Eight months after the start of the war against Russia, Ukrainian refugees are still on French soil. In Haute-Garonne, 1,466 applications for temporary protection were filed. There were 6800 in Occitania. Minimum figures since they do not take into account children and all those who arrived less than three months ago.
In the Tarn, the prefecture estimates the number of displaced Ukrainians at 473. Women (since 90% are women) who understand today that their presence in our region could last a long time. If the procedures have been extremely simplified, with in particular the establishment of a one-stop shop in the prefecture, many want to be able to live in their own accommodation and therefore have a job. A hundred of these Ukrainians in the Tarn would have signed a CDD or CDI contract.
Psychological brakes
This Tuesday, October 18, the Pôle Emploi agency in Gaillac organized a recruitment session for these displaced Ukrainians. They were about twenty, almost all women. To welcome them, counselors from Pôle Emploi, a recruitment firm and Mac Donald’s were present. But it is not easy to bring these women back to work, particularly because of language barriers. These women, who have almost all come to protect their children from war, often have no means of custody. There are also psychological barriers. These war-displaced people find it difficult to do the mourning of a rapid return by accepting a job. And very often these women do not find employment in the branch in which they are qualified in Ukraine.
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Recruiting firm
Aude Capelli works for Aquila HR the recruitment firm mandated by Pôle Emploi. She goes over all the difficulties encountered by these women.
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Recently, she accompanied six women and in particular enabled one of them to sign a permanent contract in the retail sector.
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The Aralia Association mobilized
In the Tarn, monitoring of displaced Ukrainians is provided by the Aralia association for the north of the department. Florence Fabre co-director of the association, guest of France Bleu Occitanie, returned to the reception of these families.
How are these men, these women, these children who have come to us?
It would be difficult to generalize and answer this question comprehensively. Everyone has their own life course and some have managed to integrate quickly. Others need a bit more time to rebuild.
The women say, for the most part, that they want to leave. Some are decided to stay with us?
We have some who arrived with the precise idea of returning to their country as quickly as possible. Others plan to settle more permanently in the area.
Are there still refugees arriving as the war in Ukraine continues?
Indeed, there are still arrivals, but these are extremely slow arrivals that have nothing to do with the massive arrivals that we experienced at the start of the conflict in March and April. Some people arrive to join family or friends settled in the Tarn department.
Conversely, have some returned to Ukraine? And if so, how much?
Yes, some have gone back to Ukraine. It represents perhaps 10% of the people who arrived in the territory. Others left for other departments and other countries.
About 500 Ukrainians are in the Tarn, how do they live? Are they more in families? Have they found housing?
Today, the majority of displaced Ukrainians are still in citizen accommodation thanks to a strong outpouring of solidarity from the Tarn population who welcomed them.
It is not necessarily easy for these Ukrainian mothers to find work. Are companies playing the game?
Yes. Today, with more than six months of hindsight, we are still arriving at fairly convincing results since we have nearly 90 employment contracts that have been signed, temporary seasonal contracts, fixed-term contracts, apprenticeship contracts. O has a strong partnership with Pôle Emploi. But actually, it’s a lot of work upstream of market research, company visits, meetings with company managers and carrying out follow-ups and career paths. We started with seasonal contracts in the agricultural sector with apple harvesting, grape harvesting, garlic. Other sectors in tension are recruiting: construction, hotels, restaurants, the personal assistance sector. There are also contracts in supermarkets.