Integration through training and employment in Île-de-France
On Tuesday 27 July 2021, a dozen refugees validated their training as scrap metal workers, marking a symbolic step in their integration process in France.
The reception and integration directorate of OFII played an important role in building the pathway for these refugees, by encouraging the linking between the various actors in the system. In relation with the temporary accommodation centres and the territorial directorate of OFII in Ile-de-France, the training organisation Envergure was able to identify candidates. Then, thanks to the training centre’s partner organisations, this pathway became a reality and will continue, if all goes well, until employment.
The ceremony of Tuesday 27 July rewarded ten beneficiaries of international protection in the premises of Envergure located at Porte de la Chapelle in Paris. The presentation of a certificate of achievement marked the completion of a three-month training course for scrap metal workers. Representatives of the various actors in the success of their journey were present to salute this achievement: the training organisation Envergure, the Pôle Emploi, which financed the process, the Adoma company, which houses the refugees, and the temporary employment agency Leader, the future employer of the new scrap workers. Jérôme Normand, general administrator at the Île-de-France prefecture, was also present, as was the OFII in the person of Aïssa Diaby, who is responsible for monitoring integration partnerships for people arriving in France for the first time in order to stay permanently (new arrivals).
All presents were happy of the training’s completion. The qualities of the candidates were praised. Their motivation, implication and diligence, among others, allow them to go through this selective process. Out of one hundred candidates, twelve were selected and ten were rewarded. The latter took the opportunity to thank their trainers, emphasising how positive the experience had been for them and how well they had been received by the teams of the construction sites on which they had been able to work.