Employing Refugees

When reading both the Congolese Backgrounder from the CORC and the Employer Guide to Hiring Refugees from the ACC, I was very surprised to see how the refugees are treated almost as a completely alien people. The frequently asked questions section of the ACC’s Employer Guide acts as though the employers have never interacted with someone a little bit different than them. While yes, I do know that this is technically necessary to have all of these questions and answers to settle any sort of lingering questions from the employer, but I do believe that the ACC could do a better job of depicting the refugees as individuals instead of one nondescript group. I do enjoy that the Congolese Backgrounder includes a short description of each part of the Congolese culture, from language, to marriage, to differentiations between Congo and United States cultures. One part of the ACC’s Employer Guide that I did find very useful was the “Benefits to your Business” section. Although they do advertise all refugees as the same kind of people, I feel as though they do a wonderful job of giving the best light to the refugees based on the situation some of them have come out of. In the article I read for an earlier blog post, I read about many stories of Iraqi refugees having been doctors, attorneys, or other high paying professions before that were re-located here in America. Now they can barely get jobs working as dishwashers or janitors. With the help of the ACC, these refugees, who may not be able to exactly show their true talents to their employers, are able to get the best job possible for their previous work experience in their home countries.