Qualified Afghan refugees are being denied a shot at harnessing their skills. Australia needs to recognise their worth

‘Those fleeing Afghanistan face life-threatening circumstances and many might never go back, but that does not mean they should be exploited in their host countries.’ Photograph: Ed Wray/Getty Images

Mopping floors and washing dishes at a small Melbourne restaurant, he was one of the leading press photographers in Afghanistan before fleeing the Taliban’s resurgence last year. She was a senior teacher in a bustling public school in the north of the war-ravaged country before ending up on Australia’s jobseekers list six months ago. A human rights activist with a bachelor’s degree working as a labourer building fences, another selling groceries in a market to sustain his extended family facing the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.

There are hundreds of similar stories of despair with educated and skilled professionals not having their abilities respected or utilised in their new home country.