Missed Opportunity: The Underutilisation of Forced Migrants in the British Economy

This paper looks at the work experiences of forced migrants in the country of origin and the host country. The article builds on interviews with forced migrants from three nationalities, Congo (DRC), Kosovo and Somalia to contrast their experience of work in the labour market in the United Kingdom. The research found that the place the migrants occupy in the host labour market is not often commensurate with their qualifications and professional baggage from the country of origin. The forced migrants often landed in menial, unskilled or semi-skilled jobs. Ethnicity or racial origin had little impact on the degree of success in the host labour market. However the article concludes that the professional demise of the forced migrants is not only a loss to them but the host economy might be missing out on valuable human resources, given the high skills that the migrants harbour.