Berlin: Donya arrived in Germany in 2016, seeking refuge from Afghanistan with her son after facing life-threatening circumstances. Despite the security Germany offered, she continued to grapple with trauma, which posed challenges in concentrating and pursuing employment.
According to Deutsche Welle, a survey initiated in 2016 highlights that while 68% of refugees in Germany find employment after eight years, female refugees face significant hurdles compared to their male counterparts. The Institute for Employment Research (IAB) study reveals that two-thirds of female refugees remain unemployed, contrasting sharply with only 15% unemployment among male refugees.
IAB researcher Maye Ehab explains that refugee women encounter a “threefold disadvantage” as women, immigrants, and refugees. Many women arrive with young children, complicating their ability to attend language courses or utilize government services due to limited childcare availability.
The issue of childcare also affects Ukrainian women who fled to Germany following the 2022 Russian invasion. In 2015 and 2016, the majority of asylum-seekers in Germany were men from Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq, whereas three-quarters of Ukrainian refugees are women.
Many female refugees have limited work experience from their home countries or are trained in sectors requiring advanced language skills, like education and healthcare, which are highly regulated in Germany. In contrast, men can access jobs with fewer language requirements, such as construction or service industries.
Germany’s complex process for recognizing foreign qualifications further complicates employment for refugees. Donya, despite her medical training, lacks documentation to prove her qualifications. This issue forces many refugees to restart their careers from scratch due to Germany’s emphasis on formalized, certified training.
Integration courses in Germany offer 600 hours of language tuition, but this uniform approach may not suit everyone’s educational background. Afsaneh Afraze, a psychologist from Iran who assists refugees in Berlin, criticizes this method for not accommodating individual needs. Her personal experience underscores the challenges faced by refugees with varying educational levels.
The Work for Refugees Project, emphasizing employment as a path to integration, supports women like Donya. Inna Gissa, a job adviser who fled Ukraine, advocates work as the quickest way to learn the language and build social connections, drawing from her own experiences in Germany.