1. Asylum seekers’ access to employment - best practices advocacy Seeking creative ways to effective integration.

2. Employment policy conflicts – reality or fiction? Directive:  minimal standard – access to employment after 12 months since lodging application  Possibility of further restriction – establishing priority of EU citizens or other foreigners  Obligation to train social workers or other objects dealing with aliens seeking protection in the field of their employment Poland:  After 12 months alien is given confirmation, of being in procedure for 12 months and statement that such situation is not caused by him  Upon such confirmation he may apply for work permit  Is it a right solution? Discussion on major problems. Two ways of introducing higher standards:  Full access for those, who are ready to enter the local market + employment empowerment system, for those who require skills training  Professional employment empowerment system of placements, job shadowing, trainings, etc, providing shortest period of access restrictions Best practice of unlimited access: polish economical migration to United Kingdom.

3. Unlimited access standard Benefits: Economical growth inducement Creating job placements in the area of deficiency Diminishing the reception costs in the refugee centers Bounding the grey economy Integration support Coming out of trauma support (work as a form of therapy) Negative consequences of barriers in employment : Rise of the implied helplessness syndrome Abasement of self-confidence, problems with integration, qualification lost Social exclusion and personality degradation Further traumatisation Rise of grey economy Rise of unemployment and poverty Crime rate rise.

4. Limited access: Problems to be fight off: social exclusion prevention  Fear of unemployment rate rise  Fear of labour market competition  Sociocultural differences and language barrier  Economical calculation of employers (interim and instability of aliens’ legal status) Aims to achieve:  Qualifications maintenance and enhancement  Postponing the barriers by means of education opportunities and employment empowerment  Creating uncompetitive areas of employment/ labour market needs research  Building up the initial job position of an alien (experience) by creating job alternatives (trainings, placements, voluntary works, internships)

5. Fields of activities: Qualification maintenance Providing alternatives for employment and engagement Assessment of qualifications, tests of competences Job/ Skills trainings Matching the skills with labour market opportunities (creating supply and demand) Settling up the complex structures of work empowerment services and fighting social exclusion

6. Maintenance of Qualifications: Fields of activities:  Language classes  Job trainings/ job learning  Stress management trainings  Cultural differences trainings, host country basic information trainings Best practices: Danish Want2Work program Problems/Challenges:  Need of EQUAL project initiatives support  Creating better employment facilities in order to raise the effectiveness of equal projects  Need of higher engagement of governmental agencies, especially those responsible for reception  Stress on language learning in the refugee centers  Organizing job trainings  Possibilities of placements, internships and do some works for the refugees centers.

7. Assessments of Qualifications/ tests of competencies Fields of Activities:  Language tests  Tests of competencies  Assessments of diplomas  Skills assessments by providing practical activities (placements, internships, voluntary works)  Direct trainings to researched job opportunities Best practices: Portugal and British program on skills enhancement Skills Audit – international project of seeking and assessing job competencies of the aliens seeking protection Problems/ Challenges:  Lack of possibilities in proving skills  No legal solutions in the area of job skills assessments

8. Alternatives for engagement outside of labour market Fields of activities:  Employment possibilities in the refugee camps  Internships, voluntary works, placements outside of refugee camps  Creating cooperatives, associations, enterprises to engage asylum seekers,  Creating uncompetitive areas of employment Best practices: The Building Bridges Project (ATLAS DP UK) TransSpuk DP (Germany) Problems/ Challenges:  Low level of salaries for jobs at the centers, as well as little diversity of those jobs makes obstacles for engagement  No governmental initiatives in providing alternatives to full-time employment of asylum seekers  Limited possibilities and resources of EQAL projects  Creating the network of professional job empowerment center  Increasing the number of social workers  Providing facilitations in the area of accommodation

9. Matching skills with job opportunities Fields of activities:  Creating of databases with asylum seekers job profiles  Job seeking trainings, CV writing trainings  Organizing meetings with employers and other institutions on the labour market  Providing aliens with individual job counselors, mentors who prepare them to take a job Best practices: InPower Coalition – Austria and similar greek project ESTIA database Problems/ Challenges :  No solutions or programs promoting asylum seekers’ employment  No support programs for asylum seekers  Support programs only within equal projects

10. Questions to the Workgroups 1.When the access shall be provided? How to support integration by means of labour policy? 2.How to prepare asylum seekers to compete on labour market? – give ready solutions. 3.Is polish system friendly for integration? 4.How to support EQUAL initiatives? What are the needs in the view of persons responsible for Equal programs? 5.Is the offer of refugee cams sufficient enough for the engagement? 6.What kind of amendments in law would support effective marketing strategies? 7.How to organize cooperation of institutions, employers and organizations on local and national level for the better integration of asylum seekers in the area of employment?

11. Case study: The case regards refugee from Africa. It is the first case in Poland when determination authority issued confirmation according to law, and the first case for Work permit to be issued upon such confirmationm by Warsaw labour office. Way towards employment: AApplication for refugee status lodged in January 2005 AApplication for confirmation of one-year staying in procedure was lodged 20 days before the 12 months passed EExactly one year after lodging the application for refugee status the negative decision regarding refugee status was made preventing asylum seekers to enter the labour market UUpon Decision of Appeal Authority in April 2006 case was reversed for furter consideration to determination authority CConfirmation enabling issuing work permit was issued on September 2006 PProcedure regarding work permit is still pending

12. Recommendations :  Limiting the range of barriers in access to employment/ free access for those who are ready to take a job.  Creating the network of job empowerments centers within and after the interim period of no access to employment /including the network of job training centers/  Building the coalition of different stakeholders for better employment effects  Equal access to employment for all categories of aliens  Ensuring the professional language, job, cultural training system for foreigners not prepared to take a job immediately  Rising the level of engagement in the refugee centers /social exclusion prevention, qualification lost prevention/  Access to integration for subsidiary protected aliens  Simplify the procedures of accessing the labour market /no concessions, permits/  Limiting other obstacles /broader access to education, real estate, simple and friendly administration, simple and equal taxes, less formalism/  ………………………………………………………………………………………………………