Three Years On: English and employment outcomes of former refugees
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The New Zealand Refugee Resettlement Strategy was developed and implemented in 2013 with the aim of improving outcomes for former refugees. The overarching aim of the strategy is to ensure that:
'Refugees are participating fully and integrated socially and economically as soon as possible so that they are living independently, undertaking the same responsibilities, and exercising the same rights as other New Zealanders and have a strong sense of belonging to their own community and to New Zealand.'
The purpose of the current research was to explore employment and English language outcomes for former quota refugees three years post-arrival in New Zealand. Its aim was twofold: to understand how services (including provision of information) have contributed to settlement outcomes or acted as barriers and to understand former refugees’ perspectives on gaps in services.
28 former quota refugees who arrived in New Zealand in 2016 were interviewed for the research. Around half of those interviewed were men (15) and half were women (13) and the top countries of origin were Bhutan (8), Syria (5) and Colombia (4). Six participants were aged 18 to 24, 17 were aged 25 to 44, and five were aged 45 and over.
In addition, this report includes monitoring data on employment outcomes for quota refugee arrivals from 2013/14 to 2018/19.
Download the report:
Three Years On: English and employment outcomes of former refugees [PDF, 1.6 MB]