The plight of refugees is harrowing enough, with most fleeing from some of the most horrendous circumstances possible.  Despite the harrowing circumstances they are leaving, they come with a range of skills and talents that they simply want to put to use in building a new life for themselves.

Unfortunately, barriers exist that prevent them from doing so, with many waiting years for an asylum decision.  It’s a wait that leaves too many struggling to find meaningful ways to fill their day, which in turn marginalizes their attempt to integrate into their new home.

A recent study explored the situation in the Teeside region of the United Kingdom, and found that people don’t simply want something to pass the time, but rather to be kept busy with a purpose.  The research describes the inherent frustration of un-challenging occupations, such as watching television, that do little but fill the time.

A human right to work

Having access to work is considered a human right, due in large part to its potential to allow us to flourish, experience satisfaction and fulfil our potential.  As with people from all walks of life, meaningful work provides a wide range of physical and mental health benefits, while also helping to maintain the skills of the individual, and help them to integrate into their host community.

Indeed, such gainful employment can help to advance the individual beyond an identity as an asylum seeker, and towards a meaningful member of the community.  So how can this best be achieved?

Research from Stanford University attempted to use AI to better integrate refugees into their host communities.  The study found that economic self-sufficiency required a range of things, such as the education level of the individual, their knowledge of English, and the location they settled in their new home country.  This translated into some refugees having much higher chances of settling than others.

The researchers developed an algorithm that was able to assign placements for refugees based upon this data, with the assignments giving them the best chance of integrating.  Indeed, the researchers believe it increases their chances of finding a job by up to 70%.

“As one looks at the refugee crisis globally, it’s clear that it’s not going away any time soon and that we need research-based policies to navigate through it,” they say. “Our hope is to generate a policy conversation about the processes governing the resettlement of refugees, not just on the national level in the United States but internationally as well.”

Ethnic support

A second Stanford study then explored how beneficial having a community of shared ethnic or linguistic background can help.  The study, which explored the Swiss labor market, found that refugees were more likely to find work in their first five years if they lived in an area where a large community existed of people who shared their nationality, language or ethnicity.

“Our study shows that ethnic networks can be beneficial for the economic status of refugees at least within the first few years of their arrival in the host country,” the researchers explain.

Official policy in the country sees officials randomly assign each new refugee a place to live in one of the country’s 26 cantons.  These allocations are not typically made with any input from the refugee, unless a family member already lives in the country.  Refugees cannot generally move outside of their assigned canton for five years.

The analysis showed that just 40% of refugees were able to find work during their fifth year in the country, but interestingly, those who lived in cantons with a larger ethnic community were much more likely to have done so.  Indeed, in such circumstances, around 20% of refugees had found work within three years, versus just 14% of those living in an area with few countrymen.

Grass roots

While governments obfuscate in the ‘hostile environment’ to migrants that so many have attempted to create, a number of grass roots projects have emerged to try and make a difference.

For instance, a London-based venture called The Bike Project aims to provide refugees with second hand bikes to use, plus a series of training sessions on how to fix and maintain their steeds.

The organization reveal that over 25,000 bikes are abandoned in London each year, and if these could be re-purposed and given to a refugee, it could save them a sizable sum on their transport costs.

The project is a cooperative of refugees, mechanics and volunteers who are willing and able to patch up the bikes they secure from residents in the city.

The refugees are given access to regular bicycle maintenance and repair workshops so that they can take good care of their new machine.  They will also run sessions on safe cycling, and even female only sessions.

Training and certification

Another challenge for refugees is gaining certification of their skills that are valid in their new home.  Germany’s Kiron University is one project that’s attempting to overcome that.

The German social enterprise offer refugees access to a two year online degree program that is run in partnership with MOOC providers, before then following it up with two years at a partnering university.  At the end of the process, students will hopefully be awarded a double degree from both of the institutions they’ve studied through.

The project has already signed up several partner institutions in Germany, with more partners being sought throughout Europe.  The eventual aim is to get 400,000 refugees signed up, with the initial cohort seeing 15,000 enrolled to begin study in October.

A fresh start

There are also projects that aim to capitalize on the unique perspective that so many refugees bring to their new home.  For instance, Migrateful offer cooking classes for refugees in London to help not only learn new skills, but help with the mastery of English and gain confidence in their ability to access work by supporting students with the various legal and linguistic issues involved in finding work.

Or you have the Entrepreneurial Refugee Network (TERN), which aims to provide sales and marketing support to refugees who wish to start a business, with the ultimate aim being to create 1,000 refugee-led businesses in the UK by 2025.

It’s well known that entrepreneurs are disproportionately likely to start a business than native citizens, but it’s important that we ensure this isn’t the only option available because more formal employment is so difficult to obtain.

Refugees, and migrants more generally, can often be characterized by their immense determination to make something of their lives.  That desire can be enormously valuable to their host community, and we should be doing far more to remove the hurdles that remain in their way.