Barring skilled refugees from work in the UK is a travesty that must be solved
Regardless of education or experience, getting a job as a refugee in the UK is hard.
Accessing most skilled roles requires English language tuition and requalification, the costs of which are prohibitive. As a result, we have neurosurgeons working as care assistants, marine engineers driving cabs, teachers with no students and lawyers stacking supermarket shelves.
It has been a year since the invasion of Ukraine. And a year since RefuAid mobilised the business consortium of 200-plus large companies to help get refugees into jobs commensurate with their experience – and fast.
We need doctors, nurses, pharmacists and vets urgently in the UK but when people with those skills arrive here, it is almost impossible for them to practise the jobs they know how to do. It is a travesty that must be solved.
When the invasion happened, Britons came together to offer homes to displaced Ukrainians. More than 8 million people were forced from their homes and while this initiative was crucial, if we really want to support refugees in this country we cannot just offer shelter; we need to offer jobs too.
As someone who started their own career in McDonald’s – and loved it – there’s nothing wrong with a job that simply pays the bills. However, when you studied and worked hard to forge a career you then lost through no fault of your own, the thought of never getting it back is devastating. And of course vets, engineers and other skilled professionals are urgently needed in our workforce.
Not only do we not make it easy for people who simply want to get into paid employment to do so but there are hundreds of skilled professions where it is made so much harder than it needs to be.
Take dentists: it takes years for internationally qualified dentists
Read more on theguardian.com
