From Refugee to Entrepreneurship: Motivation Factors and Challenges from the MENA Region

The global refugee crisis has prompted mass displacement and significant global socio-economic implications as migrants journey within and beyond local borders. In addition to the institutional and legal frameworks that must be navigated, forcibly displaced migrants need to renegotiate their professional and personal identities and assume new roles in their host countries (Burnett, 2013). This paper focuses on the lived experiences of women refugee entrepreneurs from the Middle East North Africa (MENA) region, not because refugee production is by any means particular to the area; however, this region has historically witnessed large-scale forced population movements. The refugee experience is generally understood to be one of marginalisation and poverty. One of the main challenges is labour market integration due to discrimination and exclusion. These factors push refugees towards self-employment to integrate into society and avoid difficulties such as the language barrier and credentials recognition (Lazarczyk-Bilal & Glinka, What determines the entrepreneurial intentions of highly-skilled women with refugee experience? Administrative Sciences, 11(1), 2, 2021). Over and above that, women refugees are potentially subject to further subordination, sexual harassment, vulnerability, and disadvantage (Pittaway & Pittaway, “Refugee woman”: A dangerous label: Opening a discussion the role of identity and intersectional oppression in the failure of the International Refugee Protection Regime for refugee women. Australian Journal of Human Rights, 10(2), 119–135, 2004) and other gender-based biases (Pittaway & Pittaway, “Refugee woman”: A dangerous label: Opening a discussion the role of identity and intersectional oppression in the failure of the International Refugee Protection Regime for refugee women. Australian Journal of Human Rights, 10(2), 119–135, 2004). This paper depicts the unique entrepreneurial journeys of three women refugees from the MENA region to better understand the motives and factors that drove them towards entrepreneurship. We intend to recount and help re-imagine women refugee stories as stories of perseverance, self-reliance, and success. Through a detailed narrative inquiry, the chapter explores the different enablers and challenges women face during their entrepreneurial journey. These women’s journeys across different continents are then compared and gleaned for their distinct attributes and the lessons we can learn from them.