FINDINGS OF PROJECT ‘INCLUSIVE CITIES FOR ASYLUM SEEKERS’ Utrecht University Young Innovators Programme May 2015
Table of Contents Summary of report (compilation of textboxes) ........................................................................................ 1 Samenvatting van het rapport ................................................................................................................... 4 1.
Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 7
2.
The Utrecht University Young Innovators programme .................................................................. 7 2.1
3.
Initial exploratory phase of the project............................................................................................. 8 3.1
4.
Inclusive Cities for Asylum Seekers ............................................................................................. 8
Main problem areas identified ...................................................................................................... 8
3.1.1
Undocumented individuals ................................................................................................. 10
3.1.2
People living in AZCs ......................................................................................................... 10
3.2
Final project choice: stakeholders involved ................................................................................ 11
3.3
Initial conceptualisation of the project, including preliminary timeline ..................................... 12
Description of project phases ........................................................................................................... 13 4.1
The legal issues: a phase on their own ........................................................................................ 13
4.1.1 4.2
Channels made use of ......................................................................................................... 13
Phase 1: Gathering information .................................................................................................. 14
4.2.1
Az’Zeep meeting (26 February 2015) ................................................................................. 14
4.2.2
Musselkanaal meeting (27 February) .................................................................................. 15
4.3
Phase 2: Finding candidates ........................................................................................................ 16
4.3.1
AZC Zeist............................................................................................................................ 16
4.3.2
AZC Almere........................................................................................................................ 17
4.4
Phase 3: Possibilities for candidates ........................................................................................... 17
4.4.1
Factors to take into consideration when finding opportunities for candidates .................... 18
4.4.2
Kinds of options considered for candidates ........................................................................ 18
5.
Challenges involved in connecting candidates with opportunities ............................................... 19
6.
Individual case studies ...................................................................................................................... 20 6.1
Bashir (Abu Mohammed) ........................................................................................................... 20
How did we find this candidate? ......................................................................................................... 20 Description of candidate’s background and ambitions ....................................................................... 20 Possible opportunities considered for this candidate .......................................................................... 20 Mechanisms employed to connect this candidate with opportunities ................................................. 20 Results for this candidate .................................................................................................................... 21
6.2
Abraham...................................................................................................................................... 21
How did we find this candidate? ......................................................................................................... 21 Description of candidate’s background and ambitions ....................................................................... 21 Possible opportunities considered for this candidate .......................................................................... 21 Mechanisms employed to connect this candidate with opportunities ................................................. 21 Results for this candidate .................................................................................................................... 22 6.3
Tariq ............................................................................................................................................ 23
How did we find this candidate? ......................................................................................................... 23 Description of candidate’s background and ambitions ....................................................................... 23 Possible opportunities considered for this candidate .......................................................................... 23 Mechanisms employed to connect this candidate with opportunities ................................................. 23 Results for this candidate .................................................................................................................... 24 6.4
Abdullah...................................................................................................................................... 24
How did we find this candidate? ......................................................................................................... 24 Description of candidate’s background and ambitions ....................................................................... 24 Possible opportunities considered for this candidate .......................................................................... 25 Mechanisms employed to connect this candidate with opportunities ................................................. 25 Results for this candidate .................................................................................................................... 25 7.
Additional brainstorming project for COA .................................................................................... 26
8.
Critical remarks on our project ....................................................................................................... 26
9.
Areas that still need to be explored in future projects ................................................................... 27
10. Summary of what we learnt ............................................................................................................. 28 11. Contact details ................................................................................................................................... 29 12. List of relevant literature ................................................................................................................. 29 Appendix A: Legal information (in Dutch) ............................................................................................ 31 Appendix B: Candidate profiles .............................................................................................................. 37 Profile: Bashar ........................................................................................................................................ 37 Profile: Tariq ........................................................................................................................................... 38 Appendix C: Results of first brainstorm re: possibilities for candidates ............................................. 39 Appendix D: Suggestions to help COA work more efficiently with outside organisations ................ 41
Summary of report (compilation of textboxes)
Pressing issues identified
Lack of accessible meaningful activity means that AZC residents become bored. This prolonged boredom may lead to depression and other mental illness, and it often exacerbates these conditions if they are pre-existing.1 Safety and privacy issues in the AZCs, particularly for women and children. Lack of effective procedure to deal with asylum-seekers whose applications have been rejected, and who are expelled from the AZCs with nowhere else to go.
Legal information
Asylum seekers without a permit: o May work for a maximum of 24 weeks per year o May only work for an employer that has a “tewerkstellingsvergunning” in this work o Volunteer work may only be done at an organisation that has a “vrijwilligersverklaring” for this work o Volunteer work must be ‘true’ volunteer work – i.e. no payment can be received for this work o Internships can only be undertaken as part of an MBO, HBO or WO training Asylum seekers with a permit: o Have free access to the job market, and may freely undertake volunteer work and internships o However, three-quarters of any income they make must be given to the COA
Factors relevant to the success/failure of ‘Project Bashir’
Bashir had very strong ideas about what he did/did not want to do. Whilst it is good for a candidate to be focused and to have an idea of what he wants to do, it also limits the possible opportunities for a candidate when he is not open to exploring different paths.
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Factors relevant to the success/failure of ‘Project Abraham’
Abraham has a very clear professional profile. This makes it easy to know what kinds of opportunities to consider for him, and makes it easy to contact the relevant people.
This candidate’s story in particular highlights the problems that can result from the inefficiency of the housing placement process.
The unfortunate lack of Dutch classes at AZC Musselkanaal was also brought to light in this project.
It is clear that the process for Abraham to get his BIG-registration will be lengthy. It is therefore a positive that Abraham seems to be a very patient person.
Factors relevant to the success/failure of ‘Project Tariq’
Although it is not a necessary skill, Tariq’s ability to speak English (and some Dutch) made it very easy to communicate with him, without having to rely on a translator. It also meant that more opportunities within Dutch society were available to him.
When helping Tariq to move into his new home, we found it difficult to strike a balance between providing assistance and letting him do things on his own.
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Factors relevant to the success/failure of ‘Project Abdullah’
In Abdullah’s case, it was again helpful that he had a very clear profession in mind. This made it easy to define opportunities for him.
Abdullah did not speak English at the time of the project, and only spoke limited Dutch. This made it difficult to communicate with him telephonically, as he relied on the presence of a translator. (However, it did not really have a negative effect on the workshops he presented.)
The fact that he had previously been given support by COA opened up the possibility of getting funding from COA again.
This project also highlighted something that it is easy, as an outsider, to forget – that COA may perceive the AZC residents in a different light than we do. COA deal with the residents on a daily basis and the relationship between the two parties is often shaped by the existing power imbalance and the negative repercussions that that can have. This can play a role when outside parties work together with COA to create opportunities for a resident.
The positive aspects (and sometimes the necessity) of having AZC residents from different nationalities work together were also emphasised in this project.
The fact that Abdullah did not yet have a staying permit limited us to considering opportunities for him that could be undertaken inside of the AZC.
Areas that still need to be explored
Possibilities for asylum seekers still without a permit
Delays in housing placement process
Working together with COA’s ‘Activering van Bewoners’ project
Availability of Dutch lessons in all AZCs
Logo and website for De Verdienstelijkheid
Outside investors
Cooperation between COA and smaller NGOs
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Samenvatting van het rapport
Urgente kwesties
Te weinig toegang tot betekenisvolle activiteiten leidt er toe dat AZC bewoners verveeld raken. Deze langdurige verveeldheid kan leiden tot depressie en andere mentale klachten, vaak worden bestaande klachten versterkt. Veiligheid en privacy zijn een probleem in de AZC’s, met name voor vrouwen en kinderen. Asielzoekers wiens aanvraag is afgewezen en niet meer in de AZC mogen verblijven hebben geen plek hebben om heen te gaan. Er blijkt geen effectieve procedure te bestaan om dit probleem op te lossen.
Juridische informatie
Asielzoekers zonder verblijfsvergunning: o Mogen maximaal 24 weken per jaar werken. o Mogen enkel werken voor werkgevers die een “tewerkstellingsvergunning” voor die asielzoeker hebben aangevraagd. o Vrijwilligerswerk is enkel toegestaan wanneer de werkgever een “vrijwilligersverklaring” voor dit werk heeft. o Vrijwilligerswerk moet ‘echt’ vrijwilligerswerk zijn. Er mag dus geen vergoeding tegenover staan. o Stages zijn enkel toegestaan als onderdeel van een MBO, HBO of WO. o Driekwart van het inkomen moet afgestaan worden aan COA. Asielzoekers met verblijfsvergunning o Hebben vrije toegang tot de arbeidsmarkt en kunnen werken als vrijwilliger of stagiair(e). o Driekwart van het inkomen moet aan COA afgestaan worden wanneer ze nog in het asielzoekerscentrum wonen.
Relevante factoren voor het slagen/ falen van ‘Project Bashir’
Bashir had een duidelijk beeld van wat hij wel- en niet wilde doen. Het is goed voor een kandidaat om gefocust te zijn op wat diegene wil doen. Het belemmert echter ook de mogelijkheden en kansen voor een kandidaat wanneer diegene niet openstaat voor andere mogelijkheden.
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Relevante factoren voor het slagen/ falen van ‘Project Abraham’
Abraham heeft een duidelijk profiel. Hierdoor is het eenvoudiger om te weten welke kansen voor hem overwogen kunnen worden en hem in contact te brengen met relevante mensen.
Het verhaal van deze kandidaat benadrukt het probleem van asielzoekers die een verblijfsvergunning krijgen, maar daarna lang moeten wachten op een huis.
Bovendien bleek dat het aanbod aan Nederlandse lessen niet toereikend was in het AZC in Musselkanaal zijn (i.t.t. AZC Zeist).
Het is duidelijk welke stappen Abraham moet ondernemen om zijn BIG registratie als tandarts te halen. Dit proces zal nog jaren duren; om te beginnen aan de bijscholing moet zijn Nederlands op het niveau van Staatsexamen 2 zijn.
Voordat hij aan deze cursus kan beginnen moet hij een eigen woonplek hebben, hier wacht hij ondertussen al meer dan een jaar op. Daarom is het fijn dat Abraham geduldig lijkt te zijn.
Relevante factoren voor het slagen/ falen van ‘Project Tariq’
Ondanks dat het geen vereiste is, hielp het ons enorm in de communicatie dat Tariq zo goed Engels (en redelijk Nederlands) spreekt. Daardoor hoefde er geen vertaler aan te pas te komen en kon hij ons soms helpen met vertalen voor anderen.
Door de taalvaardigheid van Tariq zijn er meer kansen in de maatschappij beschikbaar voor hem.
Toen we Tariq hielpen om te verhuizen naar zijn huis in Utrecht vonden we het lastig om een balans te vinden tussen hem helpen, maar hem ook zijn eigen gang te laten gaan.
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Relevante factoren voor het slagen/ falen van ‘Project Abdullah’
Omdat bij Abdullah ook een duidelijke professie heeft, maakte dit het makkelijker om kansen voor hem te definiëren.
Abdullah sprak geen Engels en alleen een beetje Nederlands. Hierdoor was het lastig om telefonisch of per email met hem te communiceren omdat er een vertaler bij aanwezig moest zijn. De taal bleek echter geen groot probleem te zijn tijdens de workshop Wushu die hij gaf.
Doordat COA voorheen al spullen voor zijn Wushu lessen geregeld had, hadden we de mogelijkheid om weer een financiering vanuit COA te krijgen.
Door dit project is aan het licht gekomen dat het makkelijk is om als buitenstaander te vergeten dat COA de bewoners van het AZC vanuit een ander perspectief bekijkt dan wij. COA en de bewoners hebben dagelijks met elkaar te maken en het contact is vaak gevormd door de bestaande machtsrelatie die uit balans is. Hierdoor kunnen er negatieve vooroordelen bestaan die een rol kunnen spelen wanneer buitenstaande organisaties met COA willen samenwerken om kansen voor de asielzoekers te creëren.
Het positieve aspect (en soms ook vereist) is dat AZC bewoner met verschillende nationaliteiten samen moeten werken in het project.
Het feit dat Abdullah nog geen verblijfsvergunning had, beperkte ons. We hebben alleen nagedacht over mogelijkheden die binnen in het AZC zouden plaatsvinden.
Onderwerpen voor verder onderzoek
Mogelijkheden voor asielzoekers die (nog) geen verblijfsvergunning hebben
Vertraging in de toewijzing van een huis na het krijgen van de verblijfsvergunning
Samenwerken met COA op het gebied van ‘Activering van bewoners’
Beschikbaarheid van Nederlandse onderwijs in alle AZC’s
Logo en website voor de Verdienstelijkheid
Investeerders van buiten
Samenwerking tussen COA en kleinere NGO’s
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1. Introduction This report details the process and findings of the Utrecht University Young Innovators Project titled ‘Inclusive Cities for Asylum Seekers’. The report aims to provide guidance for individuals and organisations working in projects geared towards connecting asylum seekers in the Netherlands with opportunities for professional development and/or employment. To this end, the document summarises what has been found to contribute to the success of such a project, and points out areas that should be further investigated. It also highlights the kinds of difficulties that such a project may face. The report is organised as follows: first, the Utrecht University Young Innovators programme is briefly introduced, and the initial task description of the Inclusive Cities project is provided. This is followed by an overview of the initial exploratory phases of the project, in which we investigated challenges involved in the reception of asylum seekers in the Netherlands, and weighed up different possible ventures that we could undertake within the scope of the Inclusive Cities project. The introductory section of the report concludes a) with an explanation of why it was eventually decided to work alongside the non-profit organisation ‘De Verdienstelijkheid’, which aims to connect asylum seekers with employment and/or professional development opportunities; b) a description of our initial conception of the form our project would take, and the goals it set out to achieve, and c) a list of additional stakeholders involved in the project. The report then turns to the practical matters involved in the execution of our project. First, the issue of legality is discussed – we consider the legal status of a project of this nature, as well as some of the legal implications of some of its components – for example, the payment of asylum seekers. We then present some guidance regarding how best to go about finding candidates for a project of this nature. Subsequently, we discuss the kinds of opportunities that we have thus far considered connecting candidates with. This is followed by a list of the challenges that may arise when trying to connect candidates with these opportunities. The following section of the report presents individual case studies of four candidates involved in our project. These case studies aim to highlight the factors that contributed to the success (or lack thereof) of our efforts to help each candidate realise their professional ambitions. The report concludes with suggestions of areas that should be further pursued by individuals working in a project of this nature in the future. We also provide a list of contacts of people working on related projects, as well as a short bibliography of relevant literature.
2. The Utrecht University Young Innovators programme The Young Innovators programme is “a selective 15 EC honours course at the graduate level, to be taken on top of any Master's programme”, which focuses on “learning to research, design and
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deliver innovative and sustainable solutions to real-life societal challenges”.1 For the ‘innovation challenge’ that is at the programme’s core, students are divided into three broad areas – sustainable innovations in health, in the economy, and in urban living. Within these areas, students from different academic backgrounds (and, in some cases, of different nationalities) are divided into groups of six to work on a specific project. Examples of projects include ‘Smart Safety’, a project investigating possible uses of technology to make Utrecht safer, and ‘Sustainable Food Choices’, which explored ways to encourage consumers to make healthier and more environmentallyfriendly food purchases. The project with which this report deals falls under the ‘Sustainable innovations in urban living’ theme, and was originally titled ‘Inclusive Cities for Asylum Seekers’. It ran from September 2014-May 2015.
2.1 Inclusive Cities for Asylum Seekers The six-person team in the project ‘Inclusive Cities for Asylum Seekers’ consisted of Robyn Berghoff (ZA), Niels Havik (NL), Magdalena Hirsch (DE), Grae Rose (US), Danja von Salisch (NL), and Raoul Wanrooij (NL). The team’s assigned expert was Karin Geuijen (Utrecht University), and the programme also provided a coach, Thieu Besselink, to assist in our functioning as a group. The initial task description of the Inclusive Cities project was broad, requiring only that we attempt to implement some innovation in the reception of asylum seekers in the Netherlands. The following section details the very early phases of the project, during which we sought to identify the most pressing issues in the reception of asylum seekers in the country, and during which we explored two possible directions that the project could take. One option was to work with so-called “processed” asylum-seekers,2 whose application for residence in the Netherlands has been rejected, and are thus illegally in the country, without any organised institutional or governmental support. Another option was to work with individuals living in AZCs (asylum-seekers reception centres, or “asielzoekerscentra” in Dutch); who are either still waiting to be given a legal status in the Netherlands, or have received permission to stay already, and are waiting for housing to be provided for them.
3. Initial exploratory phase of the project 3.1 Main problem areas identified The problem areas we identified can be roughly divided into two groups – one bureaucratic, and one situational. The primary bureaucratic issue is the duration of the waiting period for an asylum seeker to receive a staying permit. Although the process is aimed to be completed within six months, it typically takes longer, and can extend up to and beyond five years (extreme cases have been brought to light in which individuals wait up to eleven years). Similar time-related issues 1
Extracts taken from http://www.uu.nl/masters/en/general-information/international-students/about-utrechtuniversity/young-innovators. See this website for further details about the programme. 2 In Dutch: “uitgeprocedeerde asielzoekers”.
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arise later in the housing placement process – many individuals who have received a staying permit remain in an AZC for months on end while they wait to be placed in their home (cf. section 9 for further remarks on this issue). Soon after the commencement of the project, we met with some representatives of the Dutch governmental organ responsible for the reception of asylum seekers, COA (Centraal Orgaan opvang asielzoekers) in order to explore the possibility of working with this organisation to somehow improve the reception process. We entered the meeting with no set ideas of how we wished to contribute, but with the knowledge that we wanted to implement something innovative with as broad an impact as possible. Our impression following this meeting, however, was that COA’s focus is primarily on carrying out their governmental orders to “provide for the reception, supervision and departure of asylum seekers”.3 The individuals with whom we met suggested that, in conjunction with the COA employees in charge of housing provision, our project could be to choose new furniture to be placed in some of the AZCs. Although we recognised the merit of such a project, we felt that it was on too small a scale for us to undertake within a programme geared towards innovation. We therefore decided that we would investigate the possibility of working with organisations other than the COA. Our decision not to work with the COA meant that we were essentially putting aside the bureaucratic issues involved in asylum-seeker reception in favour of a focus on the issues that arise due to the situation within which asylum-seekers find themselves. Some of the issues that we identified in this regard were as follows:
Pressing issues identified
Lack of accessible meaningful activity means that AZC residents become bored. This prolonged boredom may lead to depression and other mental illness, and it often exacerbates these conditions if they are pre-existing (see Watters et al. (2003) for hard data on this matter). Safety and privacy issues in the AZCs, particularly for women and children. Lack of effective procedure to deal with asylum-seekers whose applications have been rejected, and who are expelled from the AZCs with nowhere else to go.
These issues are linked to two separate groups of asylum seekers: one still living in the AZCs, and awaiting a legal status, and another group who are illegally in the Netherlands without any structured institutional or governmental support. We discuss our considerations of working with each of these groups in the sub-sections that follow.
3
Extract from www.coa.nl.
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3.1.1 Undocumented individuals In the first half of 2015, the question of how to handle ‘uitgeprocedeerde azielzoekers’ (henceforth UAs) was prominent in the Dutch news; indeed, it became so politically divisive an issue that it almost led to a breakdown of the coalition government. Despite the ruling of the Council of Europe that refugees who have been denied a staying permit must be provided with ‘bed, bath and bread’, these basic amenities have not (yet) been systematically provided for in the Netherlands.4 Initially, therefore, we considered undertaking a project that would seek to arrange a structured way to deal with UAs in Utrecht. One of our group members (Niels) had previously visited the Vluchtgarage in Amsterdam, which was at the time home to a group of UAs. On 26 November 2014 we attended a meeting hosted by Denkkracht Utrecht at which members from over 15 organisations came together in order to brainstorm ways to deal with UAs in Utrecht.5 The large number of organisations present is indicative of the seriousness of this issue; it also, however, means that there is some overlap in the services these organisations aim to provide. One example of such an organisation is the Ubuntu House in Utrecht, which we visited on 15 December 2014. The Ubuntu House is a small-scale organisation that provides UAs with a space to cook and eat with a roof over their heads, and to come together and share experiences.6 Ubuntu also organises various workshops that range from theatre and music to Dutch lessons. After visiting these places and giving it some thought, our conclusion was that there is a lot of room for innovation in this area. One of our concerns was, however, that there was soon to be a governmental ruling on how exactly UAs should be dealt with within the Netherlands, and so any project that we may have implemented might be at risk of being nullified before too long. We also felt that, because there was a complete lack of structure regarding how to deal with UAs in Utrecht – evidenced by the large number of organisations working on this topic without communicating amongst themselves – we might have had to spend a large chunk of the time we had at our disposal for this project just trying to set up some kind of structured network of people. This would be a prerequisite for implementing something on a larger scale. 3.1.2 People living in AZCs During the early phases of the project, we visited the AZCs in Alkmaar, Almere, and Zeist, in order to get an impression of life in an AZC, and in order to make contacts both with the residents of the AZCs and with the employees. We also met with some other organisations that worked either within the AZCs or with people living in AZCs, although not as part of COA.
4
The website http://wijzijnhier.org/ tells the story of refugees in Amsterdam that have been squatting in various empty buildings across the city. 5 Jan Braat from the municipality of Utrecht has a personal interest in this issue, and should be a first point of contact for anyone wishing to work further in this area in Utrecht. 6 Website: http://ubuntu-huis.blogspot.nl.
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One such meeting was with members of an organisation called ‘De Verdienstelijkheid’, and took place on 16 December 2014. At this meeting, we discussed the idea of De Verdienstelijkheid (henceforth DV) to start businesses that were run and/or staffed by asylum seekers. The members of the organisation had had this idea for a while, but due to a lack of time, they had not been able to implement it. Thus, the role proposed for our team would be to invest our own time in doing the necessary groundwork and trying to implement (at least) one such business as a pilot. All that we learnt during this process would then be transmitted to DV at the completion of our project. The idea of working with DV appealed to us for a number of reasons. Firstly, by connecting asylum seekers with employment-related opportunities, we would be addressing one of the primary problems facing people living in AZCs, namely the lack of meaningful daily activity. Secondly, the fact that we would be working with an organisation to start up an intervention meant that our project would have some long-term continuity even after each of us had left the Young Innovators programme. Thirdly, we felt that working with DV meant that our project would have a good chance of success, as the members of DV already had numerous valuable contacts and entrepreneurial experience, which would be useful during the course of the project. Taking into consideration these positive points, as well as the difficulties foreseen in working with UAs outlined in the previous sub-section, at the end of December 2014 we decided to work with DV to explore the possibility of starting up small businesses run and/or staffed by asylum-seekers.
3.2 Final project choice: stakeholders involved Below follows a list and brief description of the stakeholders involved in our project. Some of the individuals/organisations listed below became less relevant as the project progressed, but in the early phases, all of those listed below were considered to be important to our project goals. Members of each organisation were also invited to the ‘Meeting of the Minds’ hosted by the Young Innovators programme on 31 January 2015, where each group presented their plans to their stakeholders. Our team found this meeting to be very valuable in helping us map out a way forward for our project. Indeed, it made clear how important the insight of people working on these issues is to ‘outsiders’ like us looking to get involved. Those present were as follows:
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Stichting de Verdienstelijkheid – group of Dutch entrepreneurs interested in starting/investing in businesses run and/or staffed by asylum seekers. Members include Mark van Twist from the Nederlandse School voor Openbare Bestuur (NSOB), Leon Sonnenschein, Dick Boeve, and Meindert de Jong. Stichting de Vrolijkheid – NGO, run by Fronnie Biesma, focused primarily providing artand theatre-related activities for children in AZCs.7 COA – despite the fact that we were not going to work directly with COA, they are always an important stakeholder in AZC-related matters.
Website: www.vrolijkheid.nl
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The asylum-seekers themselves – we invited Tariq, a resident of AZC Almere that we had met during our visit there, to attend the meeting.
Other attendees at the Meeting of the Minds were Farida Farhadpour, one of the organisers of the ‘Thinking Cities’ summer school who was at the time preparing a case for the summer school involving asylum-related issues, Daphne Bressers, who works with Mark van Twist at the NSOB, and Alaa Al Temimi, an architecture student from TU Delft working on a new design for AZCs.
3.3 Initial conceptualisation of the project, including preliminary timeline As mentioned above, initially our project’s aim was to start up a pilot business with one or more asylum-seekers. This process was to serve as a learning experience, and the knowledge gained would be handed over to DV to serve as a guideline for how to start similar businesses in the future. With this goal in mind, we identified the following steps that needed to be taken (illustrated below): 1. Gathering of information regarding the legal issues involved in starting a business with asylum seekers with or without a permit. 2. Finding a candidate with whom we could draw up a rough business plan. 3. Drawing up a comprehensive business plan, with the necessary market-related information. 4. Finding investors that would fund the business. At this stage, our aim was to have money allocated to a pilot business by the end of May, when the Young Innovators programme ends. Below is a visualisation of the steps listed above. The following section describes the project phases as they actually occurred.
Figure 1: Preliminary timeline
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4. Description of project phases This section divides our project work into phases, and gives an overview of the most significant activities and findings of each phase. To begin with, however, we lay out our findings regarding the legal status of businesses run by asylum seekers. The gathering of information in this regard essentially forms a separate phase of the project, because it was an ongoing process. In some ways, the lack of clarity in this regard is positive, because it may suggest some room for movement/manipulation within the bounds of the explicit laws. It is also an indicator that our project sought to do something relatively novel. Less positively, however, the vagueness surrounding the issue made it extremely difficult to get concrete information about what is and is not legal for asylum-seekers within the employment world. Following the discussion of the relevant legal issues, the other phases of the project are detailed.
4.1 The legal issues: a phase on their own This section presents an overview of our efforts to gather legal information regarding asylumseeker-run businesses. 4.1.1 Channels made use of
We called the Dutch Chamber of Commerce. Raoul (a former law student) looked into the matter himself, and was able to find some information.8 We called the Dutch Refugee Council to try to speak to one of their lawyers, but were told that all of their employees were too busy to speak to us.
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Some general rules are available here: http://www.vluchtelingenwerk.nl/feiten-cijfers/procedures-wettenbeleid/werk-inkomen/werken-tijdens-de-asielprocedure-de-voorwaarden
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At the end of March, we eventually got some information from Ariane den Uyl from the Refugee Council, which is summarised as follows (see Appendix C for more comprehensive information):
Legal information
Asylum seekers without a permit: o May work for a maximum of 24 weeks per year o May only work for an employer that has a “tewerkstellingsvergunning” in this work o Volunteer work may only be done at an organisation that has a “vrijwilligersverklaring” for this work o Volunteer work must be ‘true’ volunteer work – i.e. no payment can be received for this work o Internships can only be undertaken as part of an MBO, HBO or WO training Asylum seekers with a permit: o Have free access to the job market, and may freely undertake volunteer work and internships o However, three-quarters of any income they make must be given to the COA
Following this response and on Ariane’s suggestion, we took up further contact with Arie van Driel. At the time of writing, we had received no further information from him.
4.2 Phase 1: Gathering information In the month of February, following the Meeting of the Minds, we scheduled two meetings that we hoped would provide us with useful information as to how to go about starting a business run and/or staffed by asylum seekers. These meetings are detailed below. 4.2.1 Az’Zeep meeting (26 February 2015) Lena and Robyn met Monique Hoving from De Vrolijkheid on 26 February 2015. Monique, along with Nosrat Mansouri Gilani, is also involved in Stichting de Werkelijkheid9, an organisation that works with artists from refugee backgrounds, providing workshops and other kinds of training/team-building exercises. Monique and Nosrat had worked on a relatively small-scale project in which thirty residents from the AZC in Leersum produced various ‘artisanal’ products – such as soap – “with a personal touch and with a small letter from the resident that made the product”. We considered the Az’Zeep project to be very relevant to our own project, and hoped to find out from Monique how they had dealt with issues such as payment of the workers and the purchasing of materials, etc. What we learned is summarised below. 9
Website: http://www.werkelijkheid.com.
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Az’Zeep received its funding from ‘Vrieden Loterij’. They therefore only had a limited amount of money with which to buy materials, and so their production was limited. Thus, the project only lasted for a short period of time – when we met with Monique, they were trying to find avenues through which to sell the products that they had produced (more on this below). The AZC residents were not technically paid for their work. Remuneration, where it was given, was in the form of ‘gifts’ – one resident received a sewing machine, which was purchased by De Vrolijkheid. The legal issue in this regard was therefore side-stepped. Our impression was that it is relatively easy to find residents in AZCs who are interested in getting involved in projects such as these. Aside from soap, the residents also produced bath gloves, and also all-purpose cloths decorated from stamps they had made according to traditions in their home country. At the time that we met with Monique, the Az’Zeep members were working with a group of students from Team Academy, “the international school for entrepreneurship”10, to find outlets for the sale of their products. Amongst the places that were being considered were fair trade stores. It would be recommended for individuals working further on a project similar to that described in this document to make contact with the students from this Team Academy team (contact details are given in section 11).
4.2.2 Musselkanaal meeting (27 February) On 27 February, Niels and Lena accompanied Dick Boeve of DV to the AZC in Musselkanaal. DV had been in contact with the COA representative in this AZC regarding the professional profiles of (some of) the residents in this AZC. (The profiles were compiled by one of the inhabitants, Salim). The goal of this trip was to meet with some of the residents and discuss the opportunities available for them. We thought it would be very helpful for some members of our team to sit in on the meetings in order to see the form such discussions may take. As a result of these meetings, profiles of four candidates were compiled. Brief summaries of these are given below (more details specifically regarding Abraham are provided later in the report).
Abraham: a dentist from Eritrea Salim: inventor, experience in management and business administration Mohammed: Maintenance engineer Ainom: GP from Eritrea
Niels and Lena found that sitting in on these meetings was a valuable experience. It was useful to observe how Dick interacted with the candidates and made clear that he could not promise any positive outcomes, although he would try his best. It was also made clear to us that the candidates were enthusiastic, but at the same time did not have high hopes that they would hear from DV
10
Website: www.teamacademy.nl.
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again (Mohammed described his experience of Holland as involving lots of “letters and appointments”, but not much action). From this meeting, it also became clear that many people living in AZCs have professional backgrounds that are not necessarily suited to the starting up of a business. It was thus at this point that we began to also consider investigating opportunities such as internships with which candidates could be connected. At this point it is also relevant to note that, following these meetings in Musselkanaal, word spread around the AZC about possible job opportunities for residents. The COA representative in Musselkanaal apparently received many enquires about how to get in touch with DV. This is perhaps an indication of how necessary it is to engage with AZC residents about their professional development, and to help them build a future in Holland.
4.3 Phase 2: Finding candidates Following our meetings in Musselkanaal and with Monique from Az’Zeep, we began in earnest to search for candidates for our project, which at the time we still conceived of as aimed at starting a pilot business. We considered the four candidates from Musselkanaal to fall under the purview of De Verdienstelijkheid, and so we aimed to find other candidates with which we could work (preferably close to Utrecht, where our team was based). Before the Meeting of Minds we had been to AZC Almere, and met there with Lotte from De Vrolijkheid. Also in attendance at this meeting was Tariq, a resident at the AZC who also helped out in a volunteer capacity with the activities of De Vrolijkheid in the AZC. Both Lotte and Tariq had been very enthusiastic when we sketched an idea of our project for them at our first meeting, and so after the Meeting of the Minds we considered Almere to be one location where we could look for candidates with which to start a pilot business. Because our team was based in Utrecht, we also investigated the possibility of finding candidates at AZC Zeist (a relatively new AZC a short bus-ride from the centre of Utrecht). Summaries of our interactions with each of these AZCs are given below: 4.3.1 AZC Zeist
Via another participant in the Young Innovators programme, we were able to get in touch with an individual working in a managerial capacity at this AZC, and make an appointment to visit the facility. Our main contact at AZC Zeist was Paul van Breukelen, the main Dutch teacher at this AZC. We thought that the Dutch classes in the AZC were a good place to begin searching for a candidate, because being able to speak (at least elementary) Dutch would better equip candidates to work in Dutch society. Although Paul was very much willing to help, we found it difficult to make inroads with the residents in AZC Zeist, which we would attribute primarily to the lack of a mediating 16
organisation such as De Vrolijkheid within that AZC. Such an organisation is useful a) because they typically interact in a different (and perhaps more positive way) with the residents than do the managerial staff, and thus stand in a different kind of relation to them, and b) because their goals are different to those of the COA, and so they are willing to focus on issues other than providing the bare necessities for the inhabitants. We learned that in AZC Zeist, a majority of the residents were actually already in possession of a permit, and were waiting to be placed in a house in the municipality to which they had been assigned.
4.3.2 AZC Almere
Having already met with Lotte and Tariq at AZC Almere and received a positive reaction from both of them regarding our project, we were quite hopeful as to the possibilities of finding candidates at this AZC. Indeed, at our meeting at Almere in early February following the Meeting of the Minds, Tariq volunteered himself as a candidate, and Lotte volunteered to serve as a ‘mediator’ between our team and the residents of AZC Almere. She also volunteered to enquire within the AZC regarding other possible candidates. At this point – early February – Lotte and Tariq already had another two candidates in mind; a kickboxer and a cook.
The above summarises why we saw more potential in forming a partnership with AZC Almere than in doing so with AZC Zeist. Thus, we focused our attention on residents of the former AZC. On 18 March 2015 we returned to AZC Almere, and again on 14 April 2015. At these meetings, we met:
Abdullah from Afghanistan, the Wushu Kung Fu teacher, who previously had a Wushu school in Iran, and had given workshops at AZC Apeldoorn with equipment that had been provided by COA. Bashir (Abu Mohammed), an artist who had also worked as a barber in the past.
4.4 Phase 3: Possibilities for candidates At the end of March, we had our first meeting with DV to discuss how we could help the candidates we had met. The primary focus of the meeting was on brainstorming – we dealt with each candidate individually, and came up with as many possible opportunities for him 11 that we could think of. Those in attendance at this meeting were the members of the YI team, Dick Boeve and Meindert de Jonge from DV, and Karin Geuijen, our team’s expert. The candidates under discussion were Tariq Hasan (also in attendance) and Bashar. A limited period of time was devoted to discussing the four candidates from AZC Musselkanaal.
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Note at this point that all of the candidates we worked with were male.
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The options produced for Tariq and Bashir are presented in Appendix D. Below, we summarise the factors that are relevant when trying to come up with possibilities for a candidate, and also the kinds of options considered for each candidate. 4.4.1 Factors to take into consideration when finding opportunities for candidates
Does the candidate have a clearly defined profession? This is required when sending out a CV to a professional network, because employers using such networks typically have a specific job in mind that they are looking to hire someone to do. What past work experience does the candidate have? It is important to note that a candidate’s main profession in the past does not necessarily have to remain his main profession if he has other experience. Some flexibility/diversity of experience multiplies the number of opportunities with which a candidate can be connected. Can the candidate’s skill set somehow fit into one of the projects run by the De Vrolijkheid and its partners? Meindert points out that these organisations can get funding for specific projects, so this can be a straightforward route to getting a candidate involved in something related to his/her interests. What languages can the candidate speak? This is relevant in determining whether a candidate can work in areas that require knowledge of Dutch and/or English. Sometimes, when it might be difficult for a candidate to find work outside of the AZC, work within the AZC can be considered (e.g. providing a barber service or similar within an AZC would be useful).
4.4.2 Kinds of options considered for candidates
Dick is a founding member of the AIM4 professional network (website: www.aim4.nl), an online database where people’s resumes and professional profiles are made available so that they can be accessed by potential employers. This is an ideal avenue to explore for candidates with a clear profession. Through such a network, candidates may be connected with actual jobs, or with internships. Aside from the AIM4 network, individuals’ own personal and professional networks are very useful. Big, professional organisations such as the Workers Union are good places to look for opportunities, but on a smaller level, it is often the case that students know other students who have connections with organisations because they have, for example, done an internship there. It is also good to consider making use of candidates’ international background to connect them with potential opportunities. For example, the NOUR project, a division of AIESEC, aims to connect Dutch students with the Arabic-speaking world. They have a magazine, an ‘Arab Experience Day’ where students who have studied abroad in the Middle East share their experiences, and a Learning Programme. These are all activities where people of Middle-Eastern/North African background can get involved, and such involvement would be beneficial to both the candidate and the organisation and its members. 18
Candidates are usually already aware of this, but the UAF makes it possible for individuals of refugee background to pursue higher education in the Netherlands. Sometimes, the most plausible opportunity with which to connect a candidate lies within the AZC itself. This applies in the case of candidates that will not be moving out of an AZC anytime soon (and due to the already-noted delays in the housing placement process, this will be the situation in many cases). Then, possible opportunities might lie in making Dutch lessons available in the AZCs that don’t have any, so that residents can prepare for a working life outside of the AZC or, as in the case of Abdullah the kickboxer (see section 6), in investigating the possibility of candidates giving workshops where they live, with equipment funded either by COA or by a private organisation.
5. Challenges involved in connecting candidates with opportunities This section details some of the broader challenges that arise when trying to connect candidates with opportunities. Specific obstacles that we faced in the course of our project are detailed in the following section.
Language barrier: as mentioned briefly above, depending on what field the candidate wants to go into, it is desirable that s/he speak English and/or Dutch. Cases in which this may not be necessary include cases in which the candidate will be working within an AZC, or with other people of the same language background. There are other situations, however, in which the candidate has to have reached a certain level of Dutch proficiency to be able to pursue a particular opportunity – this is the case, for example, when a candidate wishes to begin studying in the Netherlands. In certain cases, it is of the utmost importance to protect a candidate’s privacy. Resumes that are distributed – via the AIM4 network, for example – should not contain very specific details about a candidate’s full name and country of origin. If these details ‘fall into the wrong hands’, it can place a candidate and/or his/her family and connections in the home country in danger. This issue should be discussed with the candidate before any outside parties are spoken to regarding the candidate’s future. Geographic mobility can be a problem for candidates. When an individual is still living in an AZC, it of course costs money to travel to and from meetings or classes, etc. (Note however that if properly motivated, it can be possible to claim this money back from COA.) It is also the case that individuals are not able to choose where they will live after they leave the AZC – they are placed in a municipality without being consulted. Thus, any longterm opportunities should, if possible, be located near to where the candidate will eventually be living (assuming that this information is available at the time). Related to this issue – it is not possible for the candidate to pursue certain opportunities if s/he is living in an AZC. The duration of the placement process can thus be a serious obstacle in connecting a candidate with opportunities (more on this in section 9).
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Due to conflicts between their home countries which often translate into personal antipathies, it is essentially impossible to make up a group of candidates with individuals from both Syria and Eritrea. It is therefore important to bear in mind that Syrians and Eritreans should be worked with separately. (Although see another perspective on this issue in section 6.4).
6. Individual case studies This section presents four case studies. Discussed are our experiences in finding each candidate and in gathering information about him; the ideas that we had for possible opportunities for the candidate; the ways we went about investigating these opportunities, and our results. Throughout, we also highlight factors that we consider generalizable to the success or failure of other projects of this nature. We refer the reader to the appendices for the full profiles of the candidates.
6.1 Bashir (Abu Mohammed) How did we find this candidate? Bashir was a resident at AZC Almere, and he was brought to our attention by Lotte, our contact at AZC Almere who worked for De Vrolijkheid, and Tariq, our other contact at AZC Almere. Description of candidate’s background and ambitions Bashir’s primary work experience is in the field of Fine Arts. He also had extensive experience working as a barber. Bashir expressed to us that he was particularly interested in working as an artist; when thinking up possibilities for him, however, we also took into consideration his experience as a barber. Possible opportunities considered for this candidate Our first idea was that Bashir should be connected with De Werkelijkheid, given that he was particularly interested in working as an artist, and that De Werkelijkheid works primarily with artists from a refugee background. We were also of course well aware that making a living as an artist is difficult, and Bashir has a family to provide for. Thus, we suggested to Bashir that he work part-time on his art, and that we could perhaps for the moment investigate the possibility of him working as a barber in the AZC. Meindert also had a number of novel project ideas that could be undertaken in conjunction with De Vrolijkheid; for example, matching up children from the AZC with other Dutch children, and giving each pair the same haircut. After we generated these ideas, we consulted Bashir to see what he would be interested in. During this meeting, he made it very clear that he did not want to work as a barber, and only wanted to work as an artist. Thus, we decided that the best we could do for this candidate was to put him in contact with De Werkelijkheid. Mechanisms employed to connect this candidate with opportunities 20
Dick contacted Senad from De Werkelijkheid and spoke to him about Bashir. We then provided Tariq, our contact at AZC Almere (who speaks Arabic, as does Bashir) with Senad’s email address to be passed on to Bashir. We thought that this was sufficient involvement on our part, because a) we considered it important to encourage candidates to be proactive in pursuing opportunities for themselves, as we of course would not always be around to mediate between a candidate and the relevant organisation, and b) we sensed some resistance to our involvement on the part of Bashir. He made it very clear that he wanted to maintain his independence, and did not want to be ‘told what to do’. Results for this candidate At the time of writing, we were not aware of whether Bashir did take up contact with Senad from De Werkelijkheid. However, we feel that our involvement with him did have a successful outcome, as we have made it possible for him to realise one of his career ambitions, that of working as an artist in the Netherlands.
Factors relevant to the success/failure of ‘Project Bashir’
Bashir had very strong ideas about what he did/did not want to do. Whilst it is good for a candidate to be focused and to have an idea of what he wants to do, it also limits the possible opportunities for a candidate when he is not open to exploring different paths.
6.2 Abraham How did we find this candidate? Abraham was one of the candidates from Musselkanaal that had been brought to the attention of DV by COA. Members of our team met with him along with Dick at the end of February at AZC Musselkanaal. Description of candidate’s background and ambitions Abraham holds the relevant qualifications to work as a dentist in Eritrea, but it is not possible to work as a dentist in the Netherlands with only this qualification. Abraham thus needed to investigate how to obtain the necessary Dutch qualification. Possible opportunities considered for this candidate Because Abraham had a very clear profile and very clear ambitions, we of course focused on investigating how to go about getting him licensed to work as a dentist in Holland. Mechanisms employed to connect this candidate with opportunities
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Coincidentally, our project expert Karin Geuijen lived next door to a dentist, Wassil Malikzad, who was also from a refugee background, although he had been living in the Netherlands since he was a teenager (country of origin: Afghanistan). Karin made it possible for us to set up a meeting between Wassil and Abraham; Dick and Danja were also present at this meeting. Wassil was able to offer guidance as to the necessary steps that Abraham needed to undertake in order to obtain his Dutch certification. Results for this candidate Perhaps most importantly, the meeting with Wassil provided us with the information about how exactly Abraham had to go about getting his Dutch certification. Three important steps were highlighted: a) Abraham had to pass level II of the Dutch-language Staatsexamen. The UAF would pay for him to study Dutch, but only when he had an address in Den Bosch, the city in which he had been placed; b) Academisch Centrum Tandheelkunde Amsterdam (ACTA) could provide the necessary information about the educational requirements for foreign dentists to obtain Dutch certification; c) Abraham would have to work under the supervision of another Dutch dentist in order to get his BIG-registration (this could, however, be done before he had completed the necessary education). Steps a) and b) were further investigated in our project: Dick looked into contacting COA about speeding up the process of getting Abraham placed in a house, so that he could begin learning Dutch; and Danja called ACTA to find out about the educational requirements for foreign dentists. Danja found out that Abraham needs to fill in a comprehensive form for the BIG-registration, and that ACTA would then be able to tell him what courses he needs to follow to obtain his Dutch certification. ACTA made it clear that a high proficiency in Dutch is necessary; Abraham’s language skills would be tested along with his dentistry knowledge when the ACTA evaluated his prior learning. Any other necessary dentistry courses could be taken through ACTA. The above information from ACTA made it clear that learning Dutch would be a very high priority for Abraham. Given the duration of the housing placement process, Meindert suggested that we look into finding somewhere near Musselkanaal for Abraham to begin taking Dutch lessons, as no
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Dutch classes were provided at AZC Musselkanaal. At this stage, we still do not have decisive information regarding those possibilities.
Factors relevant to the success/failure of ‘Project Abraham’
Abraham has a very clear professional profile. This makes it easy to know what kinds of opportunities to consider for him, and makes it easy to contact the relevant people. This candidate’s story in particular highlights the problems that can result from the inefficiency of the housing placement process.
The unfortunate lack of Dutch classes at AZC Musselkanaal was also brought to light in this project.
It is clear that the process for Abraham to get his BIG-registration will be lengthy. It is therefore a positive that Abraham seems to be a very patient person.
6.3 Tariq How did we find this candidate? We met Tariq during our first trip to AZC Almere, where he was a resident, and also did some volunteering in the programmes run by De Vrolijkheid. Because we had a very positive interaction with both Tariq and Lotte at AZC Almere, this AZC was one of the first places we decided to look for candidates for our project. Description of candidate’s background and ambitions Tariq has two main areas of expertise; one in the fields of English-teaching, writing and translation, and one in jewellery production. He was open to working in both fields, but was particularly interested in taking his jewellery-making ‘to the next level’ by pursuing formal training in this area. Possible opportunities considered for this candidate We came up with an extensive list of ideas for opportunities for Tariq. These can be grouped into three broad areas: a) jewellery-related opportunities; b) language-related opportunities; and c) opportunities that would involve him sharing some of his experiences and some of his knowledge of his home country (see Appendix D for further details). Mechanisms employed to connect this candidate with opportunities Regarding the jewellery-related opportunities, Meindert made contact with Ellen Beekmans (a jewellery-maker for Dutch television) and the Workers Union to see if any opportunities were available for Tariq here. Danja investigated the possibility of Tariq giving a talk at the Utrecht School of Journalism, seeing as he had worked as a journalist in his home country. She also 23
investigated connecting Tariq with the NOUR programme, which aims to connect the Dutch and Arab worlds (as mentioned in section 4.4.2). Dick circulated Tariq’s resume through the AIM4 network. We also considered other writing opportunities for Tariq, and the possibility of him giving advice to people planning to travel to the Middle East, but these options were not actively pursued. Results for this candidate Meindert received positive responses from the Workers Union, and in future it should be possible to set up a meeting for Tariq with members of the board of an important union-type organisation within the metal-working field. Ellen Beekmans was not able to help in any way, however. Danja got a positive response from the Utrecht School of Journalism regarding the possibility of Tariq giving a talk there. At the time of writing, we had received no positive responses from the AIM4 network. Towards the end of April, however, Tariq was placed in his house Utrecht, and began the timeconsuming process of fixing up the place and moving into it. He was therefore not really in a position to spend a lot of time investigating these opportunities during the months of April and May, but they are available for him to pursue when he has more time on his hands. One concrete way in which we were able to help Tariq was in the moving process. Raoul borrowed a car so that he and Tariq could pick up some furniture and other items for his new home, and we all spent one evening sanding the walls of his apartment.
Factors relevant to the success/failure of ‘Project Tariq’
Although it is not a necessary skill, Tariq’s ability to speak English (and some Dutch) made it very easy to communicate with him, without having to rely on a translator. It also meant that more opportunities within Dutch society were available to him.
When helping Tariq to move into his new home, we found it difficult to strike a balance between providing assistance and letting him do things on his own.
6.4 Abdullah How did we find this candidate? Abdullah, also a resident of AZC Almere, was brought to our attention by Tariq. Description of candidate’s background and ambitions Abdullah, originally from Afghanistan, has extensive experience as a trainer in Wushu Kung Fu (a Chinese martial art); he had a Wushu school in Iran, and he had even trained his brother, who was the world champion in the sport. Abdullah lived previously in AZC Apeldoorn, where he had 24
given lessons to residents of the AZC using equipment that had been provided by COA. However, when AZC Apeldoorn was shut down, this equipment was taken somewhere else. It was Abdullah’s ambition to give lessons in Wushu again; and possibly to have his own Wushu school in the Netherlands one day. Possible opportunities considered for this candidate Because the location of Abdullah’s future home in the Netherlands was still uncertain, and because he was not yet in possession of a residence permit, we thought it was best to focus for the time being on the possibility of him giving workshops at AZC Almere. We also thought it would be good for him to practice giving lessons to Dutch people, seeing as he wished one day to have a Wushu school in the Netherlands. To this end, we explored the possibility of him presenting a workshop at the Young Innovators’ ‘Anything but Content’ evening on 12 May. Mechanisms employed to connect this candidate with opportunities In order to investigate the possibility of Abdullah giving workshops at AZC Almere, we first wished to ascertain what had happened to the equipment from AZC Apeldoorn. We also wanted to investigate whether COA at Almere would consider sponsoring new equipment. To this end, we set up a meeting with Sander Boer and Xander Vink, from COA’s ‘Activering van Bewoners’ project at Almere, to discuss possibilities. Abdullah also gave two workshops at the ‘Anything but Content’ night, using boxing gloves that had kindly been loaned to us by a boxing school in Utrecht. They were enjoyed by all the participants, and Abdullah enjoyed giving them, as well. Results for this candidate We met with Sander Boer and Xander Vink on 15 May 2015. It turned out that they were sceptical about putting Abdullah in charge of something like a regular sports activity/workshop. This was because a) Abdullah had been involved in numerous ‘incidents’, both at AZC Almere and AZC Apeldoorn, and so COA perceived him as a bit of a troublemaker; and b) apparently Abdullah had a track record of signing up for things and then dropping out. However, it came to light that there was some (kick)-boxing (or similar) equipment available at AZC Almere, and there was also a room that is suitable for sporting activities. Sander and Xander agreed that if Abdullah could get two (minimum) or three other AZC residents that would act as co-trainers with him (so that these individuals could step in if, for example, Abdullah were to drop out or move away), and if they came forward with a schedule/plan for the workshops/classes that they wished to do, then Sander and Xander would help them in making it happen. At the time of writing, we had yet to decide on the best way to contact Abdullah and explain this to him. Following this, it will be up to him to find some co-trainers and come up with a plan for the workshops, and so the workshops will only happen if takes initiative and shows commitment of his own accord. 25
(Sander and Xander raised another point of concern about residents administering activities such as these: It is desirable that those in charge not all be from the same nationality; e.g. so it is not just a group of Afghan men, because there had been conflicts before between Afghans and Syrians in the AZC in the past. Having a ‘mixed’ group of trainers would prevent any particular nationality feeling ‘excluded’ from the workshops.) At the time of writing, it was not yet clear whether Abdullah would take the necessary steps to get these workshops off the ground.
Factors relevant to the success/failure of ‘Project Abdullah’
In Abdullah’s case, it was again helpful that he had a very clear profession in mind. This made it easy to define opportunities for him.
Abdullah did not speak English at the time of the project, and only spoke limited Dutch. This made it difficult to communicate with him telephonically, as he relied on the presence of a translator. (However, it did not really have a negative effect on the workshops he presented.)
The fact that he had previously been given support by COA opened up the possibility of getting funding from COA again. This project also highlighted something that it is easy, as an outsider, to forget – that COA may perceive the AZC residents in a different light than we do. COA deal with the residents on a daily basis and the relationship between the two parties is often shaped by the existing power imbalance and the negative repercussions that that can have. This can play a role when outside parties work together with COA to create opportunities for a resident.
The positive aspects (and sometimes the necessity) of having AZC residents from different nationalities work together were also emphasised in this project.
The fact that Abdullah did not yet have a staying permit limited us to considering opportunities for him that could be undertaken inside of the AZC.
7. Additional brainstorming project for COA When we met with Sander Boer and Xander Vink of COA on 15 May 2015, they presented us with the additional challenge of thinking of ways to improve communication between COA, which they described as “a big organisation that moves slowly”, and the smaller NGOs that also work with AZC residents and are able to move quickly. The results of our meeting regarding this matter are in Appendix F.
8. Critical remarks on our project
A strategy that, in retrospect, we think may have been useful in this project would have been to assign each individual in the project team to a specific candidate. Then, each team
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member is responsible for keeping in contact with his/her candidate, and for investigating possibilities for him/her.
We were aware from the outset of this project that we would face many obstacles. Although we were initially focused on starting a business with people living in AZCs, it became clear after some time that this was not an ideal that was going to be realised. Looking back, at this point, we think it would have been useful to ‘reorient’ ourselves, so that we would still have had clear goals. Because we did not do this, we feel that we lacked a clear focus during the second half of the project year. It is of course also the case that we had to work with any opportunities that were presented to us, but a clearer focus on what exactly we wanted to achieve in the long run would still have been helpful.
In dealing with candidates, we found it difficult to strike a balance between giving them a concrete idea of what we could offer them, and promising things that we were not sure we would be able to deliver. In some cases, investigating possibilities for candidates took a relatively long time, and we were not always systematic in keeping candidates updated as to the process. This may have caused them to ‘lose hope’.
Ultimately, this project was a large undertaking for a group of Masters students with only 8-10 hours a week to devote to it. This is of course does not mean that it was not worthwhile, however.
9. Areas that still need to be explored in future projects This section highlights some areas that we think deserve attention in future projects of this nature.
We worked primarily with individuals who already had a permit to stay in the Netherlands. Although it is likely more difficult to provide opportunities for candidates without a permit within the boundaries of the strict laws in this regard, we think it is still important that these individuals are also considered, as they suffer no less from the lack of stimulation that comes with spending all of one’s time in an AZC with nothing to do.
The issue of delays in the housing process has been ongoing for many years, but again, that makes it no less deserving of attention. Future projects might investigate how this process might be streamlined; how to facilitate better communication between the asylum-seekers, the company responsible for allocating housing, and the municipality, for example. It seems to often be the case that individuals are told that they have been placed in a municipality, and then they hear nothing further about this for periods of up to a year. We have recently been in discussion about the possibilities of using small houses built by Heijmans as housing for asylum seekers who have received a staying permit, but we have no concrete news in this regard yet. However, it could be a good project if undertaken in conjunction with an ‘open-minded’ municipality.
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There seems to be some potential in working with COA’s ‘Activering van Bewoners’ project. Ostensibly, they seem to be striving for the same goal that we were – providing AZC residents with opportunities to use their skills and their time productively – but given the conservative nature of the organisation, the projects that might be undertaken with them are likely to be somewhat limited. However, in the case of a project like Abdullah’s Wushu workshop, possible support and/or funding from COA should not remain unexplored.
As highlighted in the case of Abraham, some AZCs do not make provision for Dutch lessons for their residents. Dutch lessons are something that should be available, and so future projects might investigate which AZCs do not provide them (for example, AZC Zeist), and see whether that can be changed.
On a smaller scale – DV is not in possession of either a logo or a website. If that is something that the organisation would like to have – and we feel that it would be useful in some situations – a small future project would be to design a logo and website for them.
Monique Hoving also pointed out to us that it would be good to get outside investors/business people involved in connecting asylum seekers with opportunities. Future projects might explore the possibility of broadening the network that currently exists, and involving individuals who are not already connected in some way with NGOs working with asylum seekers in the Netherlands.
Sander Boer and Xander Vink asked us to help think of ways to help COA work together with smaller, faster-moving organisations. This is an interesting and important issue, and would make a good project for future teams.
10.Summary of what we learnt This section broadly summarises what we have learnt that should be taken into consideration in future projects of this nature.
Whilst it is worth exploring the option of starting businesses with asylum seekers, this is not always something that candidates wish to pursue. One reason might be that it is perceived by asylum-seekers as risky, given the murky legal status of such an endeavour. For this reason, other opportunities – such as internships – should also be kept in mind.
Laws regarding the employment of asylum seekers can make it difficult to offer them remuneration for their work (and, even if it is possible to remunerate them, it is unfortunate that much of their income must be given to COA). To try to find a way around these specific laws – for example, by keeping the money on an asylum-seekers behalf in a separate account – is likely to constitute fraud, and should thus be avoided. However, we have seen, as in the case of Az’Zeep, that it is possible to remunerate people by giving them gifts or similar. (And of course, in the case of internships this problem does not really arise.) 28
We have discussed a possible structure with which DV could work in future. This would be to take a small group of candidates – four, for example – compile their professional profiles and a list of opportunities with which they could be connected, and then to spend a month investigating those opportunities. In the space of a month, we believe the necessary groundwork can be put in place so that a candidate can take things further herself. (Of course, in many cases it will take far longer than a month for there to be any tangible outcome, but this is due to uncontrollable circumstances – cf. the case of Abraham).
One of the most important things we have learnt is that there is definitely a demand for the kind of project described in this document. People living in AZCs wish to use their expertise from their ‘past lives’, and/or to develop whatever expertise they already have so that they can put their skills to use in the Netherlands. It is our firm belief that giving people living in AZCs this opportunity is of benefit not only to them, but also to Dutch society, in that it allows people living in AZCs to make a contribution instead of being passive recipients of governmental money, and aids in breaking down the barriers between these people and the Dutch citizens.
11. Contact details The individuals below can be contacted in connection with projects similar to the one described in this report.
Dick Boeve – member De Verdienstelijkheid;
[email protected]
Meindert de Jonge - member De Verdienstelijkheid;
[email protected]
12. List of relevant literature The documents below provide useful overviews of the issues involved in asylum-seeker reception, both in the Netherlands and in greater Europe. COA (2010). Project RET: Reception Expert Teams. Available online: https://www.coa.nl/sites/www.coa.nl/files/nieuws/media/bestanden/verslag_project_ret_e ngels_0.pdf Versteegt, I., & Maussen, M. (2012). Contested policies of exclusion: Resistance and protest against asylum policy in the Netherlands. Available online: http://cadmus.eui.eu/bitstream/handle/1814/22635/ACCEPT_PLURALISM_2012_17_Fi nalcountryreport_Netherlands.pdf?sequence=1 Watters, C., Ingleby, D., Bernal, M., De Freitas, C., De Ruuk, N., Van Leeuwen, M. and Venkatesan, S. (2003) Good practices in mental health and social care for asylum seekers and refugees. Final Report of the project for the European Commission, Canterbury: University of Kent. Available online:
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https://www.academia.edu/3878892/Good_practices_in_mental_health_and_social_care_ for_asylum_seekers_and_refugees
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Appendix A: Legal information (in Dutch) Inhoud I. Asielzoeker Toegang tot de arbeidsmarkt Inkomsten van asielzoeker 1. Kortdurend werk 1.1 Arbeidsvoorwaarden 1.2 Tewerkstellingsvergunning 1. 3 Voorwaarden twv 1.4 Verklaring asielzoeker 1.5 Termijn voor procedure tot afgifte twv 1.6 Wisselen van werkgever 2. Stage 2.1 Tewerkstellingsvergunning voor stage 3. Vrijwilligerswerk 3.1 Voorwaarden vrijwilligersverklaring 3.2 Aantonen dat een asielzoeker vrijwilligerswerk mag doen 3.3 Aanvragen vrijwilligersverklaring II. Asielzoeker met verblijfsvergunning III. Uitgeprocedeerde asielzoeker IV. Bronnen V. Interessante links
I. Asielzoeker Een asielzoeker is nog in afwachting van een beslissing op de aanvraag van een verblijfsvergunning of op een tegen een zodanige beslissing ingesteld (hoger) beroep. Een asielzoeker verblijft rechtmatig in Nederland, dat wil zeggen dat hij of zij een verblijfsrecht in de zin van artikel 8, onder f of h, van de Vreemdelingenwet 2000 heeft. Een asielzoeker kan een geldig W-document tonen.Werken tijdens de asielprocedure: de voorwaarden Toegang tot de arbeidsmarkt Nee, een asielzoeker –de vreemdeling in procedure voor een asielvergunning– heeft geen vrije toegang tot de Nederlandse arbeidsmarkt. De arbeidsmarktaantekening is: “Specifieke arbeid toegestaan: tewerkstellingsvergunning vereist. Andere arbeid niet toegestaan” [C11/3.4 Vc]. Voor specifieke arbeid kan een werkgever wel relatief gemakkelijk een tewerkstellingsvergunning 31
krijgen. Specifieke arbeid betekent hier: kortdurend werk [Art 2a onder a Buwav, art. 8 Dubwav en § 20 uitvoeringsregels Wav]. Een asielzoeker kan ook (een noodzakelijke) stage lopen indien er aanspraak bestaat op voorzieningen krachtens de wet COA en hij/ zij een opleiding op mbo-, hbo- of wo-niveau volgt. De werkgever moet beschikken over een beroepspraktijkvormings- of een stageovereenkomst met de asielzoeker en de onderwijsinstelling. Wanneer de arbeidsorganisatie of de instelling beschikt over een vrijwilligersverklaring mag een asielzoeker vrijwilligerswerk doen. Inkomsten van asielzoeker Een asielzoeker of statushouder die nog in de COA-opvang verblijft, mag een groot deel van zijn inkomsten niet zelf houden. Als de asielzoeker of statushouder eigen inkomsten heeft, dan is hij verplicht een eigen bijdrage te betalen aan het COA volgens de regeling eigen bijdrage asielzoekers met inkomen en vermogen (Reba 2008, Stcrt. 2008, 850). Op grond van deze regeling mogen zij 25 % van hun inkomsten houden met een maximum van 183 euro per maand. Is het maandelijks inkomen (van het gezin) zo hoog, dat de eigen bijdrage meer wordt dan de economische waarde van de opvang, dan komt er nog een bedrag bij dat men mag overhouden. 1. Kortdurend werk door asielzoeker 1.1 Arbeidsvoorwaarden Als een werkgever een asielzoeker voor zich laat werken zijn de normale wetten en regels van toepassing, bijvoorbeeld op het gebied van beloning, werktijden en arbo. Maar ook voor wat betreft afdracht van belastingen en premies. 1.2 Tewerkstellingsvergunning Om te mogen werken, moet het Centraal Orgaan opvang Asielzoekers (COA) een tewerkstellingsvergunning afgeven. Asielzoekers hebben van de IND een w-document als identiteitsbewijs ontvangen. Op de achterkant van het w-document staat: “Arbeid toegestaan, mits de werkgever beschikt over een TWV (tewerkstellingsvergunning).” De asielzoeker mag pas gaan werken als de werkgever daadwerkelijk in het bezit is van deze twv. De twv zal niet worden getoetst aan het prioriteitgenietend aanbod [er wordt niet getoetst aan art. 8 lid 1 onder a, b en d Wav]. Dit betekent dat de twv niet zal worden geweigerd omdat er in Nederland of de EU mogelijk werknemers aanwezig zijn die vrije toegang hebben tot de arbeidsmarkt. Naast Nederlanders zijn dat bijvoorbeeld personen afkomstig uit één van de landen van de Europese Economische Ruimte of vreemdelingen met een verblijfsdocument met de aantekening ‘Arbeid vrij toegestaan’. 1. 3 Voorwaarden twv
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Kortdurende werk asielzoekers: voorwaarden voor afgifte twv aan werkgever Om in aanmerking te komen voor afgifte van een tewerkstellingsvergunning moet een asielzoeker aan de volgende voorwaarden voldoen [Art. 2a Buwav en § 20 Uitvoeringsregels horende bij het Dubwav]: 1. de aanvraag van de vbt-asiel is tenminste zes maanden in behandeling, en 2. de asielzoeker verblijft rechtmatig in Nederland op grond van artikel 8, onderdelen f of h, van de Vw, en 3. aan de asielzoeker wordt met toepassing van de Rva 2005 opvang geboden, en 4. de asielzoeker overschrijdt de arbeidsperiode van in totaal 24 weken binnen een tijdsbestek van 12 maanden niet [Als men werkzaamheden wil verrichten als artiest, musicus, filmmedewerker of in de vorm van technische ondersteuning van optredens van een artiest of musicus, dan geldt dat men binnen die periode van 24 weken maximaal 14 weken deze werkzaamheden mag verrichten], en 5. de in de vergunningsaanvraag bedoelde werkzaamheden zullen onder marktconforme voorwaarden worden verricht, en 6. de werkgever overlegt een kopie van het W-document. 1.4 Verklaring asielzoeker De werkgever vraagt voor de asielzoeker een tewerkstellingsvergunning (twv) aan bij het UWV werkbedrijf. De werkgever informeert de asielzoeker tevens dat deze een „verklaring asielzoeker‟ bij het COA moet invullen. Deze verklaring is een bevestiging dat het COA met de asielzoeker een voorlichtingsgesprek heeft gevoerd over betaalde arbeid. Het UWV werkbedrijf beoordeelt de aanvraag voor een twv en verzamelt daartoe inlichtingen bij het COA en de IND. Het COA geeft de asielzoeker in een gesprek uitgebreide voorlichting over betaald werken. Als bewijs dat de asielzoeker de betreffende voorlichting heeft ontvangen laat het COA de asielzoeker een verklaring ondertekenen. 1.5 Termijn voor procedure tot afgifte twv Een asielzoeker of amv mag pas beginnen met werken als hij in het bezit is van een kopie van de tewerkstellingsvergunning. De aanvraagprocedure bij het UWV Werkbedrijf mag maximaal 5 weken duren [Art. 6 Wav]. In het geval van een asielzoeker moet hierbij nog wel de tijd opgeteld worden die (eerst) nodig is voor het verkrijgen van een opvangverklaring door de minister van Justitie. De tewerkstellingsvergunning wordt verstrekt aan de werkgever, en in afschrift verzonden aan het COA, dan wel de IND, die het afschrift doorstuurt naar Stichting Nidos. 1.6 Wisselen van werkgever Het is niet toegestaan te wisselen van werkgever. De tewerkstellingsvergunning die is verstrekt aan de werkgever is specifiek voor de asielzoeker, de aard van de werkzaamheden die hij verricht en de plaats waar hij die verricht èn heeft een bepaalde geldigheidsduur [Art. 7 Wav]. Als de
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asielzoeker bij een andere werkgever wil gaan werken, dient deze nieuwe werkgever in het bezit te zijn van een (nieuwe) tewerkstellingsvergunning voor deze asielzoeker. 2. Stage voor asielzoeker 2.1 Tewerkstellingsvergunning voor stage De werkgever, in dit geval het bedrijf of de onderwijsinstelling waar de stage wordt gelopen, dient de aanvraag voor een tewerkstellingsvergunning in met een aanvraagformulier tewerkstellingsvergunning. Bij opleidingen waar per jaar meerdere stages in een korte periode moeten worden gevolgd, is het doelmatiger dat de onderwijsinstelling de twv aanvraagt, dan dat de verschillende individuele werkgevers dit moeten doen. Een tewerkstellingsvergunning kan de werkgever aanvragen bij Bureau tewerkstellingsvergunning UWV WERKbedrijf in Zoetermeer [UWV WERKbedrijf Bureau Tewerkstellingsvergunningen, Afdeling Arbeidsjuridische dienstverlening, postbus 883, 2700 AW Zoetermeer, telefoon 079-750 29 03]. Daar kan hij/zij tevens vragen stellen en een aanvraagformulier voor de tewerkstellingsvergunning opvragen. 3. Vrijwilligersverklaring Een vrijwilligersverklaring is een verklaring die de arbeidsorganisatie of een instelling in het bezit moet hebben als men vreemdelingen, die niet zonder een tewerkstellingsvergunning in Nederland mogen werken, vrijwilligerswerk laat (wil laten) verrichten [Zie Art. 1 a Besluit ter uitvoering Wet arbeid vreemdelingen en Beleidsregels Wet arbeid vreemdelingen, Stcrt. 28 januari 2002, nr. 19.]. De verklaring bevestigt dat de te verrichten werkzaamheden inderdaad als vrijwilligerswerk aan te merken zijn. In de Beleidsregels Wet arbeid vreemdelingen65 is een niet-limitatieve opsomming opgenomen van soorten activiteiten die normaliter tot vrijwilligerswerk behoren. Een vrijwilligersverklaring wordt dus afgegeven voor het uitvoeren van bepaalde werkzaamheden of het uitoefenen van bepaalde functies, en niet op naam van de vreemdeling. Hierdoor hoeft de werkgever niet telkens een nieuwe verklaring aan te vragen, als hij meerdere vreemdelingen hetzelfde soort werk wil laten verrichten. 3.1 Voorwaarden vrijwilligersverklaring Een vrijwilligersverklaring wordt op aanvraag afgegeven door het UWV Werkbedrijf als blijkt dat de te verrichten werkzaamheden voldoen aan de drie volgende voorwaarden: 1. Zij worden gebruikelijk onbetaald verricht; 2. Zij hebben geen winstoogmerk; 3. Zij dienen een algemeen maatschappelijk belang. Vrijwilligersverklaring - Hoe lang is een vrijwilligersverklaring geldig? Een vrijwilligersverklaring is vijf jaar geldig. Indien de arbeidsplaats of de functie binnen die termijn wijzigt verliest zij haar geldigheid echter eerder. 34
3.2 Aantonen dat een asielzoeker vrijwilligerswerk mag doen Vreemdelingen die vrijwilligerswerk alleen mogen doen als de arbeidsorganisatie of de instelling beschikt over een vrijwilligersverklaring [Zie paragraaf 15, Beleidsregels Wet arbeid vreemdelingen, Stcrt. nr. 19, 28 januari 2002] moeten aantonen dat zij rechtmatig in Nederland verblijven. Hieronder is per categorie aangegeven wat er onder rechtmatig verblijf wordt verstaan en hoe de vreemdeling dat aan moet kunnen tonen. 3.3 Aanvraag vrijwilligersverklaring Een vrijwilligersverklaring dient door een organisatie of een instelling aangevraagd te worden door invulling van een formulier. Deze formulieren zijn verkrijgbaar bij het de afdeling Arbeidsjuridische dienstverlening van het UWV Werkbedrijf, bij de AZC'sen bij de Vrijwilligerscentrales. [De aanvraag moet worden ingediend bij het WERKbedrijf UWV, afdeling Arbeidsjuridische dienstverlening, Postbus 883, 2700 AW te Zoetermeer]. II. Asielzoeker met verblijfsvergunning De houder van een verblijfsvergunning voor bepaalde of onbepaalde tijd asiel mag vrij werken in Nederland [Vbt-asiel: art. 4 lid 2 onder c Wav in combinatie met art. 1c Buwav; vot-asiel: art. 4 lid 2 onder a Wav]. Asielzoekers die een verblijfsvergunning hebben gekregen („vergunninghouders‟) hebben geen w-document meer maar een verblijfsdocument. Op de achterkant van het verblijfsdocument staat of een werkvergunning nodig is. Meestal is een werkvergunning niet nodig (vermelding “arbeid vrij toegestaan” op de achterkant van het document) [C1/4 resp. C6/3 Vc]. Zij mogen ook stage lopen en vrijwilligerswerk doen. III. Uitgeprocedeerde asielzoeker Voor een uitgeprocedeerde asielzoeker is betaalde arbeid niet toegestaan. IV. Bronnen http://www.vluchtelingenwerk.nl/feiten-cijfers/procedures-wetten-beleid/werk-inkomen/werkentijdens-de-asielprocedure-de-voorwaarden Personal correspondence with Robert van Leeuwarden (COA) Personal correspondence with Ariene den Uyl (Vluchtelingenwerk) (via Karin Geuijen) V. Interessante links http://www.binnenlandsbestuur.nl/sociaal/nieuws/christenunie-laat-asielzoekerswerken.1743310.lynkx
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http://www.gezondheidskrant.nl/43568/asielzoekers-willen-tijdens-hun-asielprocedure-nietstilzitten/ http://www.nd.nl/artikelen/2012/november/12/laat-asielzoekers-toch-werken
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Appendix B: Candidate profiles Profile: Bashar Name: Abu Mohammad (Bashar) Gender: Male Age: 45 Country of origin: (redacted) Civil and marital status: Married with 6 children. Oldest child is a 14-year-old girl, youngest is 1 ½ year old girl who was born in Egypt and hasn’t been seen by Abu Mohammad yet. The family is stranded in Egypt, awaiting a DNA test that proves his parenthood of the youngest child. Residence permit J/N: Yes Assigned city in NL: Koggeland (near Alkmaar) Language proficiency: Arabic Main occupation/profession: Artist/ Barber Professional ambitions/priorities/dreams: Mainly wishes to pursue mixed-media art and painting. Needs a studio, materials, and tools Education: Fine Art diploma (practical, not theoretical-- handicrafts, sculpture, ceramics, drawing, painting, etc. No specialty) Work experience:
10-12 years teaching practical art classes in university and schools 15 years’ experience as a barber for both men and women
Skills:
Experience with a variety of materials (wood, plaster, resin, paint, fiberglass, etc.) for both individual art pieces and some interior design. General barbering—haircutting, shaving, etc. Additional experiences/ internships/ projects/ voluntary work: Spent some time as a children’s soccer coach
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Profile: Tariq Name: Tariq Gender: Male Age: 30 Country of origin: (redacted) Civil and marital status: Single Residence permit J/N: Yes Assigned city in NL: Utrecht Language proficiency: Arabic, English, Spanish, basic Dutch Main occupation/profession: Jewellery maker/ English teacher Professional ambitions/priorities/dreams: Ultimately wants to have his own line of self-designed and produced jewellery. Needs workshops, training, materials, tools, etc. Education: Graduated university in 2008, after 5 years of study. Wants to pursue a master’s degree here in Comparative English Literature. Work experience:
1 year, 9 months: Compulsory military service (held an office job after 6 months of basic training) About 1 year: Worked as a translator of international opinions for El Ba’ath, the newspaper of the Arab Socialist Ba’ath party About 1 year: Taught English in Mexico to business professionals 6-8 months: Manufactured and sold jewelry in Mexico, alongside his girlfriend
Skills:
15 years English experience (translation and teaching) Fluency in Spanish Jewelry-making and design
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Appendix C: Results of first brainstorm re: possibilities for candidates Meeting 27 March 2015 Present: Meindert de Jong, Dick Boeve, Tariq, Karin Geuijen, Raoul Wanrooij, Danja von Salisch, Grae Rose, Robyn Berghoff Bashar: De Werklijkheid: possibility of connecting him here so he can work on his art Possibilty of starting a barbershop where he will live (Koggeland) - AZCs Alkmaar and Den Helder are nearby o There is the option of combining something artistic with his barbershop work, and this also being combined with De Vrolijkheid by involving children - e.g. pairing up kids from the AZCs with their schoolmates, and giving each pair a different haircut (the idea being that once you have a project, it is possible to get funding for it) o In relation to this, we should contact Gerard Kooistra (De Vrolijkheid) from AZC Alkmaar (someone from YIL who has spoken to him before is to do this?) Tariq: Currently in talks with UAF, with the hope of starting a Master in September 2016 (Comparative Literature or Literary Criticism; his other thought is a HBO in programming) School of Journalism in Utrecht (Danja can ask her boyfriend’s brother for connections) - possibility that Tariq could give guest lectures about Middle East o Related: NOUR (Yonne Westveld - Danja knows her): student-run, activities organised with the aim of bridging the gap between Dutch society and the Middle East Very keen on taking his jewellery making ‘to the next level’, by means of training/workshops, possibly internships In connection with jewellery: Meindert will try to contact Ellen Beekmans, jewellery maker for Dutch television. A meeting/interview with Ellen and Tariq will be proposed. Possibility that Tariq could give workshops about jewellery-making for De Vrolijkheid, but some possible obstacles here - jewellery-making is a ‘female’ thing in certain cultures Again, a nice idea for a project linking jewellery and De Vrolijkheid - getting kids involved in making a necklace that stretches from the AZC to their school Idea that Tariq could act like a pre-departure travel guide, giving people advice for when they travel in that region? A similar idea - Tariq could provide material for (or appear on!) talk shows like Pauw/RTL Late night, giving Dutch society insight into Middle East
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o Also De Correspondent (Niels knows a girl who did an internship here) - he could translate some Arabic articles so another perspective on what is happening in the Middle East could be conveyed, or even write articles himself Meindert will speak to people in the Workers Union about any jewellery-related opportunities Dick will ask within Aim4 about newspaper and jewellery opportunities Meindert also mentioned Cultuur Bewust - a site that features literary and cultural news, might be an opportunity for Tariq
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Appendix D: Suggestions to help COA work more efficiently with outside organisations
COA provides housing and activities to asylum seekers in the Netherlands. It is clearly not the role of smaller NGOs to assist with the provision of housing, so the focus of such organizations should be on implementing or facilitating asylum seekers’ activities. This can be done most efficiently with activities which do not require wading through “red tape” to be executed. o If possible, COA ought to grant blanket approval for particular activities within the AZCs; for example, “Organizations that wish to provide resume writing workshops have permission to do so,” or something to that effect. This will avoid having superfluous emails and requests for COA to field, and would also aid in making it more clear to the smaller organizations what they are actually allowed to do.
Such a measure will require clarification on the part of COA as to what their needs are, in order to determine what type of activities ought to be generally approved. It may also mean compartmentalizing the process of communication between NGOs and COA by assigning contact people for particular types of activities, rather than having volunteers contact the organization as a whole, and being connected with representatives who have little knowledge on or no say in the enactment of such activities. This would raise the availability and accessibility of COA in a very direct way, both of which are highly important in collaboration efforts.
COA might consider outsourcing some of the activities that usually they would provide (such as Dutch lessons) but which are not currently being available in all centers, to NGOs (provided that a viable organization exists in the needed area). Because COA is a large organization with numerous responsibilities, where possible they might consider allowing other organizations, who are more concentrated in scope and therefore less encumbered, to step in and provide what services they can. o In addition to being able to begin and run activities more efficiently and easily than a broadly-focused organization like COA, NGOs can also sometimes ally generate positive media coverage, which might in turn cast a positive light on COA. 41
It may be prudent for smaller organizations interested in working with COA develop a way to see what other organizations are already doing in the AZCs, along with what kind of gaps stand to be filled. o This could be done in the form of a database, or even better: a website, or even a simple publicly-shared spreadsheet. To a similar end, COA might attempt to provide more comprehensive information to the public; perhaps also by updating their current website. Information provided to the public should (in so far as possible) be stated simply, unburdened with professional or bureaucratic jargon, in order to avoid confusing or intimidating incoming organizations that wish to begin working with COA.
It was our impression that the residents of AZCs often do not know an activity is being organized for them until everything is in place for such an activity to go ahead. If communication between COA and the residents were increased, perhaps the residents would be better able to cooperate with the needs of the organizations arranging their activities. We understand, however, that communication between COA and residents can be difficult, and is shaped by the ‘authority figure’ position which COA holds. Thus, NGOs can perhaps be used in this capacity as well, in order to have people on the ground and present in the AZCs to gather information about residents’ wants and needs. In this case it would be very useful for COA to keep in touch with De Vrolijkheid, because they know a lot of asylum seekers in the centers.
A benefit that COA could receive from working more closely with smaller organizations is that attempts to organize activities might be better received by outside businesses (such as sports clubs, etc.) when they are approached by an NGO. o This interaction is less formal, and businesses might be more willing to work with volunteers than with a large government organization like COA. They may also be less willing to exploit the funds of an NGO, and could offer a discount of some kind on their services. Not to mention that, most likely, activities will likely be arranged much sooner if funneled through a smaller organization, for whom there are fewer concerns demanding attention. Perhaps COA might consider restructuring their present budget for activities so that some money can be handed over to NGOs so that they can provide activities for residents. This might provide more variety and flexibility when it comes to activities for the residents, particularly those which occur outside of the AZC. 42
COA has expressed that many organizations wish to provide once-off, one-day activities for residents. It seems to us that such activities, whilst undoubtedly worthwhile, are not the most optimal contribution outside organizations can make. Two possible alternatives exist: either a great many people can provide services over short periods of time, so as to have a large number of small activities, workshops and such, or a few people, from a limited number of organizations, can coordinate activities over longer periods of time, such as ongoing classes and the like. o It would be helpful to know what COA do and do not want from other, smaller organizations that wish to get involved at an AZC. This process may be streamlined by creating a form on the website which, rather than allowing an NGO to go on about their mission and proposed project, only asks for very specific information from the NGO, which will ultimately be more useful to COA than wading through a full pitch (i.e., “What do you want to do?” and “What do you need to do it?”).
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