“I dedicated 10 years of my life to studying medicine. I want to be a doctor again. This is what I love, this is what I’ve been doing all my life.”
Becoming a refugee includes a process that, among other things, involves many losses. One of them is the loss of professional identity. What is it like for a man who has devoted so many years of his life to studying a science hearing that he can no longer practice it? What is it like for a professional whose everyday life was saving lives, and in war zones, to hear that not only can he no longer practice medicine in the present, but not even in the future, as recognition of his degree is not foreseen, at least by today’s standards, in Greece? What is it like in your 40s, after being a doctor all your life, to have to become a worker?
The requests of refugees and asylum seekers that seek support from the Employability Service of the Blue Refugee Center in Thessaloniki are often difficult to achieve. The counselor needs to support the person to realize, accept, explore alternative options, and make decisions. And often he/she needs to convey unpleasant information to him/her.
One year of employability counseling
The counseling process for this beneficiary has been going on for almost a year now. A year in which he found it difficult to say goodbye to his enhanced, professional identity and create a new one. A year of job insecurity in difficult manual occupations while wondering if THIS would be his life from now on. A year full of fear that he had to throw away the many years of study. Thankfully, he didn’t have to.
The joy of the Employability team is multiplied when a beneficiary who tries hard finally makes it! The greater the obstacles and effort, the greater the joy! Because the “former” doctor has now managed to become an interpreter, entering a profession that, on the one hand, is not what he left behind in his country, but on the other hand, is directly related to giving and supporting people. And sometimes, this is the best thing one can do to continue finding meaning to their career.
The reinvention of someone’s professional identity is fundamental for the an their well-being, while at the same time, it offers the most to the labor market of the host country.
It can only be beneficial if national and European strategies broaden integration processes, making use of the knowledge, degrees, and skills of refugees and asylum seekers, especially at a time when finding staff is a huge challenge.
*SolidarityNow implements the “BRC Livelihoods” Program, funded by UNHCR Greece, since April 2023. The aim of the program is the social and economic integration of asylum seekers and recognized refugees by supporting them in finding work. All the services are provided daily at SolidarityNow’s Blue Refugee Center in Thessaloniki.