1

Demessew Shiferaw and Dr Hailu Hagos

2002

THIS PROJECT IS FUNDED BYPAN

LONDONREFUGEE

TRAINING &EMPLOYMENT

NETWORK(PLRTEN)

Refugees and progressionroutes to employment

Photograph © U

niversity of North London

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3

ContentsPage

Acknowledgements 4Foreword 5List of figures 6List of tables 6Acronyms 7Glossary 8Executive Summary 9

1. Introduction 102. Background 123. Aims and objectives 134. Methodology 13

4.1 Interview 134.2 Questionnaire 134.3 Review of prior research 134.4 Case studies 13

5. Review of literature 145.1 The nature of refugee unemployment 145.2 Transition models 17

6. Analysis of refugees� responses to questionnaire 176.1 Characteristic profile of respondents upon arrival 176.2 Destinations after arrival 196.3 Employment barriers as seen by refugees 216.4 Issues within employment 226.5 Common pathways to employment 22

7. Analysis of interviews/contact with organisations 287.1 Employment barriers as seen by refugee community organisations and refugee agencies 287.2 Overview of existing training and career advice services 317.3 Gaps in training, career advice and employment services 34

8. Conclusion and recommendations 38

Bibliography 41

Appendix I: List of agencies interviewed i - iiAppendix II: Interview questions iiiAppendix III: Sample questionnaire v � viiiAppendix IV: Pathways of questionnaire respondents x - xiAppendix V: Models of stages and services between arrival & employment xiiAppendix VI: Selected case studies of refugee agencies & refugeeindividuals xiii - xvi

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Steve Hill, Co-ordinator of Pan-London Refugee Training & EmploymentNetwork, for appointing us to undertake this research and for his support and supervision through-out the project. We are indebted to Gertrud Mûller of Refugee Education and Training AdvisoryServices for recommending us for this project. We are also grateful to all those refugee and non-refugee agency staff for sharing with us their experience of providing training and guidance servicesto refugees and asylum seekers and for helping us access their clients. Last but not least, we wouldlike to thank all our respondents for taking their time to complete the questionnaires.

Demessew Shifferaw and Dr Hailu Hagos

Further copies and information

For further copies of this publication you should contact the Refugee Council�s Publications lineon 020 7820 3042. To follow up issues raised in the publication please phone the CommunityDevelopment Team or the Employment, Training and Adult Education Advisor.

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Foreword

The subject of refugees has never been far from the news headlines in the last few years. Yet behindthe headlines are the real hardships that asylum seekers and refugees face in trying to settle in theUnited Kingdom and to use the skills and experience that they may have. At a time when theGovernment is looking to encourage more economic migration to meet shortages of labour and skillsgaps in both the public and private sector it needs to be made clear that refugees have much to offer.

The Government has in some measure acknowledged this through its Refugee Integration Strategyand the Home Office funding regimes designed to assist the integration process, in which access towork and skills development plays an important part.

For refugees to progress into suitable employment there needs to be a greater opportunity for asylumseekers to receive a realistic orientation service about the labour market as well as services such aslearning English, receiving information and advice about statutory services and learning aboutopportunities that education, training and work can bring. There is an opportunity for the proposedaccommodation centres for asylum seekers to be developed to provide services such as these. However,doubts will persist that they will be merely processing and holding centres. Where there are time gapsin education and training it can be much harder for people to reuse dormant skills in their newcountry.

At present much good practice is wasted because of a lack of linkage of different services as well asunderpinning support. This report highlights where there is good practice, and suggests how this canbe developed. This also has implications for areas outside of London as through the dispersal systemmore and more asylum seekers settle around the U.K.

Steve HillCo-ordinatorPan London Refugee Training and Employment Partnership

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List of Tables

Page

Table 1 Employment sectors of those who had employment 18experience in their country of origin

Table 2 Medium used to find a job 19

Table 3 Career guidance centres used by respondents 20

Table 4 Employment barriers as seen by refugees 21

List of Figures

Page

Figure 1 Tony Marshall�s Transition Model 17

Figure 2 Young refugees routes to employment 23

Figure 3 Routes to employment of refugees in regulatedprofessions 24

Figure 4 Routes to employment for qualified refugees withmanagerial and administrative experience 24

Figure 5 Routes to employment for unqualified refugees 25

Figure 6 Model Pathway 26

Figure 7 Triangular network of agency relationships 37

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Acronyms

AAT Association of Accounting Technicians

AET Africa Educational Trust

APEL Accreditation of Prior Experiential Learning

CDT Community Development Team

ECRE European Council on Refugees and Exiles

ESOL English for Speakers of Other Languages

GNVQ General National Vocational Qualification

IELTS International English Language Testing System

IT Information Technology

NVQ National Vocational Qualification

PLAB Professional and Linguistic Assessment Board

PLRTEN Pan London Refugee Education and Training Network

RAGU Refugee Advice and Guidance Unit

RCOs Refugee Community Organisations

RETAS Refugee Education and Training Advisory Service

RTEC Refugee Training and Employment Centre(now called TES Training & Employment section)

TES Training and Employment Section of Refugee Council

WBLA Work Based Learning for Adults

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Glossary

full-time employment over 30 hours of paid work a week

part-time employment less than 30 hours of paid work a week

casual employment paid employment for various employers for a fluctuatinglength of time

unemployment people who are not in paid work, but are willing and able to work

underemployment people in a job that doesn�t require the qualification or skills thatthe individual has

voluntary work working full-time or part-time without pay

(Courtesy: AET (June 1998) Employment Issues Facing Young Refugees inHaringey, P.4)

refugee community organisationsrefugee organisations that are run and managed by people from agiven nationality or ethnic group and usually serve members of thatcommunity

refugee agencies agencies that cater for refugees from all ethnic groups.For example, Refugee Council, RETAS, RAGU

non-refugee agencies mainstream or ethnic minority agencies involved in providing someservices to refugees. For example, Pecan Ltd, Springboard Hackney,Migrant Training Centre

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Executive Summary

The Pan London Refugee Training and Employment Network commissioned the writers of thisreport to carry out research on �Refugees Progression Routes to Employment�. Recent studies indi-cate that 75-80 per cent of refugees are unemployed or underemployed. The major employmentbarriers are inter alia: lack of language skills, information and childcare facilities; cultural factors;deprivation and social exclusion; employers� negative stereotyping of refugees; non-recognition ofoverseas qualifications; racism and prejudice.

The aim of this research is to look at the common pathways that refugees follow to seek suitableemployment, how their choices have changed through time and the implications of these for theprovision of training and career advice services.

Findings of the Study

1. The routes to employment taken by refugees vary according to factors such as age, level ofqualification and type of profession. Younger refugees follow shorter routes and face feweremployment barriers than others do. However, problems with language proficiency and lackof employment opportunities stand in the way of young refugees who are trying to accessapprenticeships and New Deal routes followed by other young people.

2. Many refugees who are qualified in regulated professions tend to follow alternative routes ofconversion in related areas because of the prohibitive cost and time involved in re-qualifica-tion. However, as there are no standardised and readily available bridge courses to facilitatesuch conversion, most such conversion routes lead to long periods of training and oftenunderemployment.

3. Qualified professionals with managerial and administrative backgrounds are the most disad-vantaged group in terms of routes to employment. They follow longer routes of postgraduateeducation, volunteering and so on, yet most are unable to find suitable employment.

4. Unqualified adults with some manual skills also have relatively short routes and fewer barri-ers to employment than others. The main barriers for this group are language skills andchildcare.

5. Currently, training provision with refugee agencies is focused on certain areas such as lan-guage skills, care and hairdressing, office skills such as administration, IT and accountancy.Clearly, this is a reflection of the growing employment demand in the service sector. Suchcourses are vital routes to employment especially for those with managerial, administrative,finance and health backgrounds.

6. No customised courses are currently available with refugee agencies in retail or catering, norfor skilled crafts such as basic engineering, electronics, car maintenance, plumbing, carpen-try, bricklaying and textiles.

7. Direct employment services for refugees in the form of job brokerages are in short supply.There is a gap between job search training and employment.

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1. Introduction

Refugees1 are often considered a burden rather than an economic boon to the host society in whichthey live. However, refugees are not merely consumers who live off the resources of the host com-munity but are positive economic assets for the country of asylum. They can give much if given theopportunity to add to the economic prosperity as well as to the social and cultural life of the hostcountry. Sadly, their contribution and resourcefulness is hardly recognised by the larger society. Theknowledge, skills, and varied experiences which refugees bring with them are largely invisible to thepublic. Refugees� limited access to mainstream employment is concrete evidence of theirmarginalization.

A Home Office study2 of refugees in the United Kingdom confirms that high levels of talent andexpertise are being wasted in Britain. The research concludes:

The majority of asylum seekers come with substantial work and educational qualifications,the bulk of which are under-utilised, to their chagrin and the country�s general loss.(Quoted in �Credit to the Nation�, Refugee Council, 1997)

The waste of refugees� untapped resources needs to be redressed. Refugee community organisations(RCOs), refugee agencies and refugees themselves have taken several important steps to securesuitable employment for refugees. However, not enough has been done in terms of providing ad-equate and relevant training, careers advice and employment services. Most importantly, more lob-bying needs to be done to convince employers and policy makers that refugees have tremendouspotential and a lot to offer to the U.K.

By its very nature, the refugee situation is highly volatile. Refugees are subject to traumatic anddisorientating experiences of crisis in their home countries, which have forced them to flee leavingeverything behind including family and friends. In the country of asylum, refugees face political andlegal constraints, financial hardship and psycho-social difficulties, and problems due to cultural dif-ferences between the countries of origin and that of asylum. Lack of suitable employment is onlyone aspect of the refugee dilemma.

The problem of definition, categorisation and quantification of refugees remains one of the funda-mental impediments of refugee research. There is great difficulty in data collection and analysis ofinformation that arises from the volatile situation of refugees. Hence the estimation of refugee popu-lation remains inexact, mainly due to lack of a comprehensive description and lack of consistency inthe definitions of the term �refugee� and classification of refugees. This problem is exacerbated bythe continuous inflow and return of refugees. The most recent and accurate estimate of refuge num-bers in London is 240,000 to 280,000 from the report �Refugee Health in London� by Health ofLondoners Project 1999. This figure is based on 85 per cent of refugees in the U.K. living in London.

1 As a matter of convenience the term �Refugee� is used to denote both refugees and asylum seekers with permission to work.

2 �The settlement of refugees in Britain� - 1995

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The Refugee Council estimates 260,000 refugees and asylum seekers. (With the rising numbers ofasylum applications over recent years and the effect of dispersal of many new arrivals outside Lon-don, the numbers of refugees within London is no longer such an accurate figure for the whole of theU.K. July 2000).

In the UN Refugee Convention of 1951, Article 1 Paragraph (2), the term Refugee is defined as anyperson:

Who owing to well-founded fear of being persecuted of reasons of race, religion, nationality, membershipof a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable orowing to such fear is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country, or who not having anationality and being outside the country of his former habitual residence, is unable or owing to such fear isunwilling to return to it. (UN, 21 July 1951)

The legal definition of refugees is a limited one and it has become increasingly difficult to showclearly �genuine� refugees as distinct to �migrants� as reasons for migration often become entwined.On one hand, people come to the �West� either illegally or by claiming asylum. Then there is agrowing trend for developed countries to seek skilled labour from developing countries such as Ger-many�s recruitment of skilled computer technicians from India. The movement of migrants unlikerefugees is motivated by economic push or pull factors.

Although the movement of migrants may not be absolutely voluntary they, unlike refugees, are morelikely to be able to choose their destinations and can go home without any fear of being persecuted.Refugees are forced to flee their homes due to factors beyond their control. They leave their coun-tries of origin in search of protection. In such precarious situations, many go from high status tolower status jobs. There are many refugees who have been medical doctors, lawyers, university pro-fessors, and even government ministers in their country of origin and ended up in menial jobs or withno job at all due to exile in a new society and the arduous process of re-qualification. They find thatthey have lost their economic and social status.

Migrants, on the other hand, generally leave their home countries for economic reasons i.e., to betterthemselves. They may have pre-planned arrangements to satisfy immigration requirements. Theyleave with expectations that they will have to find their own routes to economic prosperity. In time,as they settle their families often follow. This can also occur with refugees. The first generation ofAfro-Caribbean and Asian migrants who migrated to the U.K. in the 50s and 60s after the SecondWorld War are a good example of peoples invited to fill a labour shortage. Yet today, immigrantsprovide even greater benefits to Western economies. In 1999, 16 million legal immigrants in Europeearned more than $400 billion. The number of self-employed immigrants in the E.U. has increased byclose to 20 per cent over the past seven years. In Italy, immigrants make up one third of labour inindustrial and service sectors, even though they only comprise 2 per cent of the total population. Inthe U.K., the Chinese have a higher proportion of people working in the professions than non-Chinese and Indians earn more than the average family income of the rest of the population (Timemagazine, July 2000). What this shows is that if given appropriate support, refugees can make asignificant contribution to the economic life of the U.K.

This may perhaps offer a clearer distinction between refugees and migrants. It is from this vantagepoint that the issue of refugee employment is discussed in this study.

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2. Background

The writers of this report have been commissioned by the Pan London Refugee Training & Employ-ment Network (PLRTEN) to carry out research on �Refugees and Progression Routes to Employ-ment� in the context that refugees suffer a high level of unemployment in the United Kingdom.

Overall, it can be said that there is little or no research done with direct reference to refugees�pathways to employment. This study is by no means comprehensive. It is intended to contribute itspart to the existing literature on refugee employment in the light of growing difficulties and theefforts made by various refugee organisations and refugees themselves.

PLRTEN is a partnership that involves different organisations from the public, private and voluntarysectors such as training providers, community organisations, employers and Training Enterprise Coun-cils. It was set up in November 1998 to improve training and employment services provided forrefugees through sharing knowledge and information as well as capacity building of both memberand non-member agencies by providing training and resources.

3. Aims and Objectives

The aim of this research is to discern the common pathways that refugees follow to seek suitableemployment, how their choices and the influences on these choices have changed through time andthe implications of these for provision of training and career advice services. The main objectivesare:

- to explore the level of refugee employment and the main barriers faced.

- to examine the effects of proper training and professional advice or lack of it onprospects of refugee employment.

- to look at individual refugees, whether successful or not, and examine the pathwaysthey have taken to find suitable employment and draw some learning experiences.

- to see how and where training and advisory services can be improved.

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4. Methodology

This study is based mainly on face-to-face interviews with officials from refugee agencies and refu-gee community organisations and the findings of a questionnaire distributed to refugees. A cursoryreview of secondary resources of existing studies on refugee matters has been made.

Case studies of selected refugees and organisations and critical observation by the writers of thisreport have been employed to complement the aforementioned methods.

4.1 Interview

An interview was conducted with selected agency co-ordinators and careers advisers involved inguidance and training provision. A total of 30 organisations were interviewed, of which 12 wererefugee community organisations, 13 refugee agencies and five non-refugee agencies. Most refugeeagencies delivering training and/or guidance were contacted along with a selection of communityorganisations serving peoples from different ethnic backgrounds. (See Appendix I).

4.2 Questionnaire

A questionnaire for qualified refugees was another method used in data collection. The question-naire survey comprising open and closed questions was sent to 200 refugees who have been in theU.K. for over three years. Out of these, 30 refugees from 16 countries completed and returned thequestionnaire. Ten other respondents� replies were not used as they had been in the U.K. for less thantwo years and an incomplete view of these refugees� progression routes could be gathered. Thenumber of replies represented 60 per cent of the intended target group of 50 refugees from variouscountries (see Appendix IV for the summary of pathways of respondents and Appendix III for asample questionnaire used in this research).

As the questionnaire was prepared in English, the participation of refugees with low levels of Eng-lish is obviously limited. There was neither the time nor the resources to assign interpreters or totranslate the questionnaire into the refugees� respective languages. This is a drawback of the study.Another limitation of the questionnaire is that the survey covers only those who have made use ofthe services of RCOs and refugee agencies. The reason is that we accessed the refugees in questionthrough these organisations.

4.3 Review of prior research

Secondary resources such as previous studies on the subject, handbooks and annual reports of refu-gee agencies and RCOs and other related documents have been used for this study. A comparisonhas been made between the findings of the current study and various research outcomes on thesubject.

4.4. Case studies

A case study interview was also carried out with some refugees to complement data gathered throughother methods. A total of four case studies of individual refugees and three of refugee agencies werecarried out to augment the above stated methods.

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5. Review of literature

Literature with direct reference to refugees� routes to employment is scant. Most previous studies onrefugee unemployment have focused on the scale and nature of the problem. Some studies estimate75 to 80 per cent of refugees are either unemployed or underemployed3 (Ahipeaud, 1998). Accord-ing to an Africa Educational Trust report, the level of unemployment ranges between 75 and 90 percent (AET, 1998b). Another more recent study suggests that the refugee unemployment rate is about51 per cent (Barer, 1999). The latter figure is likely to be explained not only by the exclusion of thosewho are underemployed, but also by the inclusion in the survey of a higher proportion of thosegranted a positive immigration status, (i.e., refugees and those with exceptional leave to remain). Inany case, this figure is staggeringly high compared to the national average of 5 per cent and theethnic minorities� average of 24 per cent. It has also been reported that refugee employment is highlyconcentrated in certain jobs such as catering, minicab driving, factory work, building site work,security, cleaning, petrol station jobs and supermarket jobs and to some degree in voluntary organi-sations and local authorities. (AET, 1998; mbA, 1999).

The nature of the refugee unemployment problem has been described as one characterised by multi-faceted barriers, which prevent refugees from participating in the workforce4 . Since routes to em-ployment are essentially the ways around these barriers, it would be instructive to start by examiningthese barriers. This will be followed by a brief review of two transition models one of which will beused in analysing some of our data.

5.1 The nature of refugee unemployment

Refugee employment barriers can be classified into two categories, internal and external. By internal,we mean barriers which naturally result from being a refugee, or for which refugees themselves areresponsible. For example, for most refugees English is a second language. This problem has beenhighlighted in almost all previous research (See for example, AET, 1998; mbA, 1999).

The second major internal barrier is culture. As many refugees come from countries where the shareof the corporate private sector is limited, they are not accustomed to the competitive job searchculture which characterises western economies. The idea of selling one-self is unfamiliar to manypeople who might have been taught that modesty and deference are virtues which pay in life.5

Job search, though, is only one aspect of the role of culture in affecting refugee employment. Incontrast to the traditional sectors such as manufacturing, construction and agriculture, which de-mand craft skills of �doing� a job, the present service-dominated6 western economies require a �fit-ting in� skill. Such a skill is often best acquired through years of acculturation rather than by short-term training. Such acculturation is often the least attainable trait for refugees, most of whom arriveas adults.

3 Underemployment in this context means being employed in an occupation which requires less skill and competencethan one is trained for. It can also mean working for lesser hours and lesser income than one is willing and able towork.4 Work force in this context implies those who are in employment whereas labour force encompasses all those whoare in labour market � employed and unemployed but actively seeking work.5 For a comparative study of job search culture in selected countries, please see Marshall, 1989.6 The employment share of the service, manufacturing and agricultural sector in U.K. is about 75 per cent, 20 percent, and 5 per cent respectively.

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Refugees who arrived during and before World War II when manufacturing, mining, and buildingwere the leading sectors , could not have encountered the barriers refugees of this generation face. Inthose days, there were also less entry barriers for small business refugee entrepreneurs as the numberof those engaged in crafts such as tailoring, shoe making, furniture, and petty trade shows (RefugeeCouncil, 1997).

Another barrier that arises out of being a refugee is a lack of appropriate skills. This is not to say thatrefugees are inherently unskilled. In fact, as confirmed by previous studies and our own interviews,refugees have a higher level of formal educational qualification (per population) than other groups.For example, according to the Home Office research report of 1995, 35 per cent of those who weresurveyed had university education in their country of origin (sited in Barer, 1999). In our limitedsurvey, 45 per cent of respondents had at least a degree qualification when they arrived in U.K.

However, whether such qualifications per se can become a skill is another question. As one studysuggests, such high levels of qualifications show that refugees have got a good knowledge-basedskill. However, such skill must be complemented by other generic and specialist skills such as tech-nological, interpersonal, teamwork and communication skills to be competitive in the labour market(RTEC, 1993). These generic and specialist skills are acquired more through practice than formaltraining. The fact that refugees, because of their status, tend to remain outside the workforce notonly implies that they cannot keep pace with the changing skill demand of the economy, but also thatthey could lose whatever knowledge based skill they have. Therefore refugees are often caught in avicious circle of lack of experience, lack of skill, and a lack of employment.

One final factor that needs mentioning in this category could be termed �the psychology of being arefugee�. Refugees may have experienced loss, separation and human rights abuses. Most have alsolost social status and a sense of service to their community. Unlike their migrant counterparts whoare pulled by opportunities, refugees are pushed by circumstances. All these can affect refugees�confidence and motivation. One research report also suggests that refugees� attitudes to a country ofasylum and their aspiration for eventual return to their home country affect their participation in thelabour market (Bloch, 1999).

Generally speaking, these internal barriers can be tackled through training and orientation. Refugees�willingness, motivation and ability to learn and adapt to their new environment are also crucial incoping with these barriers.

The second category of barriers is external to refugees; i.e., they are beyond the scope of refugees�influence. Consequently, they can only be tackled through legislative and policy interventions. Onesuch barrier is the problem of being legally recognised as a refugee. In refugee crises triggered by postcold war nationalism (such as the Balkans), the percentage of people recognised as refugees is verylow7 . Although people can get permission to work six months after applying for asylum8 , the processof waiting to be recognised as a refugee affects both the individual�s confidence and the employers�perception.

7 For example, from January to June 2000, only 16 per cent of asylum applicants were granted refugee status while 19per cent were given Exceptional Leave to Remain. The remaining 65 per cent were refused (see the August 2000 issueof Refugee Council�s iNexile Magazine).8 This is with reference to U.K. In most other European countries, it can take years for refugees to get permission towork (see for example, Refugee Council 1998, Refugees and Employment in Europe).

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More importantly, lack of legal status could deprive the individual of education and training oppor-tunities, which are vital to be competitive in the labour market9 . This is probably the single mostimportant factor, which compels asylum seekers - most of them qualified - to take informal andcasual employment.

The second major external barrier is explicit and tacit restrictions in different economic sectors. Forexample, because of nationality requirements, refugees cannot access civil service and defence jobs.However the barriers are more cultural in entering financial and business service jobs in banks,building societies, insurance companies and investment banks. This is partly confirmed by an evalu-ation report of the Africa Educational Trust on the effectiveness of its grant scheme. This reportfound that those refugees who did training in business and computer studies � skills for which thereis increasing demand in the mainstream labour market � had less employment success than thosewho did social work and healthcare training (AET, 2000).10 Moreover, professional services such asaccountancy, law and medicine are protected by the licensing and registration requirements, whichare often long and costly processes; a subject we will return to in the next section.

Lack of accessible information is another major external barrier (see for example, Barer, 1999).Systematic tailor-made information and advice services for refugees are very limited and tend to beLondon-based. Many individuals may not be even aware of the availability of these services. This isevident from the fact that the number of individuals who make use of these services as compared tothe yearly figure of asylum applications is extremely low. In our survey, we found that most respond-ents use friends and community organisations as a source of information and advice. This raises thequestion whether community organisations have the capacity to offer the quality of information andadvice required about the labour market.

The fourth external factor is of course discrimination and racism. This has been highlighted in almostall previous researches as well as our own survey. However, unlike migrant and minority groups whoplace the cause of their predicament squarely at the door of racism, the role of this factor on refugeeemployment needs to be examined in the context of the multi-faceted layers discussed above.

In conclusion, refugee unemployment problems cannot be explained in the conventional concepts ofbeing voluntary, frictional or even structural.11 These concepts mainly apply to those who are al-ready in the workforce while refugees have faced barriers that have severely limited their participa-tion in the labour market. Some of these barriers are internal to refugees and consequently can betackled through orientation, training and education. However, other barriers relate to external condi-tions about which refugees are virtually powerless to do anything and which need legislative andpolicy intervention.

9 For example asylum seekers are not eligible for statutory loans and grants for higher education. They might even berequired to pay the overseas rate fee if they want to finance their study. Also. they are not currently eligible forgovernment funded vocational training.10 This problem has also been highlighted in RTEC, 1993. These findings corroborate with the dual labour markettheory which argues that labour market is segmented and therefore, individuals from different socio-economicbackground do not have equal chance of accessing employment in all sectors, despite having comparable level ofqualification (see for example Atkinson, et al, 1986)11 Voluntary unemployment arises when people are unwilling to take up employment at the going wage rate whereasfrictional unemployment is caused by the time it takes to change jobs. Structural unemployment, on the other hand,arises as a result of changes in technology and economic structure ( see for example, Cruwen, 1994)

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In the following sections of this report, we shall examine how these barriers are manifested in routesand pathways refugees take to find suitable employment.

5.2 Transition ModelsTony Marshall in his book �Career Guidance with Refugees� (1992), distinguishes the following stagesin refugees career pattern:

Disorientation is a time when one learns to come to terms with a new environment and is over-whelmed by basic survival needs such as food, housing and asylum. At this stage people might needmore counselling, orientation and confidence building support. Optimism is a stage when especiallyqualified refugees might start seeking employment commensurate to their qualification or look forpostgraduate education. Disillusionment and depression arises when optimism is frustrated by thenumber of job applications turned down and lack of funds. A �Trigger�, on the other hand, is causedby a piece of information about an opportunity either from friends, community groups, tutors oradvisors which might be followed by opportunities such as training, bridge course, funding etc. Thiscould eventually lead to suitable employment or lack of it as in �a� (suitable employment),�b� (underemployment), and �c� (unemployment) on Fig 1.

Instructive as this model is, its usefulness for analyses of our data is limited for two reasons. Firstly,it primarily focuses on the psychological cycle that refugees experience. Secondly, because of thetiming of the writing of the book, it fails to capture changes in the diversity of the refugee popula-tion as well as changes in immigration and asylum laws.

Another transition model developed by the Employment Policy Advisor at the Refugee Councilidentifies four stages (Please see appendix V for the diagram).

1. Reception/Verification2. Orientation (e.g., information about U.K. education, training and employment system,

ESOL)3. Pathways to work (e.g. careers advice, tailor-made orientation, confidence building, key

skills, work based learning for adults, re-qualification and conversion courses)4. In Job Support (e.g. job search, job preparation, specialist recruitment)

Such a sketch of stages in service provision is useful and will be adopted in our study. However, aswe shall see in this report, it is difficult to discern a common pathway for all refugees. Therefore, aservice provision model should also acknowledge diversity between various groups of refugees.

Mo

rale

Time

1 Dis- orientation

(a)

(b)6 Direction

(c)

2 Optimism

3 Disillusionment

4 Trigger

5 Opportunity

Figure 1: Tony Marshall�s Transition Model

under employment

unemployment

suitable employment

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6. Analysis of refugees� responses to questionnaires

In this section we will try to discern the pathways refugees have taken in seeking and finding suitableemployment based on analysis of questionnaires. We start by presenting a characteristic profile ofrespondents and their various stages of their destinations after arrival in the U.K. This will be fol-lowed by analyses of their pathways. The section ends by attempting a model pathway. Case studiesof some individual refugees have been included in the appendices.

6.1 Characteristic profile of respondents upon arrival

Ethnicity, age and genderThe 30 respondents are from diverse ethnic backgrounds: Middle East, Africa, Europe, Asia, andSouth America (please see appendix IV for the country of origin of respondents). Nineteen of theseare men while eleven of them are women. Sixty per cent are between the ages of 35 and 45 whiletwenty per cent are below the age of 35.

Educational background upon arrivalForty-seven per cent of respondents had a graduate degree as their highest qualification when theyarrived in U.K. while twenty per cent had a postgraduate degree. Another 20 per cent had a second-ary school or below level of education when they arrived whereas 13 per cent had post-secondaryschool training.

Employment background upon arrivalTwenty-four respondents had paid employment experience when they arrived out of which sixteenworked in the public sector, some of whom also worked in a self-employed professional capacity asfamily doctors, dentists and lawyers. Only four people had worked for private companies and threefor non-governmental organisations. One respondent was a self-employed businessman.

In summary, most of our respondents are middle-aged men who had a high level of educationalqualification and employment experience in the public sector in their country of origin.

Table 1: Employment sectors of those who had employment experience in their country of origin12

12 Please note that the percentages are computed out of 24 respondents who had experience. Please also note that thefigures do not sum up 24 & 100 per cent because people have worked in more than one sector. Some respondentshave worked in both public and private sectors. For example, some medical doctors run private clinics while at thesame time working in hospitals.

rotceS rebmuN egatnecreP

cilbuP 61 76

seitirahc/sOGN 3 21

seinapmocetavirP 4 71

lanoisseforpdeyolpme-fleS 6 52

ssenisubdeyolpme-fleS 1 4

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6.2 Destinations after arrival

EmploymentSixty-three per cent of our respondents are currently unemployed. The average period of unemploy-ment for all our respondents is about five years. Of those who are in employment, two are under-employed working in security and similar areas though they have graduate and post-graduate qualifi-cations from the U.K. Forty-five per cent of those who are in employment found their present jobwithin the last year.

Thirteen of our respondents (43 per cent) had some sort of paid employment experience betweentheir arrival and their present circumstance (whether employed or unemployed). However, seven ofthese had their paid employment in retail, cleaning, catering and security jobs. Two people haveworked as a mail sorter and dressmaker. Only four people have worked in what could be called asemi-professional capacity such as Assistant Librarian, Assistant Newspaper Editor/Graphic De-signer, Refugee Project/Development Worker, and Temporary Event Organiser/Project Evaluator.

Personal contact is the most common means of applying for jobs for those who have employmentexperience in the U.K. The use of newspapers ranks second in the list. Fewer people have usedvoluntary work or mainstream employment services such as the job centre to find a job.

Education and trainingSix of our respondents did their graduate degree in the U.K. Five of these (83 per cent) are currentlyin employment. The common feature of these respondents is that they arrived when relatively youngand they did not have paid employment in their country of origin. Five respondents have donepostgraduate degrees since they arrived in subjects such as Chemistry, Environmental Science, Man-power Studies and International Politics (see R7, R8, R10, R11 and R12 in Appendix IV).

However, in sharp contrast to those who did their graduate studies in the U.K., four of these (80 percent) are unemployed and even the one who is in employment is one of the under-employed re-spondents.

Other short term training courses taken by respondents were Information Technology, ESOL, Elec-tronics, Computer Networking, Insurance, Technician Level Accountancy, Administration, PersonalDevelopment, Health and Social Care, Advice, Job Search, APEL, Interpretation and Nursing. Themost common of these were IT and ESOL.

13 Of course some refugees use more than one medium to find work successfully.

Table 2: Medium used to find a job13

bojadnifotdesumuideM stnednopserforebmuN egatnecreP

ertneCboJ 2 11

repapsweN 4 22

ytinummoc&tcatnoclanosreP 8 54

krowyratnuloV 2 11

rosivdareeracycnegaeegufeR 2 11

latoT 81 001

20

Career GuidanceIn response to the question asking whether they have received career guidance from listed sources,the majority of respondents (about 60 per cent) said that they have been advised by friends andcommunity organisations. Five respondents said they had never sought any career advice from any-where. It is interesting to note that those respondents who have attended guidance training coursessuch as RETAS�s Job Search and RAGU�s APEL14 had more chances of finding temporary or fulltime employment than others (see for example R22, R23, R25 in Appendix IV). This shows thatreceiving a customised guidance course is more effective than a one-off advice service.

The questionnaire also showed that those who use job centres, colleges, and local council adviceservices generally tend to be the ones who have stayed in the U.K. for a longer period of time. Otheragencies used by the respondents for career guidance were the Refugee Council�s Training and Em-ployment Section and the Africa Educational Trust (See table 3).

14 RETAS : Refugee Education Training and Advisory Services RAGU: Refugee Assessment and Guidance Unit APEL: Accreditation of Prior Experiential Learning15 The percentage refers to the numbers out of the 30 surveyed that have used a particular approach.

Considering the monthly and yearly number of asylum applications, it seems that the majority ofasylum seekers and refugees do not make use of refugee career guidance services. An independentsurvey is needed to establish a more accurate picture of this issue.

Placements and voluntary workPlacements in the form of clinical attachments are very common among regulated professions suchas Medicine and Dentistry for those who are aspiring to re-qualify. Some people find placementopportunities as a part of a work-based learning program. Other professionals have been assisted byguidance agencies such as RETAS and RAGU to find a placement without necessarily doing training.

Eight of our respondents (27 per cent) have done voluntary work. The common feature of this groupis that they tend to be qualified and middle-aged (See R6, R8, R10, R11, R12, R20, R21, R23 inappendix IV). It is ironic that only one of these is currently in paid employment.

Table 3: Career guidance centres used by respondents15

ycnegA rebmuN egatnecreP

ertneCboJ 3 01

)SET(licnuoCeegufeR 3 01

UGAR 5 71

SATER 5 71

tsurTlanoitacudEacirfA 1 3

segelloC/seitisrevinU 6 02

secivresreeraclicnuoC 4 31

noitasinagroytinummoC 8 72

sdneirF 01 33

ecivdareeracdahreveN 5 71

21

If we were to make a judgement from this evidence we could say that, unlike the findings of someprevious studies,16 �those who volunteer do not necessarily have a better chance of securing suitable employmentthan those who don�t.� However, as we will see shortly, those who tend to volunteer as a means toemployment are those who already have multiple disadvantages such as age and over-qualification.In any case, more independent research would be needed to establish the role of volunteering as aroute to employment.17

To summarise, our data corroborates the findings of previous research that most refugees are unem-ployed or underemployed. Informal personal contact is the most common means of getting informa-tion and advice as well as for applying for jobs, except for those who have stayed in the U.K. for alonger period of time and who tend to use mainstream career and employment services. It alsoappears that the higher the level of qualification and work experience in one�s country of origin, themore difficult it is to secure suitable employment.

6.3. Employment barriers as seen by refugees

16 One such study has been cited in section 7 of this report.17 A research project on establishing a link between volunteering and employment was conducted by SusanStopforth 2000.18

Respondents were asked to list up to three main barriers to employment for themselves.

The questionnaire respondents saw English language skills and the lack of U.K work experience asthe two most important barriers. These were followed by other factors such as the lack of recognitionof overseas qualification and lack of orientation to the U.K labour market and job culture. (SeeTable 4). This would seem to substantiate the findings of the research sponsored by the PeabodyTrust (Barer, 1999).

Table 4: Employment barriers as seen by refugees18

reirraBfoepyT stnednopserforebmuN

noitacifilauqsaesrevofoytidilavnI 9lliksegaugnalhsilgnEfokcaL 61

ecneirepxekrow.K.UfokcaL 11sutatsnoitargimmI 5

slliksretupmocfokcaL 6noitanimircsiddnaecidujerP 4

ecivdadnanoitamrofnifokcaL 4eracdlihC 2

noitacifilauq-revO 2secnerefer.K.UfokcaL 2

gniniartrofgnidnuffokcaL 3egA 2

noititepmoC 1smelborpgnisuoH 1

krow.K.UfognidnatsrednufokcaLtekramruobaldnaerutluc 9

22

6.4 Issues within employment

For the question asking what issues refugees who are already in employment face, most respondentsgave comments such as the following:

� Fellow workers create problems; they want to become managers and tell you what to do.�

� Although I am hard working and competent there is no promotion because there is hiddendiscrimination.�

� Managers have a condescending attitude.�

� There are cultural differences.�

It should also be noted that there are some respondents who are satisfied in their current job and didnot raise any significant work place issues. However, since the percentage of our respondents whoare currently in employment is very low, no conclusive statement can be made about issues thatrefugees in employment face. The subject requires independent research of its own.

6.5 Common pathways to employment

The survey reveals that some common routes to employment have emerged. This provides a basis onwhich to decide whether more specialised support is required. This includes the paths taken by thosein work and those still seeking work. The pathways of each individual respondent have been pre-sented in Appendix IV. From this, we have discerned four common patterns:

i. Those who arrive at a young age and did not have paid employment experience in theircountry of origin;

ii. Professionals who need to be licensed and registered to practice their professions;iii. Qualified individuals with managerial, administrative and other professional backgrounds;iv. Unqualified adults, i.e., those who have little formal education.

i. Those who arrive young

This is a typical route followed by people who arrive up to the age of 21 with or without collegeeducation. Their first problem is, of course, English language. They might need to do GCSEs19 andA levels20 to go to higher education. The older ones such as R25 (questionnaire respondent - seeAppendix IV) might take alternative routes such as GNVQs21 and Access courses. Over all, thisgroup seems to have a better chance of securing private and public sector employment than others(see R3, R13, R15, R16 and R24 in appendix IV).

19 General Certificate of Secondary Education20 Advanced level21 General National Vocational Qualification

23

Young people up to the age of 18 have free access to schools as well as some further educationcourses. However, the practicality of finding places in schools or colleges at a time when this isneeded is complex and can often mean refugees having no education for a while. Lack of employ-ment opportunities and proficiency in English also limit the chance of young refugees accessingopportunities such as Modern Apprenticeships, National Traineeships and New Deal schemes.

ii. Those in regulated professions

The main barrier for this category is re-qualification requirements. This is especially the case fordoctors and lawyers. Doctors need to pass at least three examinations (IELTS, PLAB22 stage 1 & 2) toqualify for limited registration with the General Medical Council. As well as the cost of preparationfees, the examination costs are high and some hospitals ask for a weekly tuition of up to £85 forclinical attachments. The pass rate for the PLAB examination is estimated to be only 35 per cent. Asone informant told us,23 there are many people who remain unemployed even after passing all stages.The same is true with lawyers, especially those from non-EU and non-common law jurisdictioncountries.24

None of our professional respondents have gone through all the processes and found suitable em-ployment. Some have recently embarked on the process (see R1, R2, R19 in appendix IV). Othershave converted to related semi-professional areas. For example, R12 has converted from a law back-ground to advocacy work with communities and a Citizens Advice Bureau. A course on advocacyhas helped him to achieve this. R20, who was a medical doctor, has converted to a health adviceoccupation after doing various courses on advice issues to do with money, health and homelessnessadvice. R29, was also a medical doctor, converted to senior staff nursing after taking a nursingadaptation course. Some teachers, apparently unable to meet the qualified teachers status require-ment which, among other things, requires advanced communication skills, have taken related con-version courses that helped them find employment in interpretation, translation, advice and commu-nity work. Although these new conversion careers are not equivalent to previous occupations, theyhave helped a move towards more suitable employment.

22 IELTS stands for International English Language Test Services and PLAB stands for Professional and LinguisticAssessment Board23 Interview with Refugees Into Job Co-ordinator24 See Hernan Rosenkranz, The Refugee Professionals� Guide on Assessment and Recognition of OverseasQualifications.

Figure 2: Young refugees� route to employment

BasicESOL

Arrival GNVQ orA level

Access toHE course

HigherEducation

Temporaryjobs

Fulltimeemployment

Completedprimary,secondaryschool orcollege coursein homecountry

IntermediateESOL

24

Therefore, using Tony Marshall�s transition model, the likelihood of refugees in regulated profes-sions finding the same job is low. However, there is a reasonable chance of them finding a relatedless-qualified job, which would mean underemployment (b).

iii. Qualified individuals with managerial and administrative skills

This group has got the least clear path of all. As there is no established re-qualification route,individuals in this category are their own pathfinders.

As Tony Marshall suggests, qualified individuals with management and administrative skills startwith optimism by doing a Masters or a Doctorate level of education and by applying for related jobs.When this fails, as very often it does, they seek careers advice, do work based learning courses andvoluntary work. When entry occurs into the labour market it is likely to be at a much lower level thananticipated as expectations have decreased. They are very likely to be in the majority of qualifiedrefugees who are unemployed (see R6, R7, R8, R9, R11, R18, R21, R25 in appendix IV).

Figure 3: Routes to employment of refugees in regulated professions

Figure 4: Routes to employment of qualified refugeeswith managerial and administrative experience.

Arrival - Benefit- Housing- Asylum

Low paidcasualjobs

Unsuccessfuljob

applications

Freelance,sessionalandtemporaryjobs

- WBLA- Placement- Volunteering

Orientation,ESOL, IT

Postgraduateeducation

Arrival

- Benefit- Housing- Asylum

- Guidance- Intermediate ESOL- Professional English

- WBLA- Placement,Volunteering

Employmentin relatedareas (e.g.,advocacy,community)

SuitableEmployment

Re-qualificationroute

Conversionroute

25

iv. Common pathways for non-qualified adults25

As we do not have questionnaire respondents in this category, we rely on our discussion withinformants and our own observations.

Most individuals in this category generally tend to have some manual and craft skills including cater-ing, dressmaking and hairdressing. Others could be unskilled. In either case, as one informant toldus,26 they are willing and ready to take up jobs, albeit temporary, part-time or low paid. Because oflack of formal education, language is the major barrier for this group - hence the need for differentlevels of ESOL training. As this group is composed mainly of women27 , childcare is another barrier.

In short, this group is characterised by a willingness to take up jobs without fear of being underem-ployed on one hand, and language and childcare barriers on the other hand. This is reflected in thevariety of routes they follow as in Fig.5.

25 This is to mean adults with little formal education26 Interview with Integra Refugee Employment and Advice Centre27 The fact that more refugee women than men are prepared to take low paid and part time jobs has also beenhighlighted in the recent Peabody Trust report (Barer, 1999).

Figure 5: Routes to employment for unqualified refugees

Arrival- Benefit- Housing- Asylum

Inter-mediateESOL

Selfemployment(catering,hairdressing,minicab, etc)

Temporaryor part-time workin clerical,sales, care,etc

Jobsearchsupport

Basic skillstraining suchas ESOL, IT,literacy,numeracy

P/T FEcourses

WBLAcourses

Employmentin catering,retail etc,childcare

Householdmanagement

26

Figure 6: Model Pathway

Conclusion: �Model Pathway� based on previous models.

(Reception)Communityled service

(Gateway training)Refugee Agenciesled service

(Integration)Mainstreamservices

Arrival

Counselling Housing,Benefit,

Health (GP)

Basic ESOL& IT

Orientation and guidance course

APELBasic skillsESOL & IT(continued)

Planfor

Action

Re-qualification Conversion Postgraduateeducation

Higher LevelESOL

- Placement- Volunteering

-Job searchsupport (e.g.,Job brokerage)

ApprenticeshipMentoring

GNVQ A level

Highereducation

Suitableemploymentincluding self-employment

IntermediateESOL

WBLA

Information

Professional& AcademicEnglish

Professionals The young Non-qualified

27

The essence of the model as compared to the two examined in the literature review section is three-fold. Firstly, an attempt to chart refugees� pathways to employment should come within a �gateway�type phase, which would include guidance, the chance to learn basic skills, awareness raising aboutopportunities and constraints in the labour market, assessment and self assessment.28 After, this,individuals would be able to make informed choices about their career. It is important that that isprovided as early as possible and preferably before leave to remain is granted.29 The guidance trainingitself could last for three months, as in the case of APEL and should be followed by integrationsupport from refugee agencies and mainstream service providers. At present, only comparatively fewasylum seekers access APEL and guidance. This is due to them having to deal with other issues aswell as being able to find their way through the system to these providers. Where refugees are stillnot eligible for having their studies funded by statutory grants or loans they would benefit fromsubsidised customised training, such as with �New Deal� provision or a specialist job brokerage whichhas �Into Job� support.

Secondly, the employment pathway model should acknowledge different routes followed by variousgroups such as the young, the professionals, those with managerial and administrative backgroundsand the unqualified but skilled adults. The fact that they follow different paths shows that they facedifferent types of barriers. This calls for different strategic interventions.

Thirdly, at each stage of transition, the degree of roles played by various agencies should be speltout. For example, refugee community organisations (RCOs) are best placed to play a leading role atthe reception stage. Non-community refugee agencies are better equipped to deal with the stage ofgateway guidance and training, though this should not totally exclude RCOs. Gradually, as peopleare integrated into a wider society, it could be easier to access the mainstream services including onesoffered by and for ethnic minorities. However, there should be flexibility for refugees still to accessguidance and courses even when they are well into the �integration� phase as they are likely to requiremore specialist services then. There is also room for refugees and their advisers to make greater useof information technology as a resource to access the relevant services.

28 Such assessment and self assessment is currently being carried out through a three-month long APEL programmeof RAGU and a one week Plan for Action Workshop of TES. Through APEL programme professional refugees areenabled to build a portfolio of their previous achievements whether through education or experience. This wouldenable guidance provision on appropriate additional education or training needed. Plan for Action on the other handinvolves intensive orientation about the trends in the labour market and key skills assessment such as literacy(writing, reading and speaking) numeracy, IT, problem solving and team work. At the end of the workshop, clientshave an idea of their training needs and with the help of an advisor, they can set a tentative workable goals and drafta specific action plans for achieving them. Currently, TES�s Plan for Action workshop is provided only for potentialtrainees.29

This may be more likely given the October 2001 Home Office announcement of new legislation and the possiblitiesof the asylum seeker strand of the EQUAL European funding. This seeks to promote transnational partnerships toaddress disadvantage in access to employment and training in the European Union.

28

7. Analysis of interviews / contact with organisations

Many refugee community organisations and refugee agencies put a great deal of emphasis on theemployment and employability of refugees. However, this tends to come after basic and immediateneeds such as immigration, housing, and welfare services being satisfactorily resolved. In order toassist their clients settling into an �unfamiliar� society these organisations mainly deploy their scantresources to provide basic skills training by way of numeracy and literacy, ESOL and IT training, andsupplementary education. Some also provide career advice with training. They assist refugees in theirjob search, work placement, voluntary work, assessment of prior learning and re-qualification schemes(for qualified refugees).

7.1 Employment barriers as seen by refugee community organisations and refugee agencies

The interview results more or less confirm the type and nature of employment barriers identified bythe employment literature. The results of the respondents can be classified as follows:

For refugees

� Lack of language and communication skills: These can affect refugees in the job searchprocess.

� Mental stress and trauma: As well as having to leave their homeland in difficult circum-stances refugees face increasing disorientation in the country of asylum as they face differingphysical, social and cultural environments.

� Lack of information: Lack of knowledge on how the employment system operates. As oneinterviewee said: �Those who get jobs are those who know the grapevine�. `They do not fullyunderstand the U.K. system of job-hunting, which is different from that of their countries oforigin� (Marshall, 1989).

� Cultural barriers: The culture of job seeking and work in the west involves mannerismssuch as accent, body language and codes of dress which often for many are entirely differentfrom that of their home countries.

� Long-term unemployment: Refugees often naively believe that they will find suitableemployment easily. Subsequently, many are not prepared for the greater effort required, be-come discouraged and are not keen to write speculative applications directly to employers ontheir own initiative perhaps due to cultural constraints or fear of rejection.

� Financial difficulties: Refugees lack the money to cover fees, travel expenses and costs ofchildcare during training. This limits their choice of work and training to very local areas,which in turn affects the choice and quality of employment and training taken. In manycases, refugees are confined to their own communities which are in no position to help themfind employment due to lack of resources and facilities. This psychological dependency ontheir own communities is often in addition to welfare dependency of the �benefits trap�,where a full time job that could possibly be gained would not pay enough, especially for thosewith families, to make it worthwhile. Due to financial hardship some refugees are not evenwilling to volunteer and would rather prefer to engage in informal employment picking upmenial jobs, usually part-time, to supplement their welfare benefits so as to meet their basicneeds.

29

By employers and funders

� Lack of adequate training: Agencies and RCOs believe this in part due to lack of suffi-cient resources. Funders often give very little emphasis to personal development, ESOLtraining or certain vocational training, such as practical trades, which have higher set upcosts. They attach stringent financial conditions such as employment outcome targets beforethey earmark funds, which cannot be met by training providers.

� Racism and prejudice: In addition to issues mentioned in the literature review the mediaalso plays a significant role in portraying negative images of refugees. As one of the inter-viewees pointed out, �the power of the media is overwhelming and to counter that is diffi-cult�.

� Negative stereotyping: Agencies also say that many employers are not willing to acceptrefugees as their potential employees because they perceive that refugees are unable to workthe way they want them to work. Moreover, refugees are indirectly discriminated againstwhen they are asked to show the Home Office document, which makes them eligible forwork. Many employers do not understand which documents are needed. Also, since the 1996Asylum & Immigration Act employers can be fined if they employ those without the correctpapers. This in turn has affected employers� willingness to recruit refugees, as many employ-ers are worried that they may be �illegal� immigrants and do not make the effort to makeproper enquiries about their documentation.

� Lack of recognition of overseas qualifications: This is a particular problem mainly en-countered by highly educated refugees in regulated professions. They not only have to passarduous testing processes set by assessing bodies, but also have to shoulder the burden ofvery expensive test fees. There are no specialist services at affordable prices. For example, asfrom April 2001 the General Medical Council set fees for the PLAB test of £145 for part oneand £430 for part two. In addition, there are fees for the IECTS exam and preparation, clini-cal attachment, etc. Consequently, these costs are a significant barrier for refugee medicaldoctors who are likely to have no source of income.

� Lack of childcare facilities: Refugee women with children who are well qualified and eligi-ble to work stay at home to look after their children due to lack of childcare facilities. Thisalso applies to some men with children whose partners are at work or do not live with them.

Notwithstanding these difficulties, the road to success in gaining employment depends, in part,on the perseverance and the amount of effort refugees put into pursuing their personal and careerdevelopment. Most importantly, it also depends on the degree of adjustment refugees make tothe new and totally alien environment and work culture.

30

Key elements in progression to employment

The organisations (see Appendix 1) that were interviewed identified the following as being cru-cial in the progression to employment for refugees.

� Personal development: The need to identify past experiences, personal skills and abilitiesand the level of confidence of the refugees who seek employment is of paramount impor-tance. Confidence, commitment, determination, vigour, optimism, assertiveness and energyare some essential qualities. These coupled with their own resilience, industriousness, anddiverse socio-cultural backgrounds can put some refugees at an advantageous position foremployment in advice, international media and translation/interpreting work.

� Training: These usually include courses such as ESOL and IT, communication skills andjob search, and employment preparation. Even more important are customised and market-able courses such as catering, childcare, dressmaking and hairdressing which are intimatelylinked with the needs of employers and are personally useful to refugees within their owncommunities.

� Careers advice and guidance: Careers advice and guidance provides information on op-tions and helps refugees decide on the most appropriate education, training and employmentto take. It is useful at different stages of the progression route. This support also helps refu-gees to become focused on their job search efforts.

� Volunteering: Unlike someone on a work placement, a volunteer may not necessarily intendto move into permanent employment. According to a recent study, volunteering in refugeecommunity organisations ranges from:

the governance and management functions carried out by trustees and management committee mem-bers to the direct service delivery which usually involves advice on a wide range of issues ( immigra-tion and asylum, housing, welfare rights, education and employment etc) as well as advocacy andinterpretation to numerous agencies. (Gillett, and Gregg, 1999)

Although it is normally done out of sheer commitment to serve people from their own orother communities, there are still many refugees who use voluntary work as a route to obtain-ing employment. For example, the above study demonstrates 81 per cent of those with pro-fessional jobs had done voluntary work.

� Work placement: Work placement with an employer, normally part of a course, has be-come one of the most effective ways of helping the unemployed gain first-hand experienceof the U.K. work environment and its requirements. It can also assist people in finding out ifthey are suited to certain types of work. A work placement can help provide a reference,which is a major requirement for a job seeker. Yet, there is still the problem of finding goodplacements in the private sector. Many placements lack adequate supervision and are tooroutine in nature. Consequently, refugees have few opportunities to develop the vital workrelated skills needed. In addition, most of these placements do not lead to paid jobs.

31

� Mentoring: One to one support from more experienced professionals is another very effec-tive way of assisting refugees into employment. The mentors could be refugees themselves,thus having both an in-depth knowledge of the talents, needs and aspirations of their fellowrefugees and the employers� needs.

� Networking: Personal contacts both within their communities and outside have helped refu-gees find employment. There seems to be a common understanding among refugee commu-nity organisations and refugee agencies that through networking �you always know somebodywho knows somebody� who can assist in the progression route to employment. In reality thisis usually limited to a narrow range of jobs within the refugee voluntary sector and small-scale private sector. Referrals to suitable training providers and workplaces have enabledmany unemployed refugees to gain access to further training and/or employment. However,in the public sector and the wider voluntary sector equal opportunities policies only get therefugee to the �starting line� of applying and perhaps to an interview. For most refugees ac-cess to the �grapevine� of jobs in the corporate sector is particularly hard.

� Self-employment: Many refugees often opt for this when formal avenues are not availableto them and because they want independence. Small businesses such as shops, restaurants,and textile work are among the most common businesses that refugees are involved with andoften serve their own communities rather than the wider society.

7.2 Overview of existing training and careers advice services

7.2.1 Profile of clients receiving services from different organisations

The educational attainment of refugees who receive training and careers advice services vary fromthose with higher degrees and diplomas to those who can hardly read and write in English or eventheir own languages. The numbers of well-educated refugees is high in many refugee communities. Inthe Kurdish Cultural Centre, qualified refugees i.e., refugees with first and second degrees (mostlyIraqis) represent about 80 per cent of their clients.

Quite a few of the refugee agencies concentrate on working with professionals. At Praxis, statisticsshows that out of 100 sample group 43 per cent had 1st degree, 12 per cent had an MA or MSc, and7 per cent had a PhD both from U.K. and overseas. At the Migrant Training Centre, the majority havedegrees and diplomas from their own countries: doctors, teachers, lawyers, and even former minis-ters. All of the Refugee Health Professionals Project�s clients have overseas qualifications and ad-equate work experience. At the University of North London RAGU project, 60 per cent of refugeeshave a first degree and above.

Some services target, for instance, young people (i.e. Connexions) or women. Yet, even from thislimited study of providers, there can be unintentional bias in providing for all. This can manifestitself by women being disproportionately attracted to ESOL classes and men to IT training. Thesebiases will remain unless corrective equal opportunites action is taken.

32

7.2.2 Advice services

The programmes of many refugee community organisations focus mainly on asylum seekers from thesame cultural backgrounds who face issues related to immigration, housing, welfare/benefits, health,childcare and the education of school age children. As most of these issues are pressing and most ofthese groups are underfunded and understaffed, they often have to put clients on a waiting list.

Refugee community organisations also emphasise that the social and cultural needs of refugees areequally as important as education. Indeed, the fulfilment of these needs can strengthen the effective-ness of employment and education advice and subsequent referral to other agencies. In most com-munities, employment and education advice tends to be given informally according to the immediateneeds of their clients, though usually they do not have the capacity to properly advise those withhigher qualifications. Sometimes people will be referred to the more specialist agencies but if, asoften happens, there are insufficient links, then the client will have to find their own way to theappropriate support.

Using advice skills gained in these areas, some RCOs have developed education and employmentguidance services. These include the individual refugee training partnerships in central London, whichhave given their members direct access to careers advice services provided locally. Also, some oftheir members such as GHARWEG and African Council Immigration Service (ACCIS) offer servicesfor clients from more than one country, a trend which funders seem increasingly keen to see.

The Refugee Council�s Training and Employment Section (TES) provides a major vocational andself-employment advice service to refugees, seeing over 2,500 individuals a year. RETAS, thoughtending to concentrate on professional refugees, is also a major provider of advice on training andemployment. In 2000, it saw over 100 clients for job search and 30 each for business start up andNVQ level 3 in advice work. Meanwhile, the Refugee Employment Advice Service at HounslowLaw Centre deals with a cross section of enquiries, ranging from rights to study and work to ESOLto re-qualification and job seeking. Even here, 44 per cent of clients are from professional back-grounds.

In other agencies like Enterprise Careers Services and South Bank Careers the number of refugeeclients does not exceed 5 per cent, as their mandate is to primarily offer services to non-refugees.They were initially set up to serve young people between the ages of 16 and 21, irrespective ofethnic and racial background or whether a person is a refugee or an asylum seeker. Quite a lot ofyoung refugees will go to these services as they have been referred through the education system. Incontrast to these agencies, there is no age limit for the services offered by refugee community organi-sations, though most of their clients are over the age of 25.

7.2.3 Training

Most refugee community organisations and refugee agencies run similar training programmes al-though the level and scale of the training may vary from one organisation to the other. The mostcommon are basic skills training (literacy and numeracy); ESOL and IT levels I and II; job searchskills such as writing application forms and CVs; conducting mock interviews, mentoring, offeringwork placements and referrals.

Refugee communities and agencies like the Kurdish Cultural Centre, Kurdish Community Centre,Tamil Relief Centre, Praxis, Somali Welfare Association and Lewisham Refugee Network offer mothertongue development, supplementary education, interpreting and translation services.

33

Some organisations provide customised training such as food hygiene (Pecan Ltd, An-Viet Founda-tion); hairdressing, dressmaking, catering (Ebenezer Welfare Centre, Praxis); a number of Somaliorganisations offer opportunities for their women clients to develop their sewing skills, homeworkclub for children (Islington Africa Project) and child-care courses for ethnic minorities (SpringboardHackney, Praxis). According to the Training Officer at Praxis, courses such as childcare, interpret-ing, and access to nursing have an employment success rate of about 50 per cent, which includespart-time, freelance, temporary and permanent jobs. Also, the Refugee Women�s Association Wom-en�s Empowerment Project has uniquely combined training in ESOL, health and social care, outreachwork and business set up. This sort of creative response helps to link with Government initiativessuch as Health Action Zones as well as to build up the communities� capacity in self-management.This in turn allows people more choice in decisions as to what type of employment they take up.

A few organisations run specialised courses; the Tamil Refugee Training and Employment Centre(TRTEC) runs a hardware computer maintenance course and Haringey Refugee Consortium hasdeveloped a course to register drivers of mini-cabs (a good example of encouraging a self-employ-ment possibility).

The Training & Employment Section (TES) at The Refugee Council is the largest single refugeebased training provider offering training in a range of popular courses (see case study 3). However,elsewhere the services are comparatively specialist; i.e., for professional refugees at RAGU; RefugeeHealth Professionals Project (formerly Redbridge Signposting Centre) and RETAS.

Many of the larger refugee agencies, RAGU, RETAS and Refugee Women�s Association, are in-volved in European trans-national projects. These have been invaluable in sharing good practice infields such as accreditation, advice, training and employment services.

Programmes at RAGU offer courses specifically designed for professionals such as fast track routesto re-qualification, referrals to professional bodies (mainly universities) and IT skills. In this process,RAGU and Refugees into Jobs (see case Study 2 in appendix VI) provide bridge courses for profes-sionals to re-qualify and opportunities for professionals and skilled workers to consider and to workin areas related to their original profession, where direct re-qualification becomes too difficult. RAGUalso uses a unique customised course known as Accreditation of Prior Experiential Learning (APEL)which helps trainees to codify the skills they have acquired through experience as well as throughformal and informal training. It also helps to highlight gaps in formal and informal skills (personaldevelopment type) for the client to attain their employment goals.

The Refugee Health Professionals Project in co-operation with Redbridge & Waltham Forest HealthAuthority has developed a programme, which provides support to refugee doctors so they can requalifyby taking the PLAB test and IELTS exam.

34

7.2.4 Employment services

Presently, most into-job support focuses on training in job search skills such as CV writing, interviewtechniques, job application and job hunting. RETAS provides a tailor-made course for refugees inorientation and job search skills for professionals. RETAS, as the oldest refugee guidance agency,regularly publishes refugee education and training handbooks as well as careers information on vari-ous professions. It also runs regular self-employment courses and a small grants scheme. A morerecent RETAS initiative of providing an NVQ level 3 in Advice and Guidance has led to a 45 percent employment rate in related jobs. Importantly, Refugees into Jobs also has a grant scheme, butuses this to help its clients for items of clothing and equipment, which are needed for employment.

Ebenezer Welfare Association reports that up to 80 per cent (according to a 1998 report) of its dressmaking, hair dressing and care trainees succeeded in finding some form of employment, albeit casualor part-time, at cloth factories, nursing homes and hair salons. This is encouraging and shows thepotential for training in �personal services�. However, this does tend to be the exception rather thanthe rule.

A few agencies like Migrant Training Centre, the MELT project at Springboard Hackney and PecanLtd offer ESOL with office skills, job search and communications skills and they assist refugees tofind job vacancies. Some community organisations play an informal job brokerage role of matchingjob seekers with community member entrepreneurs. This is common for example in Vietnamese,Kurdish, and Turkish-run businesses such as restaurants and textile factories. The EmployabilityForum, led by the City Parochial Foundation, has built links with employers in the public and privatesector. It has established an employers network, which provides crucial opportunities for qualifiedrefugees to meet employers to show their credentials. The Employability Forum has also introducedspecialised refugee forums with employers in such fields as education, local authorities and finance.This forum receives referrals mainly from the major refugee training and advice agencies.

However, proactive liaison between refugee organisations and employers in job brokerage is limited.Whilst Refugees into Jobs and TES have significant work placement schemes, only the Tracks toEmployment project can be described as being a job brokerage project. running like a jobs agencyrecruiting refugees for employers. (See the selected case study in Appendix VI). Outside the refugeefield there are examples of customised training, such as at the Finsbury Park Community Trustwhich combines a short (approximately six week) job ready course with guaranteed interviews withemployers and ongoing support alongside the job for a limited period afterwards.

7.3 Gaps in training, careers advice and employment services

7.3.1 Careers advice

The careers advice services of the main refugee agencies are relatively well used but our survey alsosuggests that there are many refugees who have not yet used these services. If they are seen as a goodservice worth accessing, stronger efforts should be made to provide outreach careers advice or tocontract out services within the community

Based on this limited survey it is not possible to tell to what extent refugees make use of mainstreamcareer advice services. From our interviews, we found that a limited number of young refugees usemainstream agencies such as South Bank Careers and Enterprise Careers Services.

35

7.3.2 Training

By developing training partnerships between refugee community organisations, it is possible to ex-pand both the number of places offered on a course and the area it covers. The Refugee TrainingPartnership is a good example of this. It has enabled communities to get involved in training wherethey would otherwise have struggled with their own meager resources to do so. In time, with greaterco-operation it should be possible for partnerships to;

- avoid unnecessary duplication of training provision in a locality- bring indigenous organisations together with refugee community organisations, thereby

helping towards integration- use the expertise of refugee communities in self-management with training and advice of

their clients, thereby creating employment.- provide a greater number of training programmes with more diversity- make it easier to build links with external agencies

Training provision by refugee organisations has tended to focus on areas such as office skills (admin-istration, basic accountancy, computer literacy) and personal services such as care and hairdressing.There is little customised training provision (i.e., vocational training with ESOL support) and nonein skilled and semi-skilled trades such as carpentry, plumbing, car maintenance and assembly, engi-neering and electronics. Understandably, the cost of introducing such courses and developing cur-ricula could be high. However, as some training providers have shown, such courses could be con-tracted out to colleges, which are equipped to provide such training. Also, approaching and paying(through funding mechanisms) some employers to provide �apprenticeship� training is another strat-egy to create an employment route for people with craft skills.

It may be argued that the shortage of training in vocational trades is a reflection of the higher num-bers of people working in the service sector than the industrial sector. It is estimated that employ-ment in the service sector accounts for 70 per cent of U.K. employment. It may also be the case thatintroduction of such courses in skilled trades could be too costly to justify the expansion of curricu-lum development. It could be economically feasible to run these courses in mainstream centres.However, as yet there is no concrete data available on the number of refugees trained in this area.

7.3.3 Employment services

Refugee agencies and refugee community organisations usually lack the necessary resources to offerdirect employment services; i.e., job brokerage, which would lead to employment. They are under-funded and under-staffed. Nevertheless, refugees sometimes obtain such services from mainstreamorganisations such as employment centres and job clubs. Employment services run by refugee com-munity organisations are usually not particularly linked to mainstream provision.

Employment agencies such as the one run by Tracks to Employment could be replicated in order tohelp the unqualified but skilled group into jobs. There is also a role for refugee community organisa-tions in encouraging self-employment. This would not only help refugees use their existing skills, butwould help them learn new skills in a familiar environment that could be used both for the benefit oftheir communities and for the wider society. RCOs could refer their clients to a partnership schemeor specialist organisation, which understands the needs of refugees (RETAS and RAGU have en-tered into just such a partnership with another organisation for this purpose). In this way, specialistsupport in business planning, finance and marketing could be made available.

36

7.3.4 Development of partnerships

As figure 7 depicts, though the links RCOs and refugee agencies have with colleges and universitiesare encouraging, they need to be developed further if the resources of the latter are to be beneficialto refugee communities and agencies. The strong connection of RAGU with the University of NorthLondon; Refugee Advice Centre with Waltham Forest Adult Education Service; Ebenezer WelfareCentre with Waltham Forest College and City of London Business school; Refugee Into Jobs with theCollege of North West London are cases in point. Areas of co-operation between refugee agenciesand their university or college counterparts include franchising certain courses as the latter havelarger staff numbers and other facilities such as libraries and laboratories. Yet, as refugee communi-ties have links to people from their own nationalities, their own premises often make better placesfor new refugees to start courses. These links and partnerships assist in refugees� progression frombeing recipients of advice to undertaking training. Also, there should be scope for refugee commu-nity organisations to benefit from links with similar organisations from their own communities (i.e.through the use of information technology) across Europe as well as by being connected to trans-national partnerships of refugee agencies and colleges too.

However, the relationship between refugee agencies, RCOs and employers appears to be weaker andneeds a great deal of hard work to bridge the distance between them. Building up consortia orpartnerships would enable more focused work to be done with employers. Indeed, Boer suggestscloser links are needed between employers and training and advice organisations (Boer, 1999).

Moreover, refugees themselves have to put a little effort into making independent contact withemployers. For obvious reasons, especially in the early years of settlement, refugees depend heavilyon their own communities or refugee agencies to find employment. As a result, many refugees workin their own communities or even in the wider voluntary sector and these experiences should beaccredited. This can act as a means of progression in employment.

The exclusion refugees experience from many sections of the employment market is exacerbated byjob descriptions and person specifications that require high levels of U.K work experience and ofcommunication skills. For many jobs it is not necessary to have a high level of U.K. work experienceand a high level of communication skills. There is scope for work to be done with receptive employ-ers and for organisations such as the Basic Skills Agency to promote a concept of the appropriatelevel of English required for a job. Also, as many have proven, refugees can develop within jobs ifgiven the opportunity. Having a mentor within the workplace is likely to assist them to come toterms with potential misunderstandings and tensions.

The refugee sector has a relatively sporadic contact with the government�s Employment Services.Refugee organisations do not find New Deal programmes particularly easy to be involved in. A moretailored approach to working with refugees is needed, as refugees are often not fully benefiting fromthe New Deal initiative. This means increasing the knowledge of employment service personnelabout refugee needs and creating links with their communities, for instance by using interpreters.

37

If the links (dotted line = weaker) are not developed then much of the good work of training andemployment support risks being wasted. Various forms of partnerships among refugee agencies,refugee community organisations, training providers, local authorities, colleges and higher learninginstitutions and employers need to be developed. The strengthening of these links will benefit refu-gees, assisting in their progression routes into employment. Pooling resources and improving com-munication between these groups can help improve the progression routes into employment forrefugees.

Figure 7: Triangular network of agency relationships

RCOs &RefugeeAgencies

Colleges &Universities

Employers

Refugees

38

Conclusion and recommendations

In this study we set out to discern routes or pathways taken by refugees in seeking and findingsuitable employment. It emerges that at the moment there is no common pathway that all or mostrefugees follow. As our studies show, much depends on the individual�s own inspiration and advicefrom friends and community members. We have identified four common pathways, the length andthe complexity of which vary depending on the refugee�s age, level of qualification and type ofprofession. A brief description of these pathways is in the executive summary.

We have argued that because of its unique nature, refugee unemployment cannot be explained andtackled by conventional labour market policies such as level of pay, access to information, changesin technology and the structure of the economy. Undoubtedly, supply side policies such as training,re-training and increasing access to information are essential in tackling refugee unemployment andthere is a fair amount of support for this. However, since unemployment is only one of a number ofmulti-faceted problems that prevents refugees from fully participating in the economic and social lifeof the host society, a more holistic and vigorous intervention is needed. The starting point of suchintervention is the political goodwill of policy makers in dealing with the cause and effect of therefugee condition and in valuing their potential contribution. Once this is achieved, the stage is setfor influencing and shaping the perception of employers as well as the public and for adopting strat-egies to minimise barriers and shorten refugees� routes to employment.

In line with this argument and based on our findings, we would like to submit the following recom-mendations as possible intervention strategies:

1. The employment path model should acknowledge different paths followed by various groups anddesign appropriate intervention strategies for each group:

� Young refugees can be supported more through apprenticeships and mentoring programmes,though opportunities in all the sectors should be included.

� (A) Those in regulated professions need structured and regular support in the form of profes-sional language training and grants to enable them to re-qualify or to take up related posts.

(B) If a re-qualification route is found not to be feasible, pioneering bridging projects such asRAGU�s Co-educators for refugee teachers could be emulated for other professionals such asdoctors, lawyers, and engineers. Such standardised bridge courses could be designed withuniversities and must involve placements with employers.

� Qualified refugees with managerial and administrative skill should be supported throughemployment creation projects (see 7.3.3).

� There is a need for more training in practical skill areas (see 7.3.2, 7.3.3) by using collegesand employers.

39

2. Different agencies can play varying roles at different stages of transition:

� Refugee community organisations and Refugee training partnerships could play a leadingrole at the reception stage (see page 27).

� Guidance provision should be run by established refugee guidance agencies. These need tobe expanded in an appropriate way in the regions so as to meet the growing demand cre-ated by the dispersal of new asylum seekers.

� Mainstream training and career services that cater for ethnic minorities should be mademore accessible to refugees.

3. Equal opportunities in training.

� (A) There should be more support for travel and childcare expenses for refugees to takecourses.

(B) More localised provision of training is required so as to improve accessibility for somewomen, the disabled and the elderly.

4. There is a need for more flexible customised training provision for refugees especially wherethe chances of employment are good, for example in practical trades as well as advice, transla-tion, and so on.

5. Self-employment options for refugees, which develop existing skills, can be supported throughvarious initiatives.

6. Formal and informal partnerships should be developed in order to assist progression routes forrefugees.

7. Employers should be educated on the positive contributions refugees can make in order tocombat racism and discrimination.

8. The principle of �equality of opportunity� should apply to employment:

� (A) It needs to be made clear to employers that �the right to work� document available toasylum seekers six months after their application makes it legally acceptable for them to berecruited.

� (B) Job specifications should not demand exceptionally high levels of communication skillsand U.K. work experience which cannot be met by refugees. Refugees� comparative compe-tence advantages such as qualifications and language skills should be given credit.

� (C) In-work support or mentoring should be provided to assist refugees to develop theirpotential within the workplace. This would most likely have to be led by refugee agencies.

9. Specialised job brokerage work should be developed to provide more direct employmentopportunities for refugees.

40

10. Finally, we would like to recommend further areas of research relating to refugees� routes to employment:

� A survey on the use made by refugees of voluntary training and guidance services;� A survey on the use made by refugees of mainstream guidance and training service;� Tracking the destinations of those who have done work-based learning courses;� Tracking the destination of those who have been given educational grants;� Evaluating the effectiveness of business start-up grants given to refugees;� Career progression opportunities for refugees who are already in employment.

41

Bibliography

A.E.T., (1998a), Employment Issues Facing Young Refugees in Haringey,commissioned by Strategic Planning Unit, Haringey Council.

A.E.T., (1998b), Refugee Education Training and Development in Inner London:A Base Line Study, commissioned by Focus Central London.

A.E.T., (2000), Do Study Grants Help Refugees Find a Job?

Ahipeaud, M.J., (1998), Employment Training for Refugees in London: A Survey Analyses, Report of Pan London Refugee Training and Employment Network.

Atkinson, J & Gregory, D (1986) A Flexible Future: Britain�s Dual Labour Force,Marxism Today, April, 1986.

Barer, R., (1999), Refugee Skills-Net: the Employment and Training of SkilledQualified Refugees, a research report for Peabody Trust.

Barrel, R., (1993) U.K. Labour Market: Cambridge University Press.

Bell, D., (1974), The Coming of Post Industrial Society: New York.

Bloch, A., (1999), Carrying out a Survey of Refugees: Some MethodologicalConsiderations and Guidelines, Journal of Refugee Studies, Vol:12, no.4.

Bravo, M., (1993), The Special Training Needs of Refugees

Canadappa, M., (1999), Employers Experience of Job Related Training Providedto Refugees, Report to the Pan-London Refugee Training and Employment Network,Thomas Coram Research Unit, Institute of Education, University of London.

Cruwen, P., (1994), Employment and Unemployment, in Cruwen, P., (ed), Understanding U.K Economy: McMillan.

Europa Publications Ltd, (2000) International Organisation Countries:The Europa World Year Book 2000, 41st Ed., Vol. 1.

Focus Central, (1999), Economic Survey of Central London.

Gillet, L & Gregg, A, (1999), Volunteering as a Route to Employment.

Hagos, H., (1995), Refugees as a Resource for Development: a case study of Ethiopianand Eritrean refugees in Sudan, Unpublished Ph.D thesis,University of Manchester.

Health of Londoners� Prospects (1999) Refugee Health in London

London Development Partnership (1999), From the Margins to Mainstream:Delivering Diversity in London.

Marshall, T., (1989), Refugee Issues: A Cultural Aspect of Job Hunting, The Refugee Council.

Marshall, T., (1992) Career Guidance with Refugees, Refugee Training andEducation Centre.

mbA, (1999), Creating the Conditions for Refugees to Find Work, A Report forRefugee Council.

mbA, (1999), The London Borough of Greenwich Refugee Employment and TrainingStudy

McCormick, B., (1994), U.K. Labour Market, in Cruwen, P(ed), Understanding U.K.Economy: McMillan.

Pile, H., (1997), The Asylum Trap: Summary, Low Pay Unit & World University Service

Ratnesar, R., (July 2000), Knocking on Europe�s Door, Time Magazine.

Refugee Council, (1997), Credit to the Nation: A Study of Refugees in the U.K.

Refugee Council (1999), Good Practice Guide on the Integration of Refugees in theEuropean Union Employment.

Refugee Council, (1999), Refugee Perceptions on Employment:Report on Refugee Employment Working Group in Dalfsen, the Netherlands.

Refugee Council, (1999), Refugees and Employment: the European Context.

RTEC , (1993), Training for Work: Tender Submitted to South Thames Trainingand Enterprise Council.

Rosenkranz, H., (2000), The Refugee Professionals Guide on Assessment and Recognitionof Overseas Qualification, RETAS.

Salinas, C., (1998), Refugee Engineers in the U.K. World University Service.

Sargeant G. et al (1999), Turning Refugees into Employees: Research into the Barriers toEmployment Perceived by Women Refugees in London, The Industrial Society inAssociation with Fair Play London.

Smith, A., (1976) The Wealth of Nations, McMillan.

Sopsford, D., (1993), Economics of Labour, McMillan.

UN, (21 July 1951) Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, Geneva.

42

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Appendices

Appendix I: List of agencies interviewed

i

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mahkcePWT451ESnodnoL

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neerGlanhteBFE02EnodnoL

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PP67NnodnoL

SATERteertSnireffuD41DP8Y1CEnodnoL

sboJotnIseegufeRtsaEeunevAnotlraC7-3

teertSnotserPffOyelbmeW

AU89AHxeselddiM

tcejorPslanoisseforPtcejorPhtlaeHeegufeRsrebmahCyawdaorB,roolFdr3

daoRkoorbnarC1UD41GIdroflI

noitaicossAerafleWilamoSdaoRyaroM49AL34NnodnoL

sreeraCknaBhtuoSertneChtebmaLenaLercA5-1

notxirB2WSnodnoL

htebmaL&krawhtuoSpihsrentraPgniniarTeegufeR

ertneCseliG,tSteertShcruhCllewrebmaC18

BR85ESnodnoL

yenkcaHdraobgnirpSdaoRmahnwoD41-21

1NnodnoL

ertneCfeileRlimaTesuoHytinummoC

teertSeroF113ZP09NnodnoL

tnemyolpmEoTskcarTdaoRellivnotneP062

YJ91NnodnoL

puorGlanoitacudEhsikruTdaoRneerGnotgniweN2

XR41NnodnoL

Appendix I: List of agencies interviewed (continued)

ii

Appendix II: Organisations� interview questions

1.What services does your organisation provide to refugees and asylum seekers and since when?

2.What percentage of your beneficiaries are refugees and asylum seekers?

3.What are your refugee client�s profile in terms of educational qualification, experience, ethnicity,age and gender?

4.What are the main needs of your refugee clients? In other words, why do they come to youragency?

5.How do they hear about your services?

6.How frequently do clients use your services?

7.What difficulties do clients have in accessing your services?

8.Which are the main agencies you liaise with in providing these services?

9.What is the outcome of your services? What percentage of your refugee clients move to employ-ment, training and other opportunities?

10.For those who move to employment, what are the critical factors, which helped them succeed?

11.From your experience, what are the major employment and training barriers to refugees and asylum seekers?

12.What can be done to overcome these barriers?

13.What role can your organisation play in these and what are your future plans?

14.What difficulties do you envisage in achieving this?

15. Can you pass our questionnaires to some of your former refugee clients and trainees?

iii

iv

Appendix III: Sample questionnaire

Confidential and anonymousQuestionnaire for a Research Project on Refugees/Asylum Seekers Progression Routes to Employment

Age: _______

Gender: _______ Number of children, if any: ________

Country of origin: ________________

Date of arrival in the U.K.: _____________

Date of application for asylum: _____________

Your current status (Please tick as appropriate)Asylum seeker �Exceptional leave to remain �Refugee �Other (Please specify) � _______________

1. What was your highest educational achievements in your country of origin? (Please tick as appropriate)Completed primary school �Completed secondary school �Post secondary school vocational qualification �Undergraduate degree �Postgraduate degree �Other (Please specify) � ____________

1. If you had a post secondary school education in your country of origin, what was the subject of your study?

3. What was your occupation after you completed your education in your country of origin?3.1 For how long did you practise this?3.2 Did you have more than one occupation?

If yes, please specify3.3 How many employers (organisations) did you work for?3.4 Was your main employer a:

Private company? �Publicly owned? �Non-governmental(charitable) organisation? � Other (Please specify) � _________

3.5 Have you ever been self-employed in your country of origin? If yes, please specify the nature of yourbusiness

3.6 When you came to the U.K, what occupation did you hope to practice?

4. Have you done any education or training since you came to the U.K?

v

4.1 If your answer to the above question is yes:

Subject Level Duration Source of Fund

1.2.3.

4.2. What new skills have you acquired, through training or otherwise, since you came to the UK?

Type of Skills Means of Acquiring These Skills_______________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ____________________

5. If you are currently working, what is your job title and occupation?

(Please go to question 6 if you are currently unemployed)

5.1 Is your current job:

(i) Temporary? � (ii) Part-time �Permanent? � Full-time �Other? � (Please specify)

5.2 Is your current employer a:

Private company? �Public organisation? �Voluntary organisation? �

5.3 For how long have you been doing this job?

5.4 For how long had you been unemployed before you got this job?

5.5 From your past experience of being unemployed, what would you think are the most important employ-ment barriers to refugees and asylum seekers? Please put in order of importance.

1.2.3.

5.6 Did you have some other work experiences in the U.K. before you joined your current job? If yes, pleasecomplete the following starting from the most recent one.

Job Title Nature of Job Duration____________ ______________ ______________________ ______________ ______________________ ______________ __________

5.7 How did you hear and apply for your current job? (Please tick as appropriate)Job centre � Newspaper �Placement � Personal Contact �Voluntary work �College Career Adviser �Training Centre �Community Advice Worker �Community Advice Worker �Private employment agency �

vi

Local borough Career Adviser�Refugee Agency Career Advisor�Other (Please specify) �

5.8 From which of the following sources have you sought career advice?Refugee Council �Other refugee agencies (Please specify) �Career advice service in colleges �Local borough career advice service �Refugee community organisation �Friends �Others (please specify) �

5.9 Which source of advice was most helpful to you and how?

5.10 From your personal experience what are concerns and issues that refugees and asylum seekers face in awork place?

5.11 Are you looking for other employment opportunities?If yes, why?

5.12 What factors influence your decision to make career change?

6. If you are unemployed:

6.1 For how long have you been unemployed?

6.2 Have you done any temporary, part-time and casual work so far? (Please specify)

6.3 Have you done any voluntary work?(Please specify)

6.4 Have you done any training? (Please specify)

6.5 Have you sought career advice and guidance from any agency?

Please tell us the name of the agency

6.6 What do you think are the major employment barriers to refugees and asylum seekers from your personalexperience?

(Please put in order of importance)

1.2.3.

6.7 In your view, what should be done to overcome these barriers?

6.8 What have you done on your part to overcome these barriers?

vii

6. Please summarise the story of your career pattern from your highest educational qualification inyour country of origin to the present.

Thank you once again.Please return the completed questionnaire in a stamped addressed envelope to:

Steve HillCommunity Development TeamRefugee Council3 BondwayLondon SW8 1SJ

viii

ix

Appendix IV: Pathways of questionnaire respondents

x

tnednopseR egA xeS yrtnuoC yrtnuocemohninoisseforp&noitacudE lavirrAKUni

noitacudE noisseforP

1R 54 M qarI yrtsitneDnietaudargtsoP tsitneD 8991

2R 04 M qarI enicideMnietaudargtsoP rotcodlacideM 8991

3R 63 M occoroM yrtsimehCniamolpiD 0991

4R 35 F aivalsoguY waLnietaudarG roticiloS&egduJ,rotucesorP 7991

5R 24 M eniarkU gnitupmoCnietaudargtsoP naicinhcetretupmoC 3991

6R 05 M naduS eergedetaudargtsoP rotartsinimdaecnaniF 2991

7R 24 M aipoihtE yrtsimehCnietaudarG tsimehcretaW 6891

8R 44 M aipoihtE ecneicSlaicoSnietaudarG tnavreSliviC 1991

9R 34 M aireglA cibarA&hcnerFnieergeD rotalsnarT&rotcurtsnIthgierF 3991

01R 34 M aliamoS &yrtsimehCnietaudarGshtaM

rehcaeT 3991

11R 54 M airebiL ygoloicoSnietaudarG tcejorP,reciffOsnoitaleRcilbuProtanidro-oC

1991

21R 33 F qarI waLnietaudarG rosivdAlageL,reywaL 7991

31R 13 M manteiV loohcsyramirP 5891

41R 65 M narI yrotsiHnietaudarG rehcaeT 6891

51R 63 F manteiV loohcsyradnoceS 3891

61R 03 F manteiV loohcsyramirP 9791

71R 93 F druK amolpiDegelloC tsivitcalacitiloP 0991

81R 92 M aireglA gnireenignEnietaudarG namssenisubdeyolpme-fleS 8991

91R 24 M ailamoS enicideMnietaudarG rotcodlacideM

02R 83 M aisinuT enicideMnietaudarG renoititcarPlareneG 3991

12R 83 F yekruT loohcSyradnoceS yraterceS 9891

22R 53 M abuC yrtsimehcoiBnietaudarG rehcraeseR 7991

32R 53 F natsinahgfA gnireenignEnietaudargtsoPtnemeganaM&

rerutceL 6991

42R 92 M ailamoS ytisrevinuraeyenOnoitacude

2991

52R 64 F narI &yrtsimehCnietaudarGtnemeganaMlairtsudnI

lortnoCytilauQ,rehcaeTreganaM

8991

62R 83 F narI amolpiDgniniarTsrehcaeT reterpretnI,rehcaeT 3991

72R 33 F ailamoS loohcsyradnoceS rehcaeT 5991

82R 52 F qarI yrtsitneDnietaudarG 9991

92R 93 M enoeLarreiS &gnisruNniamolpiDenicideMnietaudarG

esruN 2991

03R 23 M yekruT loohcSyradnoceS roliaT 2991

xi

KUniecneirepxe&gniniart,noitacudE secnatsmucrictnerruC

gniniarT&noitacudE )yratnulov&diap(ecneirepxE

tnemhcattalacinilC deyolpmenU

tnemhcattalacinilC deyolpmenU

&scinortcele,hsilgnEetaidemretnIscisyhP&shtaMnieerged

dnaytiruces,gninaelcnisbojlausaCnehctik

etavirphtiwtnemyolpmeyraropmeTynapmoc

LOSE deyolpmenU

gnikrowteNretupmoC,TAA,TI deyolpmenU

ecnarusnI,TIcisaB ,ytiruceSkrowyratnulov

deyolpmenU

TAA,yrtsimehCni.cSM repeekerots,tnadnettabulchtlaeH noitpecer&ytirucesnikrowemit-lluF

TI,noitartsinimdAni.AM krowyratnuloV deyolpmenU

noitartsinimdAniQVN deyolpmenU

ecneicSlatnemnorivnEni.cSM krowyratnulovytinummoC deyolpmenU

TI,scitiloPlanoitanretnIni.D.hP tnempoleved,rekrowtcejorpeegufeRkrowyratnulov,rekrow

deyolpmenU

ycacovdA,TI,LOSE,MLL dnaytinummocnikrowyratnuloVBAC

deyolpmenU

csM,ygolonhceTlacideMni.cSB sbojremmuS lacideM&tsylanAegamIemit-lluFnaicinhceT

,krowyrarbiL,TInisesruoCpihsredael

gnipeek-pohS noitalsnart&noitaterpretniecnaleerF

shtaM&yrtsimehCnicSB ecnatsissayrarbiL&ecnatsissaselaS rekrowytinummocemit-lluF

scimonocEniAB cihparg,rotiderepapswentnatsissArengised

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reterpretnI

lanoisseforP,STLEI,LOSEtnempoleved

deyolpmenU

tsimotobelhP,hsilgnE deyolpmenU

ssensselemoH&htlaeH,yenoMecivdA

krowecivdayratnuloV resivdahtlaehreetnuloV

eraClaicoS&htlaeHESCG krowyratnulov&yrevileddooF krowlaicoshcaertuo&gniniarT

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LEPA,hcraeSboJ krowyratnuloV rehcraeseR

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retrosliaM reterpretniytinummoC

&ecivdA,yalpriaF,hcraesboJ,LEPA3QVNecnadiuG

tcejorP&resinagrOtnevEyraropmeTrotaulavE

deyolpmenU

otsseccAseidutSsnemoWniABTI,esruochtlaeH

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TI&LOSE deyolpmenU

esruoCnoitpadAgnisruN esruNyrailixuA esruNffatSroineS

LOSEcisaB bojgnikam-sserdlausaC deyolpmenU

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xii

Stag

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Appendix VI. Selected case studies of refugee agencies and refugee individuals

Agencies

Case 1: Tracks to Employment

In our survey, this is the only organisation that provides a direct employment (job brokerage) serviceto refugees. Formerly called the Integra Refugee Employment & Advice Centre after its Europeanfunding source, refugees make up to seventy per cent of its main beneficiaries. Initially establishedby the local authority�s Race Equality Unit it was steered to its new state by a regeneration organisa-tion, �Capacity Unlimited�. Tracks to Employment has a declared mission of `bringing an innova-tive, pro-active and a new style which uses methods that are not engaged elsewhere to give newanswers to the problems refugees and migrants face in accessing training and employment.�

Just as any private employment agency, the centre interviews and keeps records of job-seeking refu-gees and actively promotes its clients to local employers. In one of its leaflets entitled �Reasons whyyou Should Employ Refugees�, it enumerates the following comparative advantages:

� Refugees often bring skills to business which are not always offered by indigenous workingpopulation;

� They are reliable and highly committed to their jobs;� Most refugees are able to speak two or more languages;� They are highly qualified with international experience;� Refugees are conscientious and tend to stay in their jobs;

Also, the centre has a computer terminal connected to job centres, which means clients have accessto up-to-date vacancy information in the local labour market.

Apart from the employment service, the centre refers clients to local training and education opportu-nities.

According to one of the advice workers, the group of refugees who are finding employment throughthe Centre are the unqualified and the young. �This group� he says, �are very active, motivated andwilling to take up any job to gain experience.� According to the same source, the qualified profession-als are the least successful in getting employment although some of them have re-qualified in orderto enhance their employment opportunities. There are two main reasons for this. Firstly, manyprofessionals are middle aged with wide ranging experiences, but their qualifications are often notrecognised by employers and they are reluctant to change their profession by acquiring new skills.Secondly, this group of professionals are not prepared to take low paid jobs as waiters, porters, junioroffice workers, care workers in the community and as shop assistants. Most of the jobs available torefugees are in catering (such as for waiters and porters), small shops and a much smaller percentageare in clerical work and care work in community organisations.

The centre acknowledges that it has two limitations. Firstly, it is mainly restricted to Islington andCamden residents, in line with the guidelines of the funders. Secondly, there are resource limitationsin terms of staff. The project is designed to service a cross-section of the community in the area.However, project users reflect that 75 per cent of users are from ethnic minority communities with asignificant proportion coming from the indigenous population within the locality.

xiii

Notwithstanding these limitations and the nature of employment opportunities, Track towards Em-ployment is a model organisation that has spotted the gap in direct employment service in refugeeguidance and training provision structure and is endeavouring to fill it. The presence of a free em-ployment service induces people to choose jobs rather than welfare benefits, because they don�thave to share their wages as in the case of private commercial employment agencies. This in turnreduces the unemployment rate among refugees.

Case 2: Refugees Into Jobs (RIJ)

Refugees Into Jobs (RIJ) was set up in 1997 as a result of a successful bid to the government�s SingleRegeneration Budget to help refugees in Brent and Harrow find employment. The two distinct fea-tures of this organisation are its focus on employment and its resourcefulness. RIJ does not run itsown training courses but helps individuals do their training elsewhere by providing grants. This schemehas supported some individuals to do adaptation training in nursing, bus driving, and multi-lingualteaching courses by providing grants of up to £1,000. RIJ has also provided money for tools andbooks for clients to attempt to qualify in a particular field. It has given grants of £3,000 to helpindividual refugees to set up small businesses such as a restaurant, a newsagent, barber�s shops andbusiness computer services. RIJ also provides small grants for its destitute clients to buy suits forinterviews. It also provides financial incentives for those who secure employment.

RIJ has also been instrumental in setting up the Refugee Medical Doctors Club to help them preparefor the PLAB test.

Through its job club, RIJ provides other innovative services:

1. It pro-actively seeks liaison with employers to market its job-ready clients.2. It offers voluntary work opportunities for its job-ready clients.3. It offers coaching in the job search process through a three-day Career Focus Programme.

RIJ�s Career Focus Programme has worked with 12 engineers in changing their attitudes and expecta-tions, which in turn has increased their confidence and motivation to enter the job market.

One acknowledged limitation of this agency is that its services are primarily for residents of Brentand Harrow and the ethnic nationalities of its beneficiaries are primarily Somali, Afghan and Iraqi.This could be a reflection of the refugee population of the two boroughs. Nevertheless, RIJ is plan-ning to expand its service to adjacent boroughs providing the resources are available.

RIJ is one of the youngest agencies that is at the forefront to get refugee professionals into jobs. Overthe last three years, it has managed to help 145 individuals into jobs. Probably its more exemplarysuccess is in empowering individuals by providing concrete support in the form of financial grantsfor training and small business start up.

Case 3: Training & Employment Section of Refugee Council (TES)

TES � the training wing of the Refugee Council � is by far the largest single customised trainingprovider for refugees. As one of the major work-based training providers in the Focus Training andEnterprise Council, TES runs courses in Administration, Accountancy, Health and Social Care, In-formation Technology and in Adult Teaching. It is also in the process of starting new courses inChildcare, Advice and Guidance and possibly Hairdressing. TES also runs two English courses,Family Workshops and has an Open Learning Centre where individuals can use learning resources

xiv

for self-study.

Work placement is an essential component of most of these courses. According to informationobtained from the placement team, placement opportunities are to be found mainly in the voluntarysector, followed by very limited opportunities in local authorities. Positive responses from privatesector employers for placement opportunities are something in the region of one out of one thou-sand (0.1 per cent) � those few being in small accountancy and solicitor firms.

It is estimated that, on average, about 350 individuals are trained under TES work-based trainingschemes each year. Because of the difficulty involved in tracing trainees once they have completedtheir courses, it is not possible to tell the exact number of people who have moved to employment.However, according to the Training Standard Inspection Report for 1998/1999, the total employ-ment rate could be below 15 per cent. Information obtained from Into Job Support team showed ex-trainees of Administration and Health & Social Care courses had more success in finding jobs thanothers. Since the courses are funded by the Local Training and Enterprise Council (FOCUS), suchlow employment output rate has an implication on the availability of funding for this courses (seeBravo, 1993).

In addition to these training courses, TES also provides vocational and self-employment adviceservices to refugees. It is estimated that over 2,500 individuals make use of the careers advice serv-ices each year. Although on a very limited scale, TES also runs a small hardship grant scheme.

Notwithstanding the already extensive services provided, we believe that TES still has the capacityto introduce such services as Beginners English, Literacy and Numeracy, Job Club, and more smallgrant schemes.

Individual refugees

Case 1

We have three similar success stories in our survey which could be analysed together (see R22, R23,R25 in appendix IV). These three respondents who arrived in 1996, 1997 and 1998 were researchers,lecturers, and managers, respectively. So all three are from managerial, administrative and non-regu-lated professional backgrounds. Two of them are currently in full-time suitable employment. Thethird, who arrived in 1998, has had two temporary jobs as event organiser and project evaluator.They have all also received guidance in the form of customised job search and APEL from RAGUand RETAS not very long after their arrival. This seems to have helped them focus their training andjob search in areas of good employment prospects.

These are an exceptional cases of refugees passing from optimism to opportunity without goingthrough much disillusion or disorientation, as in Tony Marshall�s model. It also shows the enormousvalue of a period of guidance provision for refugee professionals rather than one-off advice.

Case 2

Mr. P, who is 50, is from the Sudan and arrived in the U.K. in 1992. Before he became a refugee hehad done a postgraduate degree in Development Finance and worked as a Finance Administrator.Since he arrived, he has done vocational courses in IT Level 3 and Insurance Level 2, as well asattending various job search courses. He also completed six-months of voluntary work for a charity.However, after eight years Mr. P is still unemployed.

xv

Undoubtedly, Mr. P�s age must have been one factor in determining his current circumstance. An-other hypothetical explanation is that Mr. P wanted to build on his previous career as a FinanceAdministrator by doing Insurance training. But as a finance sector is predominantly a private one, Mr.P has to compete with younger graduates.

People like Mr. P are not necessarily lacking job search or language skills. They might need guidanceon good employment prospect areas for refugees and involvement in employment creation projectssuch as in community and community partnerships.

Case 3

Mr. N, who is from Somalia, arrived in the U.K. in 1993 as a refugee. He had a university qualificationfrom his country and used to manage his own business. When he learned that his qualifications couldnot be recognised as equivalent to this country, he decided to do a B.A course in Business Studies.But after completing the degree course, he failed to get suitable job. Subsequently, he went to WorldUniversity Service to seek advice where the advisor on the day happened to be his fellow country-man. This advisor told him to target local authorities and voluntary organisations for employmentrather than private companies after which he started doing voluntary work for a charity organisation.The same organisation supported him to do NVQ3 Advice and Guidance course. As soon as hecompleted this he found a full-time suitable job with Islington Council as an Advice worker.

Mr. N�s case is a good example of the role of guidance. If he had appropriate guidance when hearrived on opportunities and constraints in the labour market, he might have not done a degree inBusiness Studies.

Case 4

Mr. G was an English teacher and a manager of an Adult Education Centre in both his home andneighbouring country. In the U.K. he did a postgraduate course in curriculum development afterwhich he was unemployed for a while. He made several applications for a teaching job, but was notsuccessful. He used this time of unemployment to do voluntary work for his community organisa-tion.

Subsequently he joined a work-based teacher-training course with The Refugee Council after whichhe found a part-time ESOL tutoring job with the same organisation. Gradually he took a role of JobSearch Tutoring and Senior ESOL Advisor. Now he works as an Employment Policy Advisor.

Mr G�s turning point is the Work Based learning course in teaching. His employer has valued hiscompetence and given him promotion, which has provided development opportunities.

xvi

60

Registered address:Refugee Council

3 Bondway, London SW8 1SJTel: 020 7820 3000

Charity number: 1014576Company number: 2727514© Refugee Council 2001

www.refugeecouncil.org.uk

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