Access to Employment: Speakers and Discussion

Improving Access to Higher Education and Employment for Forced Migrants

Our online conference took place on Monday 14th June 2021, the start of Refugee Week. The event aims to give space for debate around improving access to higher education and employment opportunities including the role of further education for forced migrants in Wales and beyond. This conference brought together policy-makers, asylum seekers and refugees, researchers and academics, and community organisations to discuss and identify key barriers and their respective solutions. While Wales and Scotland are leading the way in challenging to the UK government’s ‘hostile environment’, the conference has important implications for the UK as a whole.

This clip is from our Employment Plenary from the afternoon, hosted by Ahmad Al-Rashid and Chaired by Dawn Lyle, including…

Employment Speakers:
• Hannah Sabatia, Refugee Employment Journey – ‘Supporting those Entering Employment’ (03:21)
• David Bacon, Welsh Refugee Coalition – ‘Welsh Refugee Coalition Priorities’ (12:53)
• Roger Nyantou + Tasfalem Yemane, RETAS – ‘Barriers to Employment’ (19:00)
• Kate Denner + Carlos Ibarra Rivadeneira, Down to Earth – ‘Moving Forward: Learning Skills and Gaining Experience to Improve Employability for Refugees’ (27:02)

Speakers’ Introduction to Parallel Sessions:
• Deborah Cooze + Rahim El Habachi, EYST – ‘Employment Support’ (43:19)
• Saskia Volders, CAE – ‘Entrepreneurship’ (53:19)
• Nadir Taha, ReStart – ‘Businesses of Sanctuary’ (1:00:10)

Feedback from Discussions
We chose not to record our parallel sessions, so that individuals could freely discuss issues within their groups
• Session 1 feedback: Employment Support (01:10:22)
• Session 2 feedback: Entrepreneurship (01:18:07)
• Session 3 feedback: Businesses of Sanctuary (01:29:01)

Please see our playlist for other clips from the day!

For more information about our conference rationale, our speakers from the day, or to read our full report from the conference, please visit: https://fass.open.ac.uk/research/conferences/HEEFM

AccessEmployment:Speakers