EDUCATIONAL INTERVENTIONS FOR THE LABOUR MARKET INTEGRATION OF YOUNG UNACCOMPANIED ASYLUM SEEKERS IN THE UK

ABSTRACT
This research is about one of the most vulnerable groups who have always been a part of the global migration flow – unaccompanied asylum seeking children and young people. They flee their home countries and cross international boundaries in the hope of seeking refuge in safer, more peaceful and promising lands elsewhere. Whether their flight is voluntary or involuntary, their reason for leaving their home is influenced by many factors: predominantly, war, violence, persecution, or the hopelessness of failed and fragile states.
Their arrival brings many challenges to host countries in terms of receiving, protecting, assisting, and finding durable solutions. The focus of this study was the UK's position as a host country, and how it had assisted unaccompanied asylum seeking children to find lasting solutions. It aimed to explore how best the country could shape their futures by implementing a better educational process that would be specifically designed to improve their employability and smooth their entry into the labour market and society.
The main objective of the study was to examine the availability, nature and effectiveness of current educational and vocational intervention programmes designed for improving the children's future employability. It also examined the present situation of the system of educational and vocational training provision, and the participants' perceptions of the impact of education and employment on social integration.
This qualitative study comprised two components; a systematic review of the research on educational and vocational intervention programmes, and the main component, the field research. The field research was conducted in different locations in three regions in England, and in one region in Scotland. The data was collected by in-depth semi structured interviews with a sample of thirty-eight professionals and fifteen male and female young unaccompanied asylum seekers. The children and young people were between sixteen and twenty-two years of age and represented ten countries. The findings of the field research were analysed by the constant comparative method, and the study has yielded a considerable amount of rich information that has addressed all the research questions.
As for the key finding, the current system has failed to uphold the principle of serving the best interests of unaccompanied children and young people in relation to meeting their educational and vocational needs. This needs to be rectified if they are to integrate successfully them into the labour market in the UK (or in the country of origin in the event of repatriation).