Young immigrants not receiving education - report

The overwhelming majority of young asylum seekers are not receiving any formal education in Malta even though many of them think it would help them find a satisfying job, according to a study.

The report also shows that 66 per cent of the young immigrants questioned are unemployed.

The research, entitled 'Malta: Unemployment and Young Asylum Seekers', shows that the young immigrants dream of having a job and starting a family.

However, the problem lies in the fact that 98 per cent of them are not exposed to formal learning that will improve their future opportunities, Foundation for Social Welfare Services CEO Joe Gerada said.

Mr Gerada was speaking on the second day of a two-day conference on the 'Integration of Asylum Seekers into Maltese Society'. The conference was part of the EU-funded Equal Seven Project led by Appoġġ agency aimed at training and certifying a number of asylum seekers in Malta.

He gave a glimpse of the results of the study - carried out in collaboration with University of Palermo researchers Analisa Nobile and Domenico Marino - that draws on the experiences of 58 young asylum seekers and unaccompanied minors at the residential homes Dar Is-Sliem and Dar Liedna as well as the Marsa open centre.

The study looked into educational and employment status and found that the majority of young immigrants are unemployed. When asked if they were satisfied with their jobs, 66 per cent said they did not work, 17 per cent were satisfied and believed things had changed, seven per cent were satisfied but felt their quality of life had not improved, five per cent were not satisfied and another five per cent did not reply.

When asked what type of job they aspired to, most were unfocused and did not have a vision in mind. They were also asked what they needed in order to achieve their objective: 31 per cent mentioned education, 22 per cent money and five per cent said they needed a job.

The majority also said they wanted to get married or be in a stable relationship within the next five years.

The immigrants were also asked whether they ever thought of going back to their home country. A total of 57 per cent had 'thought about it', 41 per cent were 'not interested' and two per cent failed to answer.

Immigrants questioned in the survey were asked to sum up their feelings as they took the treacherous trip by boat - the most common words used to describe their feelings were 'afraid', 'sad', 'angry', 'tired' and 'sick'.