Cooney-O'Donoghue Diarmuid, Adamovic Mladen, Sojo Victor
Faculty of Arts Monash University Clayton Vic. Australia.
Department of Research, Innovation and Commercialisation University of Melbourne Clayton Vic. Australia.
Aust J Soc Issues. 2022 Mar;57(1):88-110. doi: 10.1002/ajs4.177. Epub 2021 Aug 31.
As recent research indicates, refugees and people seeking asylum are suffering disproportionately from the COVID-19 pandemic and have become more and more "shut out" and marginalised. An important pathway to integration and self-reliance is sustainable employment. To explore the impacts of COVID-19 on the employment prospects of refugees and people seeking asylum, we conducted 35 interviews with managers from Australian organisations that employ or assist refugees and asylum seekers in finding employment and 20 interviews with refugees and people seeking asylum. Our interviews indicate that the labour market has become more difficult for these groups in the COVID-19 era due to (1) declines in job availabilities, (2) loss of jobs, (3) increased competition in the labour market and (4) increased discrimination and an "Australian first" mentality. Our interviews further suggest four strategies to improve employment prospects in the current situation: (1) pathways to permanent residency and citizenship for people seeking asylum; (2) access to healthcare and a financial safety net; (3) online training and education; and (4) social procurement.
近期研究表明，难民和寻求庇护者在新冠疫情中遭受的苦难尤为严重，并且越来越被“排斥在外”和边缘化。实现融入与自力更生的一条重要途径是可持续就业。为探究新冠疫情对难民和寻求庇护者就业前景的影响，我们对澳大利亚那些雇佣或协助难民及寻求庇护者就业的组织的管理人员进行了35次访谈，并对难民和寻求庇护者进行了20次访谈。我们的访谈表明，在新冠疫情时代，由于以下原因，这些群体进入劳动力市场变得更加困难：（1）就业机会减少；（2）失业；（3）劳动力市场竞争加剧；（4）歧视增加以及“澳大利亚优先”心态。我们的访谈还提出了在当前形势下改善就业前景的四项策略：（1）为寻求庇护者提供获得永久居留权和公民身份的途径；（2）提供医疗保健和金融安全网；（3）在线培训和教育；（4）社会采购。
