Integration of refugees into the UK labour market: a case study of Ethiopians in the UK

Ethiopians have felt their presence in the UK mainly since 1990 when a large number of refugees from Ethiopia and Eastern Europe were admitted by the UK government at the time of dismantling of the communist bloc, to which Ethiopia and Eastern Europe belonged. This thesis examines the opportunities, barriers, exclusively practices and disadvantages Ethiopians face in the UK labour market, and how they are integrated into it. In order to achieve this, the study categorised the group into the ‘unemployed’, the ‘(hired) employed’ and the ‘self-employed’ and investigates the needs, problems, aspirations and issues for each of these groups. The study approaches the issues using face-to-face interviews based on structured questionnaires; participant observation; focus group and key informants and investigates the relevant themes and variables from the refugees’ perspectives. According to the findings of this study, in addition to the challenges faced by non-political migrants, owing to a variety of pre-asylum, host country and policy factors, refugees also encounter unique challenges in their interaction with and endeavours to integrate into the host country labour market. Ethiopian refugees are typical refugee groups. Like most refugees of other countries of origin they originate from the less developed part of the world facing, on arrival, a different host country system which is far from easy to integrate into. Whilst data used is those of Ethiopians, therefore, the findings of the study are intended to help give insights into the wider refugees and make inferences about their interaction with the UK labour market. In order to do so, the variables selected and explored are the most generic common attributes, needs, challenges and ambitions of refugees.

Name dc:type.qualificationname

phd

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

doctoral

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

University of Greenwich

Year dc:date.issued

2005

Author dc:creator

• Gojjie, Tesfaye Mammo

Advisors dc:contributor.advisor

• Ayres, Ron
• Anthias, Floya

• HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform
• HT Communities. Classes. Races

Language dc:language

en