Integration of immigrant and minority groups
Good practice case study
Refugees into Jobs, UK
Refugees into Jobs was set up in 1997 by a partnership between Brent and Harrow councils, health authority and refugee communities in northwest London. The scheme works in a partnership with refugees from a variety of boroughs in North West London and employers such as local hospitals, local authority, education departments and local schools to help refugees into employment through overcoming the barriers relating to foreign qualifications. A particular focus of the project lies on the ability of refugees to fill key skill gaps in education, health and engineering sectors and the recognition of relevant qualifications gained abroad. So far the Refugees into Jobs has serviced more than 3000 clients from 74 nationalities and helped 35 per cent of them into employment.
Key lessons
- The recognition of qualifications gained abroad is of key importance in facilitating access to employment for highly skilled migrant populations – local partnerships can have an important role in facilitating this process.
- It can be beneficial to concentrate on particular employment sectors when supporting people through the re-qualification process.
- An important factor is basic information provision, and guiding refugees through the complex requalification procedure.
Case study
Refugees into Jobs [pdf, en, 18kb]
