A place-based lottery: Support for refugees seeking employment and entrepreneurship 

Joel Montgomery and Patricia Lewis (University of Kent), Ozgu Karakulak, Mirela Xheneti, Matilde Luscechi and Rana Zayaddin (University of Sussex), and Yevgeniia Gnatchenko (UEA)

Having a stable source of income is essential for refugees to successfully settle and thrive in their host country. However, the support they get in developing the skills necessary to access the job market varies hugely and is dependent on both the place in which they settle and the sector in which they work. 

It is also dependent on the skills and previous experience of the individuals, and those from an entrepreneurial background have a different set of challenges and opportunities from those seeking employment. It can feel like a lottery, and isn’t helped by Government guidance which is open to very different interpretations.

This session will look at the diverse support that is offered to refugees from local authorities, businesses and charities. It will explore the different experiences of institutions and individuals, employees and entrepreneurs. It will identify good practice and offer practical tips to both refugees themselves, and those who are in a position to help and support them. 

The speakers have experience of working with a range of stakeholders, and will outline the projects they led and the outcomes from them, before opening up to questions and a wider discussion based on their findings. 

• Joel Montgomery (University of Kent) ran a British Academy-funded project investigating how local government employees in the Southeast of England supported or constrained refugee employment pathways. It used border theory to frame refugee employability as a “cultural border,” one refugees must cross after geographical displacement.
• Ozgu Karakulak, Mirela Xheneti, Matilde Luscechi and Rana Zayaddin (University of Sussex) worked with The Launchpad Collective, a Brighton-based charity that supports refugee job seekers. Their project sought to develop the entrepreneurial skills of refugees through practical workshops, as well as bringing in local businesses to understand their needs and how they can be met by refugees. 
• Yevgeniia Gnatchenko (University of East Anglia) has worked with Ukrainian entrepreneurs, exploring their intentions and motivations, and comparing the experience of those who came to the UK after the Russian invasion of 2022, and those who had settled in the country prior to it.