As the war in Ukraine continues and a return seems a long way off for many, more and more refugees want to work. More than 300 Ukrainians have a job in the north of North Holland. “We don’t want to sit at home all day and do nothing. We want to make ourselves useful.”
“I think that if we stay here for another six months, or a year, we’ll need a job,” explains job-seeker Olga Nagush (49) from Odessa, Ukraine. At the end of March she made the decision to leave her city, her country. “There was an air raid siren constantly going off and we slept in clothes so we could go to the basement quickly if we needed to. It was dark, we were scared. Buildings were gone, people were killed. In the end we decided to leave. to flee.”
She now lives with her daughter Alina with a family of Ineke (‘a wonderful woman’) in Lutjebroek. “In Odessa I worked as a lecturer in International Law at the university. I don’t feel like working here in the agricultural sector, but would like to work here as an assistant at a primary school, for example.”
Exploitation
But where do you start if you want to look for a job? Because it is uncertain how long the refugees will stay in the Netherlands, it often makes no sense to knock on the door of companies. In addition, it was also previously in the news that, for example, in the Westland Ukrainians were exploited†
Bianca Friend of NHN Works Door knows the stories. “It is precisely by working together with certified employment agencies that you can assume that everything is neatly arranged. These people have it hard enough as it is.”
Meeting for job seekers
Partly for this reason, the municipalities of Stede Broec, Enkhuizen and Drechterland organized a meeting in Hoogkarspel. People are given an explanation about working in the Netherlands, and there are also recognized employment agencies where Ukrainians can register on site. This mainly concerns employment agencies in the agricultural sector.
“Now that the war continues, they are going to look further. Over the past period we have heard many people who would like to work, but do not know where to start”, a municipal spokesperson explains the initiative.
‘People are afraid of employers’
Olga’s friends, Larissa and Helen also came along to the meeting. Helen: “I think it is very good that this is being held. Here you see the people of the companies in real life. In Ukraine you have no employment agencies and you have to arrange a job directly. Many people do not dare to say anything to employers, are afraid.”
Larissa has already found a job, in the spinach. She sighs. “I think it’s hard work, especially for a woman. So I’m trying to find something else.”
The motivation to work is high, given the high turnout. Helen: “We want to lead a normal life again. We don’t feel like sitting at home all the time and doing nothing. We want to make ourselves useful, also to thank the Netherlands for being so hospitable.”