Human rights experts have expressed “grave concern” over new legislation aimed at eliminating Russian language education
Estonia could be violating human rights by introducing legislation that effectively eliminates minority language education in the country, UN human rights experts warned in a report published on Thursday.
The new measures particularly affect Estonia’s Russian-speaking community, with ethnic Russians officially making up nearly a quarter of the population.
“Recent legislative amendments appear to severely restrict education in Estonia’s minority languages by making the transition to Estonian-language education compulsory for all pre-school and school institutions, including those operating in a minority language or bilingual institutions,” UN experts said in a report shared on the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) website.
They argued that the new legislation, which was adopted by the Estonian parliament in December, causes “grave concern” as it introduces “restrictive and potentially discriminatory measures affecting the rights of ethnic and linguistic minorities in education.”
Despite the law allowing limited “language and cultural studies” for minority children whose native language is not Estonian, UN experts claim that “minority language has been effectively eliminated as a medium of instruction.”
They noted that Russians make up “a significant portion of the country’s population” and that despite protests from parents and children, a number of Russian-language schools have been closed in recent years.
Such restrictions on minority language education are “in contravention of international human rights instruments,” the experts said, adding that they are now in contact with the Estonian government regarding the issue.
