The Right to Work of Claimants for International Protection, a Legal Toolbox

A research paper, by Julien BLANC*

Abstract

The capacity of refugees and asylum seekers to integrate in the host country or to find a durable solution abroad is enhanced when the receiving State hosting the asylum seekers recognize their right to engage legally in self- employment, wage- earning employment or in liberal profession at an early stage of the refugee status determination process. Many States have nevertheless de-coupled granting automatically permission to work from the introduction of individual application claims for international protection on the basis of migration deterrent concerns and the right of States to regulate employment of foreigners. Restrictive domestic interpretations of human rights law and standards have lead this vulnerable category of migrants to suffer from unduly prolonged period of deprivation and denial of their right to work by the State, amounting to forced destitution, in breach of human dignity.

This paper may interest persons who examines the right to work of international claimants for protection from a legal perspective. It aims to increase awareness and facilitate applicability of the right to work of claimants for international protection at domestic or regional levels by detailing the relevance of international and regional norms and standards for claimants in need of international protection.

It focuses on article 6 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, article 17-19 of the Geneva Convention on Refugee Status and article 11 of the European Union Reception Conditions directive. General Comments of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, domestic and regional case law and the doctrine have also been used to provide concrete examples of how practitioners are invoking those norms. 

This paper has been drafted in a scientific but "protection- oriented" perspective. Existing caselaw or argument of  doctrine may have been overlooked due to limited access to some information sources or knowledge of other domestic case law. We therefore warmly welcomes any constructive comments related to its content. 

To download this paper click on: The Right to Work of Claimants for International Protection, a Legal Toolbox.

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* Julien Blanc has conducted some research on the right to work of claimants for international protection during its studies (Master in Human Rights Law at the Saint- Louis Faculty in Brussels, Belgium). 

The Right to Work of Claimants for International Protection