Welcome for refugee children in Hungary school

BEKESCSABA, Hungary, Jun 19 (Reuters) Integrating refugees is an increasingly difficult task, but a school in one of Hungary's poorest regions has found a formula that works, and is now making a point of welcoming in refugee students.

The Szent Laszlo elementary school in this farming town of 60,000 near Hungary's south-east border has taken in refugee children for nearly 15 years.

''It's safe to say that Bekescsaba has become a model,'' said Andrea Szobolits, a spokeswoman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. ''This is what other schools have just been unable to do.'' Pupil Emina Berisa is one of the school's best examples of progress. The 14-year-old Muslim Roma from Kosovo has been a refugee for seven years and after several moves, Bekescsaba was the first place where she feels welcome.

''It's so much better here because other children like playing with me and teachers are more cultured,'' said the tall, dark-skinned Berisa in nearly fluent Hungarian during a break in her geography class.

Berisa, one of over 11,000 refugee applicants in central Europe last year, fled Kosovo with her parents and five siblings to escape the ethnic violence which killed thousands of her compatriots.

Bekescsaba, a sprawling town that has struggled to build up industry, is one of three towns in the country that accepts refugees but is the most welcoming, said the UNHCR's Szobolits.

Like many refugees across the world, those from Kosovo cannot be sure of a hospitable reception. In many countries, prejudice is rife and refugees are often assumed to be economic migrants, not people fleeing persecution and needing protection.

In the eastern Hungarian town of Debrecen, the community has become so hostile to refugees that parents regularly take children out of classes when a refugee student arrives, Szobolits said.

''Teaching tolerance is not part of the school curriculum anywhere in the region and teachers are left on their own to figure out what to do,'' Szobolits said.

The Szent Laszlo school's formula has been simple: keep classes small, put just a few refugee students in each and oblige them to stay involved and mingle with Hungarians, but do not compromise on the school curriculum.

In 2006, 2,117 refugees applied for asylum in Hungary, most from Vietnam, Serbia and Montenegro and China. Of those, only 99 were accepted by Hungarian authorities and another 99 were allowed to stay on humanitarian grounds.

The school's principal, Katalin Gallo, said her goal is to let children -- who are generally open-minded -- encourage their parents to become as tolerant.

''Children are by nature tolerant, we have open-minded teachers, small classes and parents who have grown to accept minorities and disabled children,'' she said.

Financial necessity played a big role in the school's decision to welcome refugees: dwindling student numbers threatened it with closure in the 1990s and teachers decided they needed to bulk up the student population to save it.

So they opened up to disabled students, the area's large Roma community and those at the nearby refugee camp, currently home to 111 people.

Despite the school's efforts, its community is precarious.

Over 90 per cent of applicants and nearly all Europeans are refused refugee status and around 60 per cent simply disappear from camps, so children usually spend just a few months at the school, the UNHCR's Szobolits said.

Refugee camps also fail to provide parents with any means to earn a living, so they are often forced to leave.

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