Afghan refugees face discrimination, employment and social challenges in Australia
New Edith Cowan University (ECU) research has found that while many former Afghan refugees value the security and open democracy of their new home in Australia, they face significant challenges integrating into society.
The study, led by PhD candidate Omid Rezaei, explored the experiences of Perth based Afghan-Australians’ who arrived as refugees and were subsequently granted citizenship.
Researchers surveyed 102 people, conducted 13 in-depth interviews, and held two focus groups.
Mr Rezaei said most former Afghan refugees now considered Australia to be their new home, with around 90 per cent of them wanting to live in Australia for the rest of their life.
“They are happy to live in a peaceful country. Safety in Australia has been the most attractive thing for them, demonstrating that four decades of war in Afghanistan is still alive in Afghans’ memories,” Mr Rezaei said.
“They are also grateful to Australia for granting them citizenship and for providing them with high quality education and health care.”
However, Mr Rezaei said that while former Afghan refugees enjoyed some aspects of Australian society, they also faced significant challenges in taking full advantage of their Australian citizenship.
“Barriers to employment, social challenges, discrimination and socio-religious difficulties within their own community are among the challenges the community experienced,” he said.
Barriers to employment
Employment was the top of the list of issues faced by Afghan-Australians.
The 2016 Census reported an unemployment rate of 17.8 percent for Afghanistan born people, more than three times the 5.7 percent unemployment rate for all Australians at that time.
Higher unemployment among Afghans meant the median individual weekly income for the Afghanistan-born population in Australia was just $371, compared with $688 for all Australian-born and $615 for all overseas-born.
“Many participants faced problems in finding employment in their chosen fields or having their overseas qualifications recognised,” Mr Rezaei said.
Sadiq is a participant in the study who came to Australia as a refugee in 2015 and was recently awarded Australian citizenship. He holds a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Kabul University and worked as a high school teacher in Afghanistan, but Australia does not recognise his qualification.
“They don’t recognise my qualifications here. So, I have to study 8 years if I want to be a teacher [in Australia], but I don’t have time. I have to work and make money to support my family in Afghanistan. That’s why I’m working in construction field now.” (Sadiq)
Mr Rezaei said discrimination in the process of the finding a job, as well as in the workplace, was another challenge that many Afghan refugees face …….