As recent research indicates, refugees and people seeking asylum are suffering disproportionately from the COVID-19 pandemic and have become more and more “shut out” and marginalised. An important pathway to integration and self-reliance is sustainable employment. To explore the impacts of COVID-19 on the employment prospects of refugees and people seeking asylum, we conducted 35 interviews with managers from Australian organisations that employ or assist refugees and asylum seekers in finding employment and 20 interviews with refugees and people seeking asylum. Our interviews indicate that the labour market has become more difficult for these groups in the COVID-19 era due to (1) declines in job availabilities, (2) loss of jobs, (3) increased competition in the labour market and (4) increased discrimination and an “Australian first” mentality. Our interviews further suggest four strategies to improve employment prospects in the current situation: (1) pathways to permanent residency and citizenship for people seeking asylum; (2) access to healthcare and a financial safety net; (3) online training and education; and (4) social procurement.

中文翻译：

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探索 COVID-19 危机对澳大利亚难民和寻求庇护者就业前景的影响

正如最近的研究表明的那样，难民和寻求庇护的人因 COVID-19 大流行而遭受不成比例的痛苦，并且变得越来越“被拒之门外”和被边缘化。实现融合和自力更生的重要途径是可持续就业。为了探索 COVID-19 对难民和寻求庇护者就业前景的影响，我们对雇用或协助难民和寻求庇护者寻找工作的澳大利亚组织的管理人员进行了 35 次访谈，并对难民和寻求庇护者进行了 20 次访谈。我们的采访表明，在 COVID-19 时代，这些群体的劳动力市场变得更加困难，原因是 (1) 工作机会减少，(2) 失业，(3) 劳动力市场竞争加剧和 (4)增加歧视和“澳大利亚优先”的心态。我们的采访进一步提出了在当前情况下改善就业前景的四种策略：（1）寻求庇护者获得永久居留权和公民身份的途径；(2) 获得医疗保健和金融安全网；（三）在线培训教育；(4) 社会采购。