A young asylum-seeking student who was excluded from a college graduation ceremony was racially discriminated against by the City of Dublin Vocational Education Committee (CDVEC), the Equality Tribunal has ruled.
The student, a Somali national, was one of 21 teenage asylum seekers who had completed a back to education programme at Ballsbridge College of Further Education in Dublin. The students were told they would not be graduating with post-Leaving Certificate students at the college's main graduation ceremony in May 2004.
The college argued that the ceremony was not suitable for the students because it was taking place in a licensed hotel where alcohol would be served and that the asylum-seeking students were not yet 18 years of age.
Instead, the college organised a separate in-house ceremony which it believed would be more appropriate and where alcohol would not be available. Following a complaint, the Equality Tribunal ruled that the student was discriminated against on the basis of race and ordered the CDVEC to pay the student €3,000 compensation.
In her ruling, equality officer Tara Coogan said it was clear that the majority of the class of asylum seekers were over 18 at the time of the ceremony. One of the students was 23.
She also noted that while the presence of alcohol was used as a reason why a group of under-18s could not be invited to the ceremony, it was important to note that there was no alcohol at the ceremony itself. The bar extension was held in a separate area and started several hours after the official ceremony.
Ms Coogan commented: ". . . It seems at odds with the college's stated commitment to equality of treatment for it to choose to hold a separate ceremony for the college's only exclusively asylum-seeker class." She added: "While I accept the principal's statement that he firmly believed that the nationality of the participants of the back to education class played no role in the college's decision to host a separate ceremony for them, it is important to note that one of the conditions that the CDVEC received the funding for this course in the first place was because it had undertaken to recognise and accommodate diversity."
Ballsbridge College of Further Education declined to comment yesterday. The principal in the college at the time of the graduation ceremony has since moved on to another post outside the college.
Yesterday, the student - who declined to be named - said he was delighted with the ruling.
"I am very, very pleased with the outcome. I had a lot of difficulties understanding the actions of the college at the time. This means that there is a law, after all, and that your rights can be protected," the student said.