Abstract
Executive Summary:
The Migrant Business Support Project (MBS)2 , launched by ACH in January 2021³ is funded by the European Union, through its Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF)⁴.
ACH is a social enterprise operating from its offices in Bristol, Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Coventry. It has supported more than 640 refugee and migrant entrepreneurs through MBS in the first 30 months of the Project. Drawing on a study of this experience and service delivery in the West Midlands and the South-West, the findings presented here include recommendations for best practice in business support and holistic approaches to integration at local, national regional and global policy levels.
ACH, since 2008, has made a significant and positive contribution to unlocking the social and economic potential of individuals and communities. In partnership with Aston University, the University of Bristol and others, with the West of England Combined Authority Growth Hub, local authorities and the private sector, the social enterprise operates in a reflexive spirit of co-production with refugee entrepreneurs. It develops and adapts service provision according to the needs of each individual, combining the lessons of lived experience and learned experience.
The Project has been implemented during one of the most challenging in recent times for refugees and migrants in the UK and for those providing support services. The UK has seen a reshaping of its social and political environment. Austerity policies, the global COVID-19 pandemic, post-Brexit political transitions and continuing sharpening of the ‘hostile environment’ has entrenched pre-existing barriers to integration. Widening inequalities have also led to an increased number of people, including many refugees and non-EU migrants, living in situations of precarity. Official statistics on migration for 2022 (ONS, 2023), show the highest level of positive net migration since 1945 and interest in migration policy continues apace. There is a need for new thinking and action to address the dominant negative policy narrative and to provide effective, practical support to marginalized people who are resisting and overcoming integration barriers. Progress is possible in the recognition and understanding of the diversity and heterogeneity of refugee and migrant communities. Recent reports (Anderson et al, 2020) note the potential for people working in precarious employment to ‘exploit the gig economy, rather than be exploited by it’. Those who might otherwise have been seen as ‘forced entrepreneurs’ also may act as agents of change through entrepreneurship.
ACH acts to unlock this potential and support individual talent by taking a positive and transformative approach, as embodied in the name of its training subsidiary organisation – HIMILO – a Somali word meaning ‘Hope for the Future’. The positive example shown by ACH in this Project is relevant to OECD initiatives on inclusive entrepreneurship and to integration programmes across the European Union. MBS represents a model of best practice which can be shared across the UK and internationally.
The Migrant Business Support Project (MBS)2 , launched by ACH in January 2021³ is funded by the European Union, through its Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF)⁴.
ACH is a social enterprise operating from its offices in Bristol, Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Coventry. It has supported more than 640 refugee and migrant entrepreneurs through MBS in the first 30 months of the Project. Drawing on a study of this experience and service delivery in the West Midlands and the South-West, the findings presented here include recommendations for best practice in business support and holistic approaches to integration at local, national regional and global policy levels.
ACH, since 2008, has made a significant and positive contribution to unlocking the social and economic potential of individuals and communities. In partnership with Aston University, the University of Bristol and others, with the West of England Combined Authority Growth Hub, local authorities and the private sector, the social enterprise operates in a reflexive spirit of co-production with refugee entrepreneurs. It develops and adapts service provision according to the needs of each individual, combining the lessons of lived experience and learned experience.
The Project has been implemented during one of the most challenging in recent times for refugees and migrants in the UK and for those providing support services. The UK has seen a reshaping of its social and political environment. Austerity policies, the global COVID-19 pandemic, post-Brexit political transitions and continuing sharpening of the ‘hostile environment’ has entrenched pre-existing barriers to integration. Widening inequalities have also led to an increased number of people, including many refugees and non-EU migrants, living in situations of precarity. Official statistics on migration for 2022 (ONS, 2023), show the highest level of positive net migration since 1945 and interest in migration policy continues apace. There is a need for new thinking and action to address the dominant negative policy narrative and to provide effective, practical support to marginalized people who are resisting and overcoming integration barriers. Progress is possible in the recognition and understanding of the diversity and heterogeneity of refugee and migrant communities. Recent reports (Anderson et al, 2020) note the potential for people working in precarious employment to ‘exploit the gig economy, rather than be exploited by it’. Those who might otherwise have been seen as ‘forced entrepreneurs’ also may act as agents of change through entrepreneurship.
ACH acts to unlock this potential and support individual talent by taking a positive and transformative approach, as embodied in the name of its training subsidiary organisation – HIMILO – a Somali word meaning ‘Hope for the Future’. The positive example shown by ACH in this Project is relevant to OECD initiatives on inclusive entrepreneurship and to integration programmes across the European Union. MBS represents a model of best practice which can be shared across the UK and internationally.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Number of pages | 51 |
| Publication status | Published - 12 Jul 2023 |
