20170315 economic integration of refugees
TRANSCRIPT
02/05/23
www.itinerainstitute.org
@devosmarc
02/05/23
Of hope and illusion
p.2
p.3
02/05/23
The Belgian Health Care System p.4
02/05/23
HopeJan 2015-Aug 2016: 57.076 asylum seekers 31.018 decisions, 18.967 refugee/protection status granted = 61.15%
Emotion and ambition vs. labour market segmentation reality in Belgium
Itinera in 2015: treat refugees as migrants
Labour market integration of refugees p.5
02/05/23
Partial data – Employment participationAVAILABLE DATA3/4 refugees has no reported higher education1/5 is illiterate
= worst group profile on Belgian labour market
BEYOND DATAFormal qualifications & their recognitionMobilityLanguage, culture, networks, psychology
Labour market integration of refugees p.6
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Illusion, as far as we can tell
Caveat: no systematic tracking of recognized refugees
Of all refugees registered in centres & allowed to work, only 3% has actually worked (a bit) in 2016Only 1 in 4 of officially ‘highly qualified’ recognized refugees has taken steps for degree recognition
Risk of total loss
Labour market integration of refugees p.7
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Why??
Time & the asylum process
Usual phases for integration of migrants have
perverse effects for refugees
Sense of urgency / collective will
No competitive advantage
Labour market integration of refugees p.8
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What to do?
p.9
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Lessons learned: PolicyIntegration/activation services in sync with process of asylum application, as much as possible
Match housing/education with employment opportunity: ‘labour’ > labour
Facilitate labour market access: transition support services, as personalized as possibile
Alternatives for regular employment / flexibility
Labour market integration of refugees p.10
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Lessons learned: Beyond Policy
A collective effort: civil society, social partners, companies, media, …
Services require access to services
Refugee networks for refugees
Communicate success stories
p.11Labour market integration of refugees
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Get real
Refugee integration is hard and takes time – ‘time2employment’
Collective sense of responsibility is needed
Political courage to make it a priority
The clock ticks: targeted and temporary support measures?
Labour market integration of refugees p.12
