"We're all losing out if an immigrant engineer or teacher is washing dishes"

 

Abdoulaye Fall was born in Rufisque (a town in the Dakar region) and has lived in Catalonia since late 1999. A graduate in English, he came to Catalonia in search of the European dream that leads so many young Africans to leave their homes in search of a future that is denied to them. They stake everything on migrating, and often end up losing out. He had no doubts: he is the only one of his seven brothers who has migrated, and is undoubtedly the only person who grew up in his neighbourhood to obtain a PhD. He has broken through all the economic, social and racial glass ceilings he has found along his way with study, enthusiasm and a great deal of hard work. Today he is the programme manager at ACAF (Association of Self-Funded Communities), a member of the European Commission's Migration Expert Group and the founder of Main Gate, a non-profit association that provides comprehensive support for migrants to help them obtain higher education and find skilled jobs, which has signed an agreement with the UOC. Fall wants others to benefit from his experience so that, working together, we can create a more plural and rich society.

 

Abdoulaye Fall was born in Rufisque (a town in the Dakar region) and has lived in Catalonia since late 1999. A graduate in English, he came to Catalonia in search of the European dream that leads so many young Africans to leave their homes in search of a future that is denied to them. They stake everything on migrating, and often end up losing out. He had no doubts: he is the only one of his seven brothers who has migrated, and is undoubtedly the only person who grew up in his neighbourhood to obtain a PhD. He has broken through all the economic, social and racial glass ceilings he has found along his way with study, enthusiasm and a great deal of hard work. Today he is the programme manager at ACAF (Association of Self-Funded Communities), a member of the European Commission's Migration Expert Group and the founder of Main Gate, a non-profit association that provides comprehensive support for migrants to help them obtain higher education and find skilled jobs, which has signed an agreement with the UOC. Fall wants others to benefit from his experience so that, working together, we can create a more plural and rich society.

I was a member of the Senegalese Scout Association from a very early age. When you're over 18, you take part in cooperation activities in rural areas with associations from other European countries. I coordinated a work camp with young Catalan scouts in 1997 and 1998. We were helping to build latrines in Niakhar, a rural area where there was a dangerous epidemic with faecal transmission. When I decided to migrate, I decided to come here, as I already knew those young people. I was in Barcelona for four months and, when things became difficult (I had no papers and I didn't really know what I was doing), some friends from Molins de Rei that I had met in Senegal invited me to come and live with them. 

I started working as a waiter in 2001, and I found out about a UAB Foundation programme called University and Immigration, where they gave non-EU students grants to do postgraduate courses. They accepted me, but I had to overcome two problems: validating my Senegalese qualification (which was very difficult, more due to bureaucratic issues more than anything else) and my language level. I wanted to do a master's degree in translation and interpretation, which meant I needed a good level of Catalan and Spanish, the source languages. Once I got level C in Catalan, I could do it. I spent two years doing a master's degree while I was working, from 2006 onwards.

No, I carried on working in the restaurant because I had a family and had to send money to Senegal… I began a new master's degree in Immigration Management at the UPF in 2009. When I wanted to do my doctorate, I applied for a grant, and was told that there are only two ways to get one: either you're Spanish or you're a foreigner, and you apply for a grant through the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation for people in your country of origin. That didn't stop me: Universitat Rovira i Virgili accepted me in 2011, and I travelled to Tarragona three times a week in the first year. There I discovered a gap in the system: there weren't any grants for someone like me. I'd been here for a few years, I had an EU residence permit and I'd made about ten years of social security contributions… anyway, I had to pay for my course. That said, I paid the standard public fees. The following year, I applied for a transfer to the UAB and the Demographic Studies Centre accepted me. I received my doctorate in 2017.

Yes, it's a project that's the result of my personal story. I've noticed that more and more young African immigrants with higher education have been arriving since 2010. Their profile has changed: they used to be young people from rural areas, with little education. I found it very difficult to gain access to university, and above all to validate my qualifications. I thought it would be good to find a solution to this problem, which will increase. But I've also noticed a lack of cultural diversity in skilled jobs in Catalonia and Spain. You don't see immigrants dealing with people if you walk into the branch of a bank, for example, even though we've had immigration for at least three decades. They need to be given the tools to be able to compete for these jobs.

We work in various areas. Before we talk about going to university or validating qualifications, we do important work providing information and motivation. We've found that immigrants who arrive here often have to choose between having to earn a living to survive and help their family, or spending time on training. They need to know that it's important for them to invest in training because it will have an impact on their lives. When they need it, we help them with the process of getting their qualifications validated, which is really tough. The third area we work in is financing university studies for people who want to continue studying after their qualifications have been validated. But the fourth area, which is essential for success in the other three, is working with the government and businesses… because there is no real commitment to diversity unless qualified young immigrants are able to access skilled jobs.

To contribute to a more diverse society by making better use of migrants' talent and skills. We're all losing out if an immigrant engineer or teacher is washing dishes! We need to work and learn from what has happened in other countries: we may have a social problem in ten or fifteen years' time if we don't change things, because it will not only affect immigrants, but also their children who have been born here and who will experience discrimination because of the colour of their skin. They will not be as tolerant as their parents. 

Yes, when we want to counteract the negative narrative about immigration, we realize that one of the reasons for this misconception of immigrants is that the community's position in society does not live up to its aspirations. When you meet a sub-Saharan or Pakistani doctor, you get a different message. Then, there is a correlation between the narrative we have, or our collective imagination, and what we see in reality.

Sometimes, in conversations, when I say I have a university degree and a doctorate, I know some people think: "It's an African doctorate, he probably bought it…" So there are prejudices.

I contacted several Catalan public universities, and the UOC was committed to this project from the outset. They were already working in a similar area. The partnership includes support in the validation phase, and access to university studies through the University. 

If you're an immigrant and you need one of our services, sign up using the form on our website, we'll get in touch, and depending on the problem you have, we'll help you. 

The UOC has been extremely willing to support this project to raise its profile, and to highlight the problems that our community is experiencing.

We seek to raise awareness of the problem of migrants being under-represented in skilled jobs, to address the debate on the issue of diversity in our society, and to be involved in the search for solutions. The Fair is not only a forum for employability for students and companies, but it also raises awareness among key audiences about issues of cultural diversity in our society. My contribution was a session on the issue of skilled migrants' access to university and employment.

Absolutely. Internships are a very important link between training and employment. The underrepresentation of skilled migrants in Spanish companies remains the secondary effect of a more structural problem. Migrants need the opportunity that internships can give them to demonstrate their value and for companies to show their commitment to cultural diversity, though this should only be the first step towards more effective representation. 

Because they can aspire to a better professional life if they study, and they can help overturn the negative image that some people have of immigrants, and make a greater contribution to our host society, which is now our home.