Ref: 84/2011
The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR)
denounces the decision taken by the Palestinian Ministry of Education in Gaza
to prevent 8 students who have been granted scholarships to study in the United
States of America via AMIDEAST, from travelling for “social and cultural
reasons.” PCHR believes that this decision contradicts basic human rights
standards, especially the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Article
26 of UDHR stipulates that: “Parents have a prior right to choose the kind
of education that shall be given to their children.” This Decision means also
that a number of our best students will be deprived of benefiting from
scholarships to study abroad while we are in a dire need to communicate with
the outside world, break the isolation and blockade imposed on our people and
develop our capacities.
Eight students from secondary schools in
Gaza won scholarships from the YES program run by the AMIDEAST. They were
selected for the scholarship based on academic criteria and the selection
process took a full year. This
scholarship is a part of youth exchange program run by the U.S. Department of
State and targets students between 15 and 17 years old. Successful students
spend one year in the United States for study.
This program is funded by a number of
donors from the United States and targets clever students from all over the
world, including Palestine. In this
program, successful applicants go to the United States to spend a full year in
secondary schools where they learn English and study physics, mathematics …
etc. At the end, they obtain the certificate
of grade 10 or 11. This certificate is recognized by the Palestinian Ministry
of Education. The program sets a
condition that successful applicants must return to their countries to resume
their secondary education. This program has been annually implemented since 2003.
On 25 July 2005, the parents of the
successful students submitted a request to Dr. Usama al-Muzeini, Minister of
Education and Higher Education in Gaza, to approve granting facilitations
necessary for their children’s travel via Erez crossing on 17 August 2011.
However, the Minister rejected the request on 31 July 2011 for “social and
cultural reasons.” It should be noted that in their requests, the parents
explained that they are know the details of the scholarship and about measures
necessary for the protection of their children.
Over the past two weeks, PCHR made
intensive efforts with the office of the Prime Minister in Gaza, the Ministry
of Education and Higher Education and with other government officials to
facilitate the travel of the mentioned students to the United States on due
time so they do not miss their scholarships which may be granted to other
students somewhere else. However, these efforts failed despite all the promises
received by PCHR from some officials. Yesterday evening, 16 August, 2011, PCHR
was officially informed that the decision to prevent the students from
travelling was not changed and thus the students were unable to travel as
scheduled for today.
PCHR denounces this decision and:
1. Calls upon the Prime Minister in Gaza to
intervene promptly in order to annul this decision and to give instructions to
facilitate the travel of these students in fear for missing this opportunity offered
to them.
2. Believes that this decision violates basic
human rights standards and the Palestinian Basic Law and amendments thereto
which guarantee the right to education and the right to freedom of movement.
3. Believes that it is neither acceptable
nor logical that, while we are struggling to break the illegal blockade imposed
on Gaza by the Israeli occupation forces, we impose illegal restrictions on the
enjoyment of the right to education and the right to freedom of movement.
