 4 March 2022, the EU introduced a temporary protection scheme to alleviate pressure on national asylum systems [12]. These include the temporary protection mechanism itself, 523 million Euro in humanitarian aid, civil protection support to Ukraine, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Moldova, and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), financial and technical support for member states hosting refugees, and border management support for EU countries and Moldova. While data is continuously being revised, it seems that 4.7 million Ukrainian citizens registered for temporary protection or similar schemes in the EU [13].

Once they arrive in a host country, a vital step is ensuring asylum seekers’ access to education, which is recognised as a human right by numerous internationally agreed-upon entities and treaties. Some of these include the 1976 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights [14], the 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child [15], and the Education for All summits from 1990 [16] and 2000 [17]. Moreover, one of the global goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (2015) [18] is reaching an inclusive and equitable quality education. Because of its importance, access to education and, more importantly, obstacles to accessing education have been studied in many countries that are traditional receivers of large numbers of migrants and refugees, such as Australia [19], Austria [20], New Zealand [21], the USA [22] and the UK [23].

Adequate education is fundamental to achieving economic success and overcoming disadvantages [24]. It makes it possible to build social networks and fosters a sense of coherence, agency, and hope [25]. It is considered, next to housing and employment, third in order of importance for facilitating integration [26]. Girls’ education was cited as particularly important as it can improve family health and well-being by decreasing poverty and infant mortality rates [27]. This is further necessary for asylum seekers and people with refugee backgrounds, as equity in education enhances social cohesion and trust [28], strengthens civil society [29], and promotes empowerment, inclusion [30,31,32], and a sense of belonging [33], which is a step toward integration into a new society. Matthews (2008) [34] finds that schools are safe spaces, a stabilising feature in an otherwise tumultuous existence of asylum seekers and people with refugee backgrounds. On the other side of the spectrum, Cheung (1995) [32], Pham and Harris (2001) [35], and Phillimore and Goodson (2008) [26] showed that lower levels of education result in increased separation and marginalisation. Limiting the contact between asylum seekers (and people with refugee backgrounds) and native-born citizens, which a formal education facilitates, is, in fact, a cause of “ghettoisation” [26], where minorities (either ethnical, national, or linguistic) are not introduced to the wider society [36], thus increasing their difficulties in integrating into the community they now live in.

Due to disruptions in their schooling, refugee children have to simultaneously learn a new language and adjust to a foreign cultural and social environment [37]. Therefore, national governments have been tackling, some more successfully than others, policies aimed at accelerating their inclusion into the national educational system. The desired effect is usually their introduction into a new society sooner rather than later and, ultimately, employment [38], as education is an engine for achieving high living standards in the host country [39]. Moreover, asylum seekers and people with refugee backgrounds are not the only ones benefiting from access to the national education system; Craig (2015) [40] observed that diverse ethnic mixes in classrooms promote tolerance and trust.

While education can take various forms, the emphasis is on access to formal education, offering qualifications that would enable employment, as opposed to informal education [41]. The 2012 UNHCR [42] policy emphasised the “integration of refugee learners within national systems”. Yet, the implementation of these rights differs in each host country. “Treatment as favourable as possible”, as stated in Article 22 of the Refugee Convention, varies among host countries. The right to education depends on the laws, policies, and practices in place in each national context [43]. Article 14 of the Directive 2013/33/EU of the European Parliament and Council [44] recognises that access to the education system shall not be postponed for more than 3 months from the submission of the application for international protection. It also provides that children of asylum seekers and unaccompanied minors should be granted access to the education system “under similar conditions as nationals of the host Member State”. In practice, however, this does not always happen. For example, Save the Children (2016) [45] observed that, in Greece, refugee children remain out of school for 1.5 years on average after arrival. Sometimes, their credentials (e.g., diplomas or certificates) are seen as inferior to those of the host country [39]. Even countries with a tradition of receiving migrants and refugees, such as Italy in Europe, have experienced barriers such as administrative procedures and legal restrictions to migrants’ inclusion into the education system. Young refugees and their families are often insufficiently informed about the internal rules and regulations [24].

Cases were observed [40] where teachers had not received appropriate training for working in a multicultural environment. Barriers such as a lack of contextual and background knowledge [46] and a lack of trust [21] are cited as well. This is a crucial issue, as Hannah (2008) [30] explained that the sensitivity of teachers and the support of specialist psychological services would play an essential role in introducing children into a new system. However, the lack of targeted support, i.e., professionals attached explicitly to the introductory classes, is a ubiquitous issue [25]. Teachers may be unfamiliar with their students’ historical and political circumstances while also being unaware of ethnic and cultural differences between various groups of migrants and the host culture [47]. Koehler and Schneider (2019) [24] observed a lack of well-trained personnel to deal with the specific needs of this target group. A rigid and over-full curriculum offers limited flexibility to teachers that have to meet the particular needs of refugee children, subjecting the teaching staff to extra work, which, most of the time, is not recognised financially [48], which can lead to teacher burnout [34]. Last, but not least, access to quality education for asylum seekers and refugees directly depends on the quality of the national education systems in which they find themselves [33].

Higher education is regarded as a hope for a better future and empowerment, as well as an employment tool. However, the reality is that only 1% of post-secondary-aged refugees can attend university [49].

One prerequisite competency that facilitates access to an education system is fluency in the host country’s language [50]. Studies in Australia highlighted literacy as a severe barrier to accessing education [46]. The idea was also mentioned by Meer et al. (2019) [51], while UNESCO (2018) [52] signalled a lack of fluency in the language of the host school as the most challenging hindrance for migrants and refugees. A Danish study [25] also identified poor language skills as a significant obstacle, alongside socio-economic deprivation, safety, stability, and an insufficient feeling of inclusion. The same study found that teachers decried the shortage of mother-tongue teachers or staff for pupils transitioning to mainstream schools. De Paola and Brunello (2016) [6] explain that early interactions with the host population (which a school-related environment enables) are integral for the acquisition of the cultural habits of the host country and are also valuable for language development. Language skills also build additional competencies in other domains; for example, children with poor proficiency in the host-country language face difficulties studying math or science.

When discussing access to the education system of the host country, Bonin (2017) [29] emphasises that it can be eased through counselling and financial aid for low-income students, but also signals the need for tailor-made local solutions, as each European country faces distinct groups of refugees and, most importantly, organises their education system differently. However, fair and inclusive education for refugees, migrants, and minorities is more complicated to achieve and, admittedly, more expensive [24], as their personal and social circumstances often hinder their educational potential. Unlike other migrant groups, asylum seekers and people with refugee backgrounds are not allowed to return to their country of origin and are unlikely to be able to rely on family to fund their education [19,53]. Their education may ask for more extensive efforts than non-migrants [24] because, for example, they do not have the necessary economic means for higher education [39]. Sirin and Rogers-Sirin (2015) [53] also name the additional costs of books or transportation to be prohibitive. Moreover, the higher the education level to be attended, the more extra costs the pupil/student must cover. One must remember that even if the process itself may be laborious and more expensive, better-educated people (refugees or not) tend to rely less on unemployment and other forms of social assistance [29].

It is important to note that more positive educational experiences were measured when children felt connected to their birth-country culture during the integration process [53]. Harris, Spark and Watts (2014) [54] analyse the unfamiliar situation in which refugees find themselves accessing another educational system as conflicting cross-cultural challenges. Meer et al. (2019) [51] also emphasised the cultural differences around gender roles, which seldom inhibit women rather than men from attending classes. We must also keep in mind that the more different the original culture is from the hosting culture, the more complex the integration process will be, as Canadians trying to integrate into the United States will be different from a Somali trying to settle in Finland [30]. Sustainable education for refugees and asylum seekers represents a significant challenge for all actors involved in the education process. A particular situation arises when structural barriers to access to education and learning gaps for children migrating across countries are intertwined with the financial and institutional settings of the host country. In 2018, the United Nations (UN) adopted the Global Compact on Refugees, which states that intersectoral cooperation between educational institutions and social communities is necessary to implement equitable and quality education. The Global Compact on Refugees is a framework consistent with target 10.7 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which provides insights into more predictable and equitable responsibility sharing meant to ease the pressure of refugees on host countries, enhance self-reliance in refugees, expand access to resettlement in third-countries, and offer solutions and support conditions in countries of origin for refugees’ return in safety and dignity. Thus, national authorities and stakeholders need to ensure and enhance inclusiveness; expand educational facilities, including technical and vocational training; and apply innovative methods in learning programmes for refugees and asylum seekers [55] (p. 26). However, the education process is more sophisticated when it comes to different contextual factors working together to support pragmatic classroom practices and strategies. Inclusive practices are considered flexible and linked to social interaction. The essential conditions for inclusive education are, inter alia: the development of positive attitudes, supportive policy and leadership, schools and classrooms grounded in research-based practice, flexible curriculums and pedagogies, community involvement, meaningful reflection, and necessary training and resources [56] (p. 24).

2. A Focus on Romania and Its Education System Structure and Legislation

Romania has traditionally been a country of emigration, with more significant departure numbers than arrivals, and with most foreigners concentrated in its major cities. According to official figures, there have been no substantial changes in this process, and until 2011, Romania had received relatively few asylum requests. Most asylum seekers leave the country in a matter of days, either during the asylum procedure or shortly after receiving international protection, heading to Western European countries, especially Germany.

However, after 2011, Romania has experienced a status change from a country of origin to a transit or even a destination country. Transit migration is defined as the "temporary stay of migrants in one or more countries, with the objective of reaching a further and final destination" [57]. This phenomenon is associated with the increased barriers to international migration, the lack of regular migration channels for work and education, or difficulties in accessing the asylum system. The efforts of the Romanian authorities to closely monitor and secure the borders and the restrictive legislation on illegal migration have led to a decrease in transit migration. At the same time, the constant economic growth and labour market shortages in various sectors will turn Romania into a destination for migrants. The country’s change of status into a transit, or even a destination, also brings new challenges for authorities, as actions are needed to ensure migrants’ access to essential services such as education and healthcare, as well as measures to prevent discrimination.

Still, between 2013 and 2020, there was continuous growth in third-country nationals, primarily because of the rise in migrant workers. At the end of 2019, 15,794 young people (under 19) came from countries with the right to stay in Romania, out of which 10,000 came here to seek a safer life or avoid life-threatening situations at home [58]. From October 2020, the number of arrivals increased, 90% of which were irregular entries. That year, 6158 persons, mainly from Afghanistan, Syria, Pakistan, Iraq, Bangladesh, and the Maghreb, filed asylum applications. Children represented one-quarter of the total asylum seekers, and around 60% were unaccompanied minors, accounting for 980 applications. Asylum seekers are hosted in one of the six regional centres for accommodation and asylum procedures, managed by the General Inspectorate for Immigration (GII). The number of new applications remained high in 2021, with most arrivals registered at the western border [59]. However, the current geopolitical situation generated an unprecedented flow of refugees from Ukraine. The current estimates rise to 86,000 people received from the neighbouring country, the majority being women and children [60].

This revealed a series of shortcomings, among which education stands out. Consequently, Romania tried to create a legal framework to provide suitable conditions for integration, following European directives.

The Romanian education system is administered at the national level by the Ministry of Education and other institutional structures subordinated to the Romanian Government and, at the local level, by county school inspectorates. The national education system includes early education (0–6 years) provided in kindergartens or schools (state or private), following a common curriculum and the same national standards; primary education (ISCED 1), which includes a preparatory grade and grades 1–4; secondary education which includes: lower secondary or Gymnasium (ISCED 2) with grades 5–8 for children ages 10 to 14 and upper secondary or high school education (ISCED3), with grades 10–12/13 for students ages 14 to 18 years. The latter offers the following programmes: theoretical, vocational, and technological. Access to the higher education level is achieved following a national evaluation and distribution in upper secondary education units. The tertiary non-university education includes post-secondary education ISCED 4 (technical and professional), while the structure of tertiary education reflects the principles of the Bologna process, launched in 1998 (three-cycle degree structure: bachelor, master, and doctorate, and the European Credits Transfer and Accumulation System—ECTS), and is offered in higher education institutions and universities (ISCED 5–8).

Compulsory education comprises 10 grades and includes primary and lower secondary education, and ends at the age of 18 [61].

The National Education Law no. 1/2011 [61] guarantees foreigners’ access to education at the university and pre-university level on equal terms with Romanian citizens. Law 357/2003 [62] generally regulates foreigners’ access to education in Romania. Article 132 states that foreign minors living in Romania have access to compulsory school education under the same conditions as Romanian citizen minors as long as no action is taken to remove them or their parents from Romania. Their education is provided in regular schools, generally those within the territorial jurisdiction of the respective GII regional centre. Ordinance no. 44/2004 [63] on the Social Integration of Foreigners who were granted a form of protection in Romania specifies that foreigners who obtain some form of protection in Romania have access to all forms of education, and that it should be made under the conditions set by law for Romanian citizens. Law no. 122/2006 [64], amended many times, also states that asylum seekers and refugees have the right to enrol in the national education system. Thus, the recognition of the refugee statute or the provision of protection grants the beneficiary the right to access all forms of education, freely and unconditionally.

By law, the Ministry of Education generally establishes the limits and conditions for the recognition and equivalence of studies completed in the country of origin for the enrolment of foreign pupils in the Romanian education system. To be eligible for enrolment in the national education system, minor asylum seekers must follow a free course for learning the Romanian language, organised by the Ministry of Education, that lasts one school year. This should be completed within three months from the submission of the asylum application. A committee evaluates their level of knowledge of the Romanian language and establishes their entry in the appropriate year of study.

Additionally, enrolment is permitted at any time during the year, and, if necessary, participation in the course may continue into the following academic year. Children are auditors for the first school year; they do not receive grades or have their names recorded and registered in the class book. The General Inspectorate for Immigration—Asylum and Integration Directorate (GII-AID) works with the General Directorate for Social Assistance and Child Protection (GDSACP) and representatives of non-governmental organizations on behalf of unaccompanied minors who are recipients of international protection. They create the children’s integration plan and carry out the suggested activities [65].

Law No. 178/2019 [66] clarifies and simultaneously adds some degree of flexibility relating to the (free) language and culture courses offered to beneficiaries of international protection, and better affirms children’s right to education. The number of free hours increased by 50%. Moreover, through these changes, the courses will be organised in such a way as to match the student’s profile (gender, level of education, prior language knowledge, etc.), and enrolment can take place at any time during the school year [67].

In Romania, the recognition and equivalence of pre-university and university studies obtained abroad are carried out per the regulations of the National Center for the Recognition and Equivalence of Diplomas (CNRED). The Ministry of Education’s Order no. 4022/2008 [68] establishes the methodology of recognition and the equivalence of diplomas, certificates, and scientific titles, providing assistance and information on national legislation. Refugees and asylum beneficiaries who benefit from any form of protection in Romania shall apply for studies during the admission periods and provide a certificate/attestation for the recognition and equivalence of studies graduated abroad. This certificate/attestation is obtained from CNRED. Those unable to provide study documents have to apply to CNRED to obtain a recommendation regarding the level of their studies. Furthermore, to enrol in grades 1–12/13 per Ministerial Order no. 5638/2020 [69], applications for the recognition of studies carried out abroad are submitted to the county school inspectorates.

Romania has no clear distinction between academic recognition and professional or qualification recognition. Nevertheless, in recent years, progress has been recorded in this regard. The professional or qualification recognition procedure is de facto when supplementary normative acts do not regulate access to the profession. In other words, after the recognition of the study papers, the applicant, as a citizen of a Member State, can have direct access to a lucrative activity [70].

Order No 3.325/2022 [71] stipulates that in the academic years 2021–2022 and 2022–2023, citizens of Ukraine may receive funding from the state budget or other sources through the Ministry of Education and higher education institutions. Other refugees who are not citizens of Ukraine will not receive funding from the state budget, but they will still be able to attend university courses in Romania. Enrolment can only be performed at the young person’s request and with the university’s agreement.

There are no official data regarding the school enrolment or access of asylum seekers and people with refugee backgrounds to the education system. However, according to the Terre des Hommes Foundation [72], some 12,000 migrant children face a lack of education, knowledge of the Romanian language, missed academic years due to fleeing and the conditions in countries of origin or transit, and difficulties in adjusting to the new social, cultural, and educational context.

This paper uses thematic analysis to derive four themes and eight subthemes of perceptions attributed to the Romanian educational program and barriers to accessing it. In addition, participants enumerated the knowledge they lacked that would help them adapt to the Romanian culture faster or better, and how or if they managed to obtain it.

We conducted eight in-depth interviews with representatives of seven NGOs and 129 semi-structured interviews with asylum seekers and people with refugee backgrounds, coming from Eastern Africa, Southwest Asia, and Ukraine, regarding their experiences and the difficulties they faced navigating our national education system.

3. Methods and Data Analysis

A qualitative design was adopted for this study. Semi-structured and in-depth interviews were conducted to facilitate a broader exploration of the experiences of asylum seekers and people with refugee backgrounds during their accommodation in Romania. Participants were recruited using the purposeful sampling method. This sampling method does not primarily aim at their representativeness but at their knowledge and experience regarding the topic. This technique is often used in qualitative research to select information-rich cases [73]. The authors considered data saturation achieved when interviews stopped offering new information. This research was centred on the capital and a few other significant Romanian cities because recent arrivals usually target large cities, especially capitals, due to their offering more substantial education programs [74]. A qualitative exploratory approach is appropriate for situations where no comprehensive data currently exists. The interview technique allowed for a better understanding of participants’ perceptions of the topics analysed.

The interviews were conducted following appropriate ethical protocols. Ethical approval for the study was issued by the University of Bucharest Ethics Committee no 42/19 May 2022, following its Ethics and Deontology Code. Full names and home addresses were not requested. Interviews were conducted face-to-face in Romanian, Ukrainian, or English between May and July 2022. Sometimes, a translator facilitated communication. An operator using a tablet in Google Forms noted the responses, and a database was created. All participants agreed to an audio recording of the interviews, and the average duration for each conversation was 30 min. Audio-recorded discussions were transcribed verbatim and translated into English. The corpus data was analysed using reflexive thematic analysis [75].

A systematic process was followed to reduce the corpus data in order to obtain a reasonable number of units of research that could be studied more accurately. The transcripts were re-read inductively and deductively to derive codes that encapsulate the core concepts and key ideas expressed by the interviewees. A coding framework was manually created. The codes explicitly relied on concepts identified in the research questions: participants’ perceptions of accessing the educational program system and the challenges and barriers they face in the process. Codes and associated sections of texts were then grouped to construct themes. The essence of each theme consisted of its capacity to capture something important in the entire data set and reflect patterns of shared meaning [75]. In this case, experiences and barriers in accessing the education system represent core concepts to understanding the social world of asylum seekers and people with refugee backgrounds during their stay in Romania. The thematic analysis involves a reflexive approach, a time-consuming and iterative process. We analysed, organised, and structured corpus data following different stages: familiarisation with the data, generating initial codes, generating themes, reviewing potential themes, defining and naming the themes, analysis, and interpretation. Four themes were outlined to develop data analysis, focusing on themes set out in this research: perception about community support (including pedagogical programs and supporting learning materials), bureaucratic and legislative issues, financial issues, and linguistic barriers. Part of the textual and thematic analysis was performed using the open-source web-based application Voyant Tools v.2.4 [76].

3.1. Participants in the Study

3.1.1. Asylum Seekers and People with Refugee Backgrounds

The field operators conducted 129 semi-structured interviews with asylum seekers and people with refugee backgrounds. Most respondents were young adults, with the dominant age group being 30–45 years, with 40.6%, followed by 18–29 with 35.2%. More than a third of respondents were, at the time, under subsidiary protection (37.2%) or refugees (33.3%), with a smaller amount being asylum seekers (9.3%).

Table 1. Participants’ demographic characteristics.

Characteristics	Number	Percentage (100%)
Total (overall)	129	100%
Male	62	48.1%
Female	67	51.9%
Age group (years)
18–29	42	32.6%
30–45	55	42.6%
46–59	19	14.7%
60+	13	10.1%
Education level
No schooling completed	11	8.5%
Primary education	11	8.5%
Secondary education	39	30.2%
Employment status
Unemployed but having a work permit	16	12.4%
Unemployed and without a work permit	20	15.5%
Employed	66	51.2%
Legal status
Asylum seeker	12	9.3%
Refugee	43	33.3%
Subsidiary protection	48	37.2%
Permanent resident	21	16.3%
Naturalised citizen	7	5.4%

presents an overview of their demographic characteristics.

There is a direct correlation between respondents’ legal status and the cause for leaving their country of origin. Half of the participants in this study have been in Romania for no more than 1 year; over a quarter of them have been here for 1 to 5 years; 10.1% for 5 up to 10 years, and 13.2% have lived in the country for longer than 10 years (Table 1).

Those who are permanent residents (16.3%) can prove a continuous and legal stay of a minimum of 5 years in Romania. Naturalised citizens have been permanently residing in the country for more than 8 years and should speak Romanian fluently. More than half of the respondents left their country of origin because of armed conflicts, and 1.2% because of persecution. In terms of educational attainment, more than half of the respondents completed a form of higher education. From an economic point of view, just over half were employed, 15.5% were unemployed and did not have a work permit, and 12.4% were unemployed but had a work permit. Unsurprisingly, in 2022, most respondents were from Ukraine (54.3%), followed by Syria and Iraq (in equal shares of 6.2%), and other countries from Africa, the Middle East, or Southeast Asia.

3.1.2. Representatives of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs)

We have centred our discussions on representatives of different NGOs as their work often supersedes governmental entities in challenging anti-immigrant sentiments and protecting migrants [77]. The in-depth interviews were conducted with representatives of NGOs; some had a long history of experience in working with refugees, while others had only a few months of experience. We also discussed these issues with representatives of a specialised UN agency. These organisations were: IOM (International Organization for Migration) in Bucharest, AIDRom (Ecumenical Association of Churches in Romania) in Bucharest and Timișoara, the Aluziva Association in Bucharest, the Terre des Hommes Foundation in Bucharest, the Islamic Cultural Center Crescent Foundation in Bucharest, and JRS (Jesuit Refugee Service) Regional Center for Procedures and Accommodation for Asylum Seekers in Galați (

Table 2. List of NGO representatives.

Code	Involved in Working with Refugees
A1	Head of the JRS Galați Regional Center for Procedures and Accommodation for Asylum Seekers
A1	Head of the Semiluna Islamic Cultural Center Foundation
A1	Head of the Aluziva Association
NGO staff
B1	Legal advisor at the International Organization for Migration, Bucharest
B1	Project coordinator at the Ecumenical Association of Churches in Romania, Bucharest
B1	Branch manager at the Ecumenical Association of Churches in Romania, Timișoara
B1	Project member at the Ecumenical Association of Churches in Romania, Timișoara
B1	Social assistant at Terres des Hommes Foundation

).

3.2. Data Collection

The field operators who conducted the interviews were trained in this regard. This process also included a guidelines review, sampling techniques, and logistical decision-making details. They had prior experience in managing open-ended interviews. We focused our attention on identifying participants for this study in places such as mosques, as places of prayer for the Muslim community. We took this step because statistics showed that most of the asylum seekers and people of refugee backgrounds have been arriving in Romania from Muslim-majority countries. Other places where interviews were conducted included established accommodation centres and NGO representatives’ offices after obtaining appointments. In addition to conducting interviews in Bucharest, operators travelled to Siret, Dumbrăveni, and Rădăuți in Suceava County, one of the most significant Romania–Ukraine border crossing locations. Galați and Timișoara were selected for the same reason, as they are also bordering counties. We conducted interviews with individual asylum seekers and people with refugee backgrounds, as well as talks with representatives of AIDRom Timișoara and JRS (Jesuit Refugee Service) Galați Regional Center for Procedures and Accommodation for Asylum Seekers.

4. Results

Education remains a primordial implement for refugees and asylum seekers to forge social support in host communities. Our results highlight that, in general, the Romanian education system is perceived positively by most participants in this study. A quantitative approach to perceived barriers in the available corpus of data revealed that respondents (over 50%) adapted relatively easily to the new education system. However, difficulties still exist, and 23.26% claimed a lack of community support, 30.23% mentioned legal and structural barriers, and 31.78% mentioned financial barriers. Most of these (48.06%) mentioned language skills and communication as the main difficulty in accessing the Romanian education system. Thus, 33.3% usually encountered language barriers, and 25% always did.

Table 3. Perceived barriers to accessing the education system.

	No		Yes
		Sometimes	Usually	Always
Community support	76.74	71.43	10.71	17.86
Bureaucratic and legislative	69.77	66.67	15.38	17.95
Financial	68.22	60.61	24.24	15.15
Linguistic	51.94	41.67	33.33	25.00

presents a general overview of the education-attainment barriers.

4.1. Barriers Asylum Seekers and People with Refugee Backgrounds Experienced in Accessing Education in Romania

Four themes were outlined to develop data analysis in this research: perception about community support, bureaucratic and legislative issues, financial restrictions, and linguistic barriers. Each theme relates to a series of subthemes that give a clearer understanding of the perceptions of asylum seekers and people with refugee backgrounds in educational attainment (

Table 4. Thematic analysis of categories and subcategories.

Themes	Subthemes
Community support	Lack of support from teachers
	Few learning materials, courses and guides
Bureaucratic and legislative issues	Obstacles in recognising diplomas, certificates and credentials
	Delays in the inclusions into the educational system
Financial barriers	Taxes for enrolment in tertiary education
	Educational programs for people with special needs
Linguistic barriers	Difficulties in writing and speaking in Romanian and English
	Challenges in adapting to the local culture

).

4.1.1. Community Support

Cohesive societies based on positive relationships and cooperation are increasingly important for a community’s social life. Social cohesion has a multifaced nature and is defined as “relationships between individuals and groups in a particular environment (horizontal social cohesion), and between those individuals and groups and the institutions that govern them in a particular environment (vertical social cohesion)” [78] (p. 9). In addition, studies stress the relevance of cooperation between organisations and inhabitants in supporting and providing informal help to refugees [79,80].

“Arriving in Romania without anything organised in advance, with a deeply affected emotional state, without documents and with little money was really a challenge”

[Male, 18–29 years old, Ukraine]

“…they are not used to classes where boys and girls are together. Afghanistan also has different time slots: boys in the morning, girls in the afternoon, or the other way around”

[B1]

For more than half of the respondents in this study, accessing the education system in Romania was ‘easy’ or ‘very easy’. They mentioned they had no difficulty accessing it, knew the laws, received a lot of community support, and quickly adapted to the new system.

“Before I started faculty, I learned Romanian for a year through the free courses offered by the Ministry of Education for foreigners, and the staff there was always accommodating”

[Woman, 18–29 years old, Jordan]

Schools undeniably create support, community, and a sense of belonging, and are often considered a ‘second home’. Substantial importance was given to supporting learning materials and free courses, which were highly appreciated and helpful. Participants in this study described schools and teachers as powerful community support actors.

“I did my bachelor’s and master’s studies in Romania, and I didn’t have any problems. I was treated very well by the community. When I didn’t understand something, the teachers and colleagues explained it to me in English”

[Woman, 18–29 years old, Jordan]

“I studied IT. All subjects are taught more clearly here compared to my home country. While at home, we would mostly have to learn everything by heart. Professors here are more willing to explain things logically to us”

[Male, 30–45 years old, Egypt]

Nonetheless, the NGO representatives that work with refugees repeatedly highlighted that the courses offered for learning the Romanian language should be taught by specially trained teachers who can teach it as a foreign language.

“The Ministry of Education does not provide a teacher that is able to teach Romanian as a foreign language. This is the most crucial problem. Romanian must be taught as a foreign language for them. Appointed teachers teach Romanian but do not know other languages [i.e., Arabic, Ukrainian]”

[B1]

4.1.2. Bureaucratic and Legislative Issues

A significant percentage of respondents—30.23%—think that the legislative and structural aspect is a barrier to accessing the education system in Romania. However, it is worth mentioning that serious efforts have been made to improve access to education in the case of the Ukrainian population, and this was observable during the interviews.

“It was not difficult to access the education system because the law helps refugees”

[Woman, 18–29 years old, Ukraine]

The main problems mentioned were the lack of available places in classes, the difficulties with which previous credentials are recognised, or the lack of recognition altogether. Although the Romanian legislation regarding refugees’ right to education exists and is relatively comprehensive, they still face many bureaucratic problems, such as recognition of their credentials and delayed integration into the educational system due to a lack of documents.

“Maybe some of them joined Romanian schools, but… it was a nightmare for parents to get in touch with Romanian schools and try to understand the system”

[B1]

“At one point, a school staff told me unofficially that the Romanian children have priority”

[B1]

“My previous diplomas were not quickly recognised; it took me more than 6 months to legalise the documents and have the authorities accept them”

[Woman, 18–29 years old, Iraq]

“It took 3 to 4 months until I had all the necessary documents and be able to apply to college…. It was very difficult to find the necessary information”

[Woman, 18–29 years old, Yemen]

The lack of records makes the procedure difficult, as each school’s recognition process is organised locally, and there is no transparent methodology in this regard.

“It depends a lot on the documents you show when registering. Refugees, as a rule, do not come with many records from their country of origin… because their country of origin might not have the same mentality of paperwork that exists in Romania. Suppose you do not have documents to prove that you are eligible to enter school as an auditor. In that case, the school has an obligation to create a school-level committee within a certain period to evaluate your knowledge of the Romanian language, mathematics and others for the class you have already enrolled in”

[B2]

Another reported problem was the lack of available places in schools, as classes operating with a maximum number of students cannot be supplemented. This fact also leads to delays in integration into the education system.

“We are facing and have faced the problem of available seats in schools. They could not be supplemented during the pandemic. So, if there were 30 children in a class and the 31st child came, that child could not be enrolled. He had to wait for the next year or go to a lower or higher-level class”

[B1]

“We help with documents registration, but the School Inspectorate many times told us that there are no more places in the system, so these people can only be registered into “the second chance” program, and after studying there, they will be enrolled in the regular education system as observers. The “second chance” is an educational program for people with special needs or those who have just started learning to read or write. Most of the people we worked with are Arabs, and I think they are sent to the “second chance” program because they have a different alphabet. But they know both the Arabic and the Latin alphabet because they know English, so they can clearly write and read using Latin letters”

[B1]

The same problem can be encountered in the case of tertiary education, with universities requiring certain documents for enrolment that asylum seekers and people with refugee backgrounds cannot provide. In addition, there is sometimes a lack of information within universities about the registration procedure for beneficiaries of international protection.

“I tried to continue my studies in Romania, but it was impossible because I could not provide the documents that the university required”

[Woman, 18–29 years old, Syria]

“Universities don’t always know what a refugee and a refugee passport are. Refugees are not allowed to go to the embassy of the country of origin [because] they broke all ties with it when they applied for asylum. … this is what universities must understand… that they bring legalised documents or with an apostille on their papers because of this. So, they can neither go to the embassy nor get them from the country of origin”

[B1]

The European legislation and, subsequently, the Romanian legislation states that access to the education system should not be granted later than three months from the date the application for international protection was submitted. However, in practice, there is much time lost between arriving in a country and being integrated into the educational system, with refugees losing one or two years [81].

“Refugees and people with subsidiary protection have the same educational rights as Romanian citizens. The problem is that not all universities know what it means to be a beneficiary of international protection and have the same right to study as Romanian citizens; they do not have to meet the conditions for international students. It is more difficult when asylum seekers and people with refugee backgrounds want to study here because they go to university admission with their refugee passports. There they are asked for their passport from their country of origin, which they no longer have because they are no longer allowed to have ties with their country of origin by being asylum seekers”

[B1]

“On many occasions, they lose two years before they manage to enrol in the normal education system, and it is frustrating for them”

[B1]

4.1.3. Financial Barriers

Since they have not yet enrolled in the Romanian Education Integrated Information System, asylum seekers and people with refugee backgrounds do not qualify for per capita funding from the state budget. Therefore, during the year when they are auditing classes, children do not have access to free handbooks and support materials, and they need to pay for them.

“It is a real challenge to go to a foreign country with a small child and little money, always wondering if you can make it until the next day”

[Woman, 30–45 years old, India]

An issue that re-emerged many times during the interviews was a need for the provision of funds that would help children learn the language of instruction in school as opposed to a separate centre or institution. This would also work towards ensuring access to free education until the 12/13 grade and avoid situations where the under-aged and youths drop out of school because of high costs.

During the pandemic, many children could not attend online classes because they lacked electronic devices, and, in some cases, children who were supposed to take part in courses as auditors were not included in the online platforms. During this time, the closure of schools and the lack of social, educational, and recreational activities have substantially impacted children’s well-being and development. Many of the interviewees that were currently enrolled in higher tertiary education declared that their most difficult-to-surpass obstacle was financial in nature.

“In Romania, without clear legislative regulations, refugees who want to attend a university are classified as international migrants who have to pay higher taxes. As refugees are unable or unwilling to keep in contact with their native country and rely on help “from home”, they are often unable to pay regular taxes, let alone higher ones”

[B1]

“There are months when I have a hard time with money. This is because my scholarship does not cover my living costs”

[Male, 18–29 years old, Syria]

“Taxes are high; I had to borrow money”

[Woman, 18–29 years old, Turkey]

4.1.4. Linguistic Barriers

For 48% of the respondents, the most significant difficulty they had in accessing the Romanian education system was the language barrier. For example, because many respondents use a different alphabet in their native language, it is much more challenging to learn Romanian, which uses the Latin alphabet. In addition, many respondents consider language a significant barrier because language is essential to understanding the courses and communicating with colleagues and teachers.

“I am a student at a University in Bucharest, and the most significant difficulty that I had is that I am doing my master’s in English, but sometimes the teachers spoke in Romanian, and some course materials are in Romanian, and it is very difficult for me to understand”

[Man, 18–29 years old, Yemen]

“When I started my studies in the faculty, it was difficult for me to adapt because I did not know the language well”

[Man, 46–59 years old, Turkey]

Even if they had participated for one year as auditors and attended the Romanian language courses, it was still hard for them to adapt to the new culture and education system.

“The most difficult period was when I enrolled the children in school because they did not know the Romanian language well, and it was tough for them to adapt”

[Woman, 30–45 years old, Turkey]

A word cloud was created, pulling data from the database as the source text. The larger the font size, the more frequent the issue (Figure 1).

In corpus data, an exploration between the first term of the pair and the second term of the pair revealed the association of words such as “culture–new”, “needed–time”, “adaptation–difference”, and “adaptation–culture” (

Table 5. Relationships between pairs of words between the four themes.

Term 1	Term 2	Correlation	Significance
Culture	New	1	0
Needed	Time	1	0
Teachers	Understand	1	0
High	School	0.9688	0.000003
Adaptation	Different	0.9370	0.000063
Adaptation	Culture	0.8849	0.000664

Source: data from text analysis using the Voyant tool.

). The interrelated acculturation process is a complicated and long-term one. Refugees encounter other culturally different groups. They are living in a cultural context and manage to adapt to new contexts that result from migration. In Berry’s perspective, adaptation implies changes that occur in response to environmental demands: “adaptation refers to the psychological changes and eventual outcomes that occur as a result of individuals experiencing acculturation” [82] (p. 6).

A series of findings stood out when examining corpus data of the NGO representatives’ discourses. Firstly, they actively participate in a lot of activities aimed at helping asylum seekers and people with refugee backgrounds, mostly due to the lack of involvement of governmental entities. They use various strategies to help refugees cope, recognise citizenship, and secure their social rights. Secondly, survival and coping strategies depend on available resources (social networks, work, and payments for basic needs) [83,84]. As the in-depth interviews showed, in Romania, these resources are at many times scarce or dependent on legislation that is convoluted and often changing and, more often than that, summarily implemented. Thirdly, they shared with us dysfunctions in the system and the exclusionary connotations that repeatedly come with being an asylum seeker or person with a refugee background. They also emphasised that, when it came to people fleeing the war in Ukraine, access to the Romanian system was made more manageable, especially from a legislative and social support perspective, which, for some, was a double-edged sword: it showed that the ability to do so exists, and it pointed, perhaps, towards the unwillingness of policy makers to implement such measures sooner or more broadly.

5. Discussion

In Romania, access to education services for asylum seekers and people with refugee backgrounds has been and continues to be hampered, and barriers to accessing the education system are diverse. This study aimed to investigate the experiences of asylum seekers and people with refugee backgrounds and the potential constraints that limit their access to education programs. Respondents perceived aspects such as linguistic, financial, legislative, and lack of community support as barriers. Moreover, all the interviewed representatives of NGOs agreed that asylum seekers and people with refugee backgrounds face strenuous difficulties relating to language and legislation when accessing the Romanian education system.

Taken together, the results show that schools and teachers provide support in different ways depending on their abilities and possibilities. It was recorded that teachers value the education and instruction process and provide guidance and support. However, the presence of pupils and students speaking different native languages can create disruptions in daily communication between teachers and the target group. Teachers also face several challenges regarding practical and socio-cultural issues, as mentioned in other works [85]. They have to be prepared to work in a multilingual classroom environment. It should be noted that most interviewees rated the educational program that included free courses positively. Teachers are generally perceived as community support for education. The support materials intended for learning (especially the Romanian language) were valuable for developing lesson plans. Some participants positively appreciated the delivery of the learning materials. More importantly, schools and teachers play a role in creating and strengthening community support. This is consistent with prior evidence about the importance of community support and the sense of belonging [86,87,88].

Although access to education is free and unconditional in Romania, issues start with learning Romanian and continue with school enrolment or recognition of previous academic records. The NGO representatives stated that some inconsistencies were addressed for people registered in the “second chance program” for a year and for those enrolled in the education system as auditors.

In explaining the difficulties in accessing educational programs, the issues that should be addressed first are related to linguistic barriers. De Paola and Brunello (2016) [6] concluded that including immigrant children with poor language competencies in mainstream classrooms (preferably supported by trained teachers and/or specialists) gives better results than preparatory teaching in separate classes. In reality, Timișoara and Radăuţi Centres have reported shortcomings in their Romanian language courses. Participants are not divided into groups based on their age—children and adults are in the same class or level of education, so people with lower and higher education levels are combined. In the Timișoara centre, they are divided into three groups: experts, advanced, and novices, with each group having a dedicated teacher. Refugees require time and sustained effort to learn a foreign language while facing unfamiliarity and difficulties in interaction with new classmates [89]. Teachers with immigrant backgrounds would be more able to understand their traumas, and recruiting them would create positive role models as it was shown that refugee children tend to perform better in school when they feel their trauma is understood [29,53].

Our findings mirror others identified in the case of Europe; according to IOM (2019) [90], there are several challenges and gaps in accessing education: legal barriers (lack of explicit provision about compulsory schooling), administrative challenges (inflexible registration deadlines), insufficient human and financial resources (limited places in schools and pre-schools), psychological support (often lacking for both teachers and asylum seekers and people with refugee backgrounds), and additional language and cultural mediation support (scarce).

Refugees have had limited secondary and tertiary education in refugee centres, which makes staying in school increasingly tricky. Although asylum seekers and people with refugee backgrounds have, by law, the same rights to education as Romanian citizens, they often face difficulties in accessing the education system. For refugees, education is provided in regular schools, and our interviews showed that sometimes the procedures for recognising diplomas or other certificates and the language requirements were considered restrictive. Under national and European laws and agreements signed with other countries, diplomas and studies completed in other countries can be recognised in Romania, as supported by the fact that 48.1% of the respondents’ previous educational credentials were recognised when they came to Romania. In agreement with the Lisbon Recognition Convention 1997, which Romania rectified by Law no. 172/1998 [91], the signatory states must take the necessary measures to recognise the diplomas of refugees or persons benefiting from subsidiary protection. The Council of Europe recommends that, in the case of refugees and persons with subsidiary protection who cannot bring the diplomas and certificates they have obtained in their origin country, special recognition methods should be found, such as examinations, affidavits, or interviews with university professors or other specialised persons. Nonetheless, this study has shown that children and young refugees experienced restrictions in obtaining certificates. NGOs such as AIDRom, IOM, and JRS, as well as other organisations, run projects through which they offer free Romanian language courses, offering certificates to attest to the level reached by the beneficiaries. Although they use textbooks accredited by the Ministry of Education, these certificates are not recognised.

In the current political climate, for example, significant efforts were made so that Ukrainian schoolchildren and students can more easily access Romanian educational establishments under the same conditions as Romanian children, with rights such as free accommodation in boarding schools, food allowances and basic food provided through ongoing social programmes, free resources (school supplies, clothing, shoes, textbooks, learning materials, and study guides), free health examinations in educational establishments and free vaccination, free transport for orphans and pupils with special educational needs, and free Romanian language courses. Furthermore, Ukraine students can continue their studies in Romania under the same conditions as Romanian citizens, regardless of whether or not they have documents proving their previous studies. Students who are citizens of Ukraine can also receive funding from the Romanian state for paying study fees. They would need to submit a written application to the university they wish to apply to, which will evaluate the application according to its regulations and, in the case of a positive response, will issue a Letter of Acceptance for Academic Mobility [92]. This process is far shorter and simpler than the procedures that were in place before the Ukrainian conflict, and the resulting crisis began. NGO representatives declared that this fact is proof of the ability of the Romanian Government to create and implement suitable mechanisms for the successful inclusion of asylum seekers and refugees into the Romanian education system. In Bucharest, there are three educational centres with Ukrainian teachers: “Mihai Viteazul National College”, “Ienăchiță Văcărescu Secondary School”, and “Uruguay Secondary School”. The intention is to organise 4–6 weeks of intensive Romanian language courses to facilitate the integration of migrant children into the Romanian education system.

In all other cases, complicated procedures for recognising diplomas from countries of origin and the language requirements for university admission are all barriers to accessing tertiary education [93].

According to interviewed AIDRom representatives, the beneficiaries of international protection who are 18 years old face the same obstacles when trying to enrol in vocational training or education, regardless of age. This obstacle becomes even harder to surpass when coupled with their lack of proficiency in the Romanian language. They must retake those school years in Romania using the local curricula if they do not have diplomas, cannot certify their years of study, or must be tested in all subjects from first to twelfth grade. Even though professors were sympathetic and supportive, very few young people have chosen this path.

UNESCO [52,94] and Dryden-Peterson [95] agree that the school experience can help heal children who have lived through conflicts or other traumas. Therefore, it is of quintessential importance that access to education is granted equally, fairly, and as early as possible because, as studies have shown [30], the children of migrants are more persevering when they face school difficulties. Moreover, early inclusion of young children into the system is preferable because they do not need extensive second language teaching and can serve as support for making their parents familiar with the educational system [24], as it was observed that adult migrants seem to participate more in less formal types of education [96].

6. Conclusions

Despite growing attempts by both the Romanian government and civil society to address the sensitive issue of immigration, it has been difficult to garner broad support for examining the obstacles asylum seekers and persons with refugee histories confront. We have presented and will continue to communicate our findings to government institutions and members of public associations in an effort to comprehend practices, actions, and new regulations.

Access to education must be paramount in refugee management. Even while Romania has attempted to adopt new procedures and simplify existing ones to assist the entry of asylum seekers and people with refugee backgrounds into the education system, the majority of these individuals continue to encounter obstacles. In particular, language, legislation, and funds are the most frequently cited obstacles. In addition, cultural hurdles include a lack of trust, particularly in authorities, but also in the general population, especially when newcomers stand out from the majority population.

While the vast majority of asylum seekers and people with refugee backgrounds in Romania have arrived mainly from African and Asian countries, since the beginning of the Ukrainian conflict, many people from this destination have both traversed the country and also chosen to remain here. With a new school year starting in September/October 2022, their access to and inclusion in the Romanian education system must be legislated and needs future research; as in the case of Ukrainian migrants, legislative improvements and civil society mobilisation eliminated some potential impediments.

Schools and universities are opened in Romania for children and for those who want to continue their studies, but the recognition of diplomas/credentials remains a formidable obstacle for refugees coming from outside Europe. In many situations, only NGOs offer assistance, supporting some asylum seekers and people with refugee backgrounds in the bureaucratic process of enrolling in school.

Findings often uncovered insurmountable gaps between current services and the requirements of asylum seekers and individuals with refugee backgrounds. This research proves that procedures need more clarity to successfully meet these vulnerable groups’ needs. Moreover, a more open-minded and empathetic society can improve refugees’ integration into Romanian society.

7. Limitations

This study has some limitations. First, being a study that is exploratory in nature, it reflects the perspective of a small number of selected participants, including refugees and asylum seekers, NGOs, and other associations. An additional limitation might be the focus on barriers related to access to basic needs and less on the impact of the economic integration and Romania’s resettlement policies on asylum seekers and people with refugee backgrounds.

Further research should examine specific groups of people and particular factors influencing access to education services, for example, young people with specific disabilities, that would make their accessing and attending regular classes even more arduous. A trained staff working in the asylum centres and refugee camps could help identify these persons.