OFII is committed to the integration of refugees
The OFII ensures the integration of refugees with a Republican Integration Contract (CIR), and then associations take over with a progressive program for learning professional French. Three-quarters of the refugees are not French-speaking. They follow the CIR and have theoretical courses in French. Then, associations such as Hestia teach them the professional lexicon (for example, the term trowel for masonry). Some training courses are specialised in jobs that are in short supply (market gardening, agriculture, building trades, hotel and catering, cleaning jobs, etc.).
Another operator, Akto, provides training in trades that enable refugees to move into temporary work. For example, refugees can access jobs as order pickers. 80% of those who completed the program already have a job.
In Niort, an agreement was signed between the State, OFII and Pole Emploi. This partnership enables refugees benefiting from international protection to benefit from the OFII’s integration system and to meet Pôle Emploi in order to understand the French labour market and to be supported in their search for a job. The organisation offers 400-hour training courses, often leading to employment.
Terre de Cabanes in Bussière-Galant, helps people learn a trade by building a mobile home for people to live in before finding a more permanent home.
Finally, the New-Skiles Company in Limoges, enables refugees to obtain jobs in private security, which is a rapidly expanding sector. It teaches them the vocabulary and rules of security in France. Finally, recruitment sessions allow them to be supported until they are hired.
These are positive initiatives that promote the professional integration of refugees. “Les chemins pour l’emploi” (pathways to employment) have made a series of useful videos for the social and professional integration of asylum seekers in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region which you can see here https://vimeo.com/showcase/8410746.