As the Refugee Food Festival seeks to showcase the skills of refugee chefs, it goes without saying that the participating chefs have to have the refugee status. Contrary to a common belief, most countries grant refugees the right to work. So any person with a refugee status is legally allowed to work in the restaurants participating in the event. There should therefore be no administrative barriers to the organisation of the festival and it is not harder to register a refugee as an employee as it is any other citizen. However, it is necessary to check the specific legal environment of each country concerning the right to work for refugees, and local UNHCR representatives can accompany you on this.
For people who have had the refugee status before being naturalised, their participation can be put forward as an example of successful socio-professional integration in their host country.
All nationalities can be represented during the Refugee Food Festival! It is actually recommended to have a great variety of countries represented during the festival in order for people to discover new flavours and culinary traditions. The first editions of the festival in Paris & Strasbourg included chefs from the Ivory Coast, Syria, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Tibet, Chechnya and India. And it was delicious!
From the cooking enthusiast to the superstar chef, refugee chefs of the festival can have different profiles. The three most important criteria of their involvement are their cooking skills, their ability to manage a restaurant’s kitchen and their motivations. With appropriate support they have to be able to build and deliver a menu, which will please the guests. Regarding their motivations, they have to be working or aiming at working in the food industry as the Festival also aims to become a platform for employment for the chefs.
The chefs who participated in the first editions of the Festival had varied profiles. One of the chefs was renowned in Syria where he presented a TV cooking show, while another was passionate about cooking, had amazing skills but had never worked in a professional kitchen before.
