Scottish Government

REFUGEES AND ASYLUM SEEKERS IN SCOTLAND: A SKILLS AND ASPIRATIONS AUDIT

SECTION TWO THE RESPONSES

2.1 Profile of Respondents

Sex

Out of the 523 respondents to the questionnaire, 287 (54.9%) were men and 233 (44.6%) were women (Figure 2.1). This represents a fairly even gender balance (and is replicated across both refugees and asylum seekers). Nonetheless, male respondents do outnumber female respondents in this sample.

Immigration Status

Approximately 70% (368) of respondents were asylum seekers. Most of the remaining sample had been granted status such as "refugee" status, ELR or ILR. Six respondents had had their asylum claims rejected and were in the process of appeal (Figure 2.2).

Twenty-seven per cent of respondents (143) had first claimed asylum in the UK during or prior to 2000 (Table 2.1) and had therefore been resident in the UK for at least 3 years. Of these, 105 were asylum seekers and 37 had been granted refugee status, ELR or ILR.

Table 2.1 Average date respondents first came to the UK to claim asylum

All those with refugee status, ELR or ILR (147) will have been legally entitled to work. Those asylum seekers who had applied for asylum in the UK 6 months prior to July 2002 will have been entitled to apply for permission to work under the legal concession which was ended on July 23 ^rd 2002. According to the data, 198 (approximately 54%) of the asylum seeker respondents had arrived in the UK during or prior to December 2001. (Table 2.1). Therefore, while only 20 asylum seeker respondents specifically indicated that they had the right to work, this figure may have been higher.

Age

The majority of respondents fell into the 25-34 (43.2%) and the 35-44 (30%) age brackets. Although respondents of any age may have some years of economic activity ahead of them, the age profile indicates that a considerable proportion of refugees and asylum seekers who participated in the Audit have a significant number of years of economic activity ahead of them. Just over 8% of respondents were over 45 years of age and 18% were aged 17-24. The age profile of both men and women was broadly similar with only a noticeable difference in the older age bracket (45 and over) where men were proportionally more prevalent.

Nationality

The respondents came from a total of 52 countries (Table 2.2). The largest group of respondents indicated that they originally came from Iran (71), Iraq (47), Afghanistan (40), Democratic Republic of Congo (39), Pakistan (39), Turkey (39), Sri Lanka (34), Somalia (28), Zimbabwe (25), Sudan (21), Burundi (16), Algeria (15), Kosovo (14) and Albania (12). Given that the numbers of refugees and asylum seekers from some countries is very small, we have combined some countries into geographic "regions" for ease of reference and to protect confidentiality. ¹¹ The largest groups of refugees and asylum seekers are originally from the Middle East and South Asia with smaller numbers originating from the Baltic States, West Africa, South and Central America and Asia.

Table 2.2 Nationality

* includes unknown, Asia, Baltic States, South America, Central America and West Africa

Family Status

Over half the respondents (290) indicated that they were living with their partner in Scotland and over half indicated that they had children who were also living with them. Approximately 92% of those respondents who had children with them in Scotland (296) had children aged 11 or under. Nearly three quarters of women respondents indicated that they had children living with them in Scotland, as compared to 42.2% of male respondents. Of the 173 female respondents with children living with them in Scotland, 40 (23.2%) indicated that they were living in Scotland without a partner, 130 (75.5%) indicated that their partner lived with them in Scotland and 3 (2%) did not respond. Of the 40 women with children in Scotland who were not living with a partner, 90% (36) had children aged 11 and under (Figure 2.4). Eight of those 124 men who had children, indicated that they were living without a partner in Scotland.

2.2 Educational Experience and Attainment

In this section of the questionnaire, we asked people if they had attended, or attended and completed the 4 levels of education which best correlated with the system here in the UK (primary, secondary, college and university). We were interested in getting as broad a sense as possible of people's educational experience and therefore asked respondents about their formal educational experiences in terms of both attendance and completion (Figure 2.5). As many refugees and asylum seekers may have had to cut their studies short for a variety of reasons, we felt it was important to acknowledge to what level people had attended formal education, in addition to what level they had completed it.

We also tried to get a sense of equivalence in terms of refugees' and asylum seekers' educational experience, asking what certificates respondents had left school and college with. It has been difficult, however, to "translate" what these certificates might represent in the Scottish context. Just under half of the respondents provided no information regarding whether or not they had received any certificates and/or qualifications at secondary level (many respondents only completing the section where they held the highest qualifications). Those that did respond to the question indicated that they had a variety of qualifications which cut across secondary and college levels ranging from "O" levels and "A" levels to baccalaureate, diplomas and teaching qualifications. For example, just under 20% (103) respondents said that they had qualifications that may have an equivalence to Scottish Standard Grades and Highers such as "O" levels/GCSEs, between 5-7% of respondents (25-36) indicated that they had qualifications that may have an equivalence to Scottish Advanced higher or "A" levels. Over 22% (118) of respondents said that they had other certificates that could potentially allow them to access higher education but did not have their certificates with them in Scotland.

No Education / No Response

The numbers of those respondents who did not answer this question or who indicated that they had no formal education were very small, 4.8% (25) of the 523 respondents. Some respondents only ticked their highest levels of education, leaving questions relating to lower levels of educational attainment blank, hence the numbers of those who attended and completed some levels of education may in fact be higher than the figures represented here.

Secondary Level (or Equivalent) Education

Approximately 80% of the respondents said that they had attended and completed secondary level (or equivalent) education, and a further 6.5% of respondents said that they had attended secondary level education but had not been able to complete their studies. Male refugees and asylum seekers were slightly more likely to have attended and completed their secondary education than were women refugees and asylum seekers (Figure 2.6).

Certification

Just over 68% of respondents indicated positively that they had gained certificates or qualifications from their secondary education experience, though just over 20% of respondents provided no information here, so the figure may be higher. More men (71.1%) than women (64.8%) had gained qualifications.

Just over 21% (84) of those respondents who had completed secondary level education indicated that they actually had their certification with them in Scotland which, of course, has implications for trying to verify educational and employment suitability. Given the circumstances in which many refugees and asylum seekers have had to leave their country of origin, this lack of certification is not surprising:

" Coming from a war torn country, obviously I was running to save my life, let alone picking up certificates" (female asylum seeker, Somalia).

College Education

Over 63% (332) of respondents said that they had attended some kind of college education (or equivalent) and just over 55% (291) indicated that they had attended and completed a college level of education. Women were less likely to have attended and completed college level education than were men, though the attendance and completion rate for women refugees and asylum seekers still stood at over 50% (almost 60% for men). The majority of those respondents who provided us with information about their length of study indicated that they had been at college for between one and 4 years.

Subjects studied

In terms of the kinds of subjects that respondents had studied at college, those who provided information indicated that their college education was very varied (Table 2.3). Respondents were provided with space to enter up to 4 subjects and the subject descriptions are their own. Respondents indicated that they had studied a broad range of subject areas from English Language and Maths to Accounting and Art.

Certification

Approximately 38% (199) of respondents said that they had left college (or equivalent) with some form of certification or qualification, although, again, men were more likely to have gained certification than women (approximately 40% of men and 35% of women). As with secondary level education, respondents were unlikely to have this certification with them in Scotland. Approximately 28% (81) of those respondents who had completed college (or equivalent) level education indicated that they had their certificates with them.

Table 2.3 Subject(s) / College Level Education

University Education

In this section we were trying to ascertain the numbers of people who not only have a first degree, but who would also have a Masters and/or a PhD. The information gathered was somewhat sketchy due to the non-completion of some sections. Nonetheless, the information we do have would seem to indicate that a significant proportion of the refugees and asylum seekers in Scotland are educated to degree level.

Although 28% of all respondents said that they had attended a university course, approximately 21% (109) of respondents said they had attended and completed some kind of university education (Figure 2.8). Depending on whether they were able to complete their university education, respondents indicated that they had spent between one and 7 years studying at various universities around the world (for example, at the University of Kabul and the University of Cairo).

Thirty-six refugees and asylum seekers said that they had gone on to study a second degree, from which 24 had graduated. Seven people had enrolled for a third degree, from which 6 had graduated. Four respondents indicated that they had PhDs

Subjects

In terms of subjects studied at university, respondents' degree courses covered arts, sciences, humanities, medicine, etc. The most popular degree subjects (Table 2.4) were social sciences, law, medicine, other science subjects, engineering and finance. At postgraduate level, respondents indicated that they had studied very specialised subjects such as gynaecology and obstetrics and bio-organic chemistry.

Certification

Approximately 21% of respondents indicated positively that they had graduated from university, although, as with college and secondary level education, the vast majority of respondents did not have their certificates with them in Scotland. Only 11% (12) of respondents who had completed university education indicated that they had their certificates (or copies) with them in Scotland. However, this figure may be higher due to high levels of non completion in this section. This, of course, has implications for both the individual's and potential employer's need for verification.

Table 2.4 Subjects of degree courses (undergraduate and postgraduate)

Access to further education in the UK

The experience of attending college or studying was mentioned positively by a number of respondents. At least 27 respondents indicated in the questionnaire that they were studying or had studied subjects other than English at colleges or universities in the UK. These primarily included courses in computer skills and other vocational courses such as pipe-fitting and plumbing but also included one or two respondents who were undertaking university courses.

A number of respondents stated that they were either not allowed, or that there were insufficient resources for them to access further or full-time educational opportunities. Some respondents also suggested that asylum seeker and ELR status was a barrier in that it inhibited the ability of the respondent to enrol on anything but short courses. ¹³

"the eligibility criteria doesn't allow people with Exceptional Leave to Remain to access higher education as soon as they would like to" (female refugee, DRC).

"I am not allowed to do any work or do full-time studies, because of my status. Given a chance, I would like to improve on my skills by going to college or university for further studies" (female asylum seeker, Rwanda).

"I feel bored because I have a lot of time. I'm not allowed to study full-time or to work" (male asylum seeker, Egypt).