The Court denies student grant to recognised refugee
In the case of Mohtaram Torabi v The Republic of Cyprus through the Ministry of Finance (dated 28.01.2011, Ref. 1084/2009) the applicant was an Iranian recognized refugee permanently residing in Cyprus whose children attended private tertiary education in Cyprus. Her application for a special grant for tertiary education students was rejected because the relevant law requires that the students are Cypriot citizens. She appealed against this decision on the basis of article 21 of the Refugee Law N. 6(I)/2000 which provides that recognized refugees enjoy the same rights and equal treatment with citizens of the Republic especially as regards the right to education, access to education, recognition of foreign school certificates, exemption from school fees and grant of scholarships. The applicant also argued that article 27 of Council Directive 2004/83 on minimum standards for the qualification and status of third country nationals or stateless persons as refugees provides for equal treatment in access to education as nationals which, according to the applicant, justifies the grant of financial assistance. The Ministry of Finance argued that the student grant does not fall within the ambit of state provisions to which recognized refugees have access and therefore no issue of inequality arises: the law on student grants is clear that its scope is restricted to Cypriot citizens. The Court found that the right granted under the Refugee law (article 21) does not refer to state provisions such as the ones covered by Law 77(I)/96 which are student grants restricted to Cypriots; that the relevant provision of the Refugee Law refers to recognition of academic qualification and exemption from school fees and the applicants ‘children did not encounter any problems in accessing ‘the general education system’ but it is doubtful whether this covers private education. The Court further said that Law 59(I)/2004 transposing Directive 2004/43/EC has no application in this case because although it covers access to education, the law on student grants is a financial regulation of a side issue where the beneficiaries are Cypriot citizens, adding that no discrimination arises as a result of the non-extension of the grant to other groups such as recognized refugees. The Court did not consider the possibility that the student grant forming the subject-matter of this application could fall under ‘social advantages’ or ‘social protection’, which are fields protected by the Racial Equality Directive.
