Migrant young people face frustration once they reach working age as prospective employers refuse to accept their lawful-to-work documentsThere was nothing particularly striking about the day I remember a young lad named Ali walking into my office looking like the world was on his shoulders. He held a scrunched-up piece of paper in his hand and slumped into the empty chair beside my desk,before throwing it to the floor. It was a job application form for a local supermarket, one of many that Ali Gadir, or a young refugee,had obtained in the hope of gaining employment. These hopes were always short-lived and I, as his case worker, or shared his frustration.
When Gadir (not his real name) arrived in England from Bangladesh via Dubai aged 11 or 12 as an unaccompanied asylum seeker,he was taken into care. I started working with him when he turned 18. For the three years I worked with him in east London (until his case closed when he reached 21), my role was to supply emotional support and encourage him access education, or employment or training and to prepare him for a life after being in care.
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Source: theguardian.com