According to the UN High Commission for Refugees, a refugee is “someone who has been forced to flee his or her country because of persecution, war, or violence. A refugee has a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership in a particular social group”.
As we have seen from the news on a daily basis for the last few years, the refugee crisis has become a major challenge across the World with 66 million forcibly displaced people worldwide. In many cases, it is conflict that has been forcing people to flee their homes with over half of refuges coming from just three countries namely Syria, South Sudan and Afghanistan.
Whilst less prosperous nations such as Turkey, Lebanon and Pakistan have taken the burden to host refugees, Western countries have been less enthusiastic to do so with the World’s six wealthiest countries only taking nine per cent of all refugees. The response in the UK has been particularly poor as compared to other European nations such as France, Germany and Sweden.
Why is that the case? The main problem seems to be a largely unfounded public perception that accepting refugees will create a drain on public finances and that many will find it difficult to fit into British society.
Yet as a report from the enterprise think-tank Centre for Entrepreneurs (CFE) shows, this largely negative view has failed to understand that the main response to the loss of control by refugees over their livelihoods is empowerment and more specifically, empowerment through entrepreneurship and self-employment.
This is because only 40 per cent of refugees find jobs with employers in the UK and of those, half struggle to get employment that is appropriate to the skill levels they currently possess i.e. their talents are not maximised for the benefit of the UK economy.
In contrast, there is considerable evidence that refugees, when given the right support and opportunities, can become highly successful entrepreneurs. Examples include Jewish refugees from across Europe after the Second World War to the Ugandan Asians who came over to the UK in the early 1970s to start many successful firms.
Such individuals can demonstrate high levels of motivation, confidence and desire for achievement, as well as a keen sense of risk and recognition of opportunities, especially in exploiting their own skills in developing markets.
And because they have a strong affinity to others who have suffered similarly and thus understand the barriers to employment, they are more likely to employ other refugees.
This not only supports the process for refugees to overcome economic barriers when displaced into a different country but also helps the government in facilitating their integration into society.
More relevantly, research suggests refugees have a natural predilection towards enterprise – a survey of refugees by the CFE found that 82 per cent agreed that entrepreneurship is a good career path and 56 per cent believed that entrepreneurship is a better alternative to employment.
So what can be done to ensure that a nation such as the UK which takes in refugees can make the most of their talents once they are here?
According to the CFE, the UK Government should seek to establish a Refugee Entrepreneurship Programme (REP) to overcome the specific challenges refugees face when looking to start a business and to provide the tailored support that helps them with cultural, financial and legal barriers when they are here.
The REP would establish a clear strategic vision for resettlement which ensures that entrepreneurship is seen as being as important in providing a solution for refugees as employment.
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In addition, as many refugees do not get the opportunity to make the most of the skills they bring to their new countries, it is vital that the UK Government designs and introduces a skills mapping exercise during the asylum application process. This would help identify educational and vocational qualifications, employment history as well as any entrepreneurial tendencies. It could also identify where refugees could be best resettled based upon local economic needs.
Finally, a specific fund should be created to support new refugee businesses which should be complemented by a financial inclusion platform for banks and other financial providers to ensure that refugee entrepreneurs in the UK have access to all the necessary financial and insurance facilities required to start and grow a business.
Given that the UK Government is looking to resettle 20,000 Syrians by 2020, the CFE has estimated that if all interested refugees were supported through an initiative such as REP, then sponsoring them at a cost of just £2,000 each (totalling £4.8 million) could lead to savings of £170 million over five years. This is almost 10 per cent of the forecasted resettlement cost and a 35 times return on investment.
But it is not only the financial returns that are important in supporting such a programme. Any country which accepts refugees has a moral duty to ensure they get the best opportunities for the future given everything they have gone through and if the UK can fully support those displaced to take full advantage of their entrepreneurial talents in their new home, then everyone wins.