ONLINE – Jonas Nchoundoungam: « Investigating the strategies of Black African asylum seekers and tolerated migrants to access the job market in Berlin »

Jonas Nchoundoungam (HU Berlin, CMB)  In my talk, I will present the results of my PhD research on the job access strategies developed by Black Africans asylum seekers and tolerated migrants in Berlin, Germany. Black African asylum seekers and tolerated migrants in Berlin, do not receive work permits and cannot access the formal job market. As their formal job market’s access is denied, they have developed different strategies to carry out legal or illegal work practices as a response to their survival needs. This research investigates the highly restrictive socio-economic integration framework that Black African asylum seekers and tolerated migrants face and investigates the different strategies that they have developed to access the job market in Berlin. My research considers personal networks as one key factor for Black African asylum seekers and tolerated migrants to acquire jobs in Berlin. I therefore use the network approach theory.  This project is based on ethno-geographical methods such as participant observation, interviews and focus group discussions. Twenty individuals case studies, six semi-structured interviews and seven focus group discussions have been conducted in Berlin since 2016, both with the target group itself, with the German administration officers executing work permits, and with officials from the German court. In my presentation, I will mainly focus on my observations within the “Kriminalitätsbelastete Orte” (Crime-ridden places) where Black African asylum seekers have been able to develop various economic activities that have impacted on their residency and (social) integration.