The Times explores the entrepreneurial nature of refugees and the CFE’s new pilot scheme.
The potential economic power of refugees and the ability for business to help asylum seekers settle into their new countries is gradually being recognised. In a report last year, the Centre for Entrepreneurs think tank estimated that if the 20,000 Syrian refugees David Cameron pledged to resettle between 2015 and 2020 were sponsored with £2,000 each to start their own businesses, it would save the state £170m in welfare payments.
The government wants to encourage entrepreneurship among refugees. Tomorrow, Caroline Nokes, the immigration minister, will launch a pilot scheme to deliver tailor-made start-up programmes to help successful asylum seekers turn their ideas into businesses ready for launch. It will cost £300,000, shared between the Home Office and the National Lottery’s community fund.
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