Irish Government has 6 month to allow asylum seekers to work

We would like to reproduce an article from the Irish Times (30th May 2017 by Ciaràn D'Arcy) on the recent judgment of the Irish Supreme Court. 

Brian Killoran of the Immigrant Council of Ireland said Ireland was one of only two EU countries, the other being Lithuania, which has a complete prohibition on asylum seekers finding employment.

The Right to Work - Asylum Seekers in Ireland

 

Occupational Therapy

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Letting asylum seekers work would save UK government £233.5 million per year

The governement could slash as much as 25% off the £233.5 million annual bill for asylum support payments if asylum seekers and those refused asylum who cannot go home were allowed to work in the UK, says a new report from a Warwick University research project. The report’s authors say the European standard is to grant access to the job market if individuals have been waiting for 6 months or more for a decision on their claim.Forcing people to live in poverty is not a deterrent for those considering coming to the UK, nor does it encourage those already here to leave, the report continues.

Coalitions needed towards humane reception policies to promote already existing solutions

Are politicians lagging behind companies, NGOs&trade unions? 

At a time when reception system in Europe are sometimes overwhelmed and new asylum seekers / refugees will face challenges to integrate in the host labour markets and not experience poverty, it seems particularly absurd to legally bar them from working. Barring them from working risks only to make them more vulnerable to exploitation and increase the workforce available on the black market (increasing competition for the other workers, resulting also in the loss of taxes for the State and disempowerment of asylum seekers). 

We strongly believe that NGOs, companies, trade-unions and business associations should voice their concerns and unite in common political campaigns to promote the right to work of asylum seekers and refugees so as to remove existing legal and practical obstacles to their access to the labour market.

Broad coalitions needed!

Refugees will have the right to work, why not employ them?

We would like to reproduce the recent article from the Guardian (Refugees will have the right to work, why not employ them?)  that focus on recent positions of compagnies in the UK or Germany to promote the employment of asylum seekers and refugees. 

Europe may be deeply divided over how to host hundreds of thousands of refugees coming to the continent this year, but some companies are now considering the struggles new arrivals will face finding work. Business leaders in Germany have responded to the refugee crisis by calling for the thousands of people arriving each day to be given help to find employment.

“If we can integrate them quickly into the jobs market, we’ll be helping the refugees, but also helping ourselves as well,” the head of the BDI industry federation, Ulrich Grillo, told the AFP news agency earlier this week. Other business bodies in Germany have backed calls for an easing of restrictions so that skilled refugees can help the country fill gaps in its workforce.

Some socially responsible businesses in the UK are now wondering how they might help newcomers find jobs.

Allow Refugees to Work Says UN, as Turkey Prepares to Host 2.5m refugees

UN top officials declares that allowing refugees to access the legal labour market is a good practice to be duplicated in a Newsweek article dating 28/04/2015 :

Allowing refugees to enter the workforce helps to relieve the humanitarian burden in host countries and is "best practice" according to a top UN official, who is warning that Turkey needs help from the international community to deal with "an unprecedented" number of refugees. Many refugees will enter the labour market, both legally and illegally warns Clark, but if they enter it illegally they are in danger of being exploited. "In the case of access to the labour market, this is most definitely a best practice," she adds.

Helen Clark, the administrator of the UN Development Program (UNDP) says countries bearing the brunt of the refugee crisis caused by the ongoing conflicts in Syria, Iraq and Libya, need more support. She points out that legislation proposed by the Turkish government, which will allow refugees to enter certain sectors of the labour market if passed, is a positive move, and one that other countries should consider also adopting.

Syrian refugees could lose their refugee status and right to work in Lebanon

Syrian refugees could lose their refugee status and right to work in Lebanon as new rules regarding the obtention of their visa are being implemented according to today's IRIN article 'Stranded Syrians at "serious risk" of losing refugee status in Lebanon'. They will be left destitute and increasingly subject to detention and exploitation. 

According to IRIN: 

Reworking the Relationship between Asylum-Seekers and Employment

We would like to add to our thematic bibliography on the right to work of refugees the following book: Reworking the Relationship between Asylum and Employment, By Penelope Mathew, Published 3rd May 2012 by Routledge:

Asylum seekers and the right to work in the United Kingdom

We reproduce the following article (04/11/2011) by Melanie Gower, from the UK parliament website detailing the conditions to beneficiate for the right to work in the UK, its current limitations, and the impact of the Reception Condition Directive on UK domestic law.

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.