A European Commission's initiative to support labour market integration

On 23 May 2017 the European Commission launched the initiative Employers together for integration at the occasion of the second meeting of the European Dialogue on Skills and Migration to give visibility to what employers are doing to support the integration of refugees and other migrants into the labour market.

Article extracted from the European Commission website.

The successful integration of third-country nationals in the EU labour market represents an opportunity for our societies. When effectively integrated they can help improve the functioning and performance of the labour market, as well as support fiscal sustainability. 

In this process, the role of economic and social partners, and in particular of employers, is crucial. Several initiatives have been initiated by employers, trade unions, chambers of

commerce in many member states.

The European Social fund is the main funding instrument supporting labour market inclusion, including of migrants. The Asylum Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) can also provide funding for preparatory measures to access the labour market.

Economic and Social European Committee presents good practices to enhance access to labour market of refugees

L’Observatoire du marché du travail (OMT) du Comité économique et social européen a tenu un séminaire public sur le thème «Intégration des réfugiés sur le marché du travail: transformer la crise en une occasion à saisir» le lundi, 22 février 2016 de 14h30 à 18h00 au siège du CESE à Bruxelles.

L'événement, organisé en collaboration avec la Fondation européenne pour l’amélioration des conditions de vie et de travail (Eurofound),  a mis en lumière les facteurs qui facilitent le travail des réfugiés, en tant qu'employés ou entrepreneurs. Parmi les orateurs on a pu découvrir des chercheurs, députés européens et représentants de la société civile qui ont présenté une série de bonnes pratiques issues du terrain.

Le séminaire a offert des points de vue variés sur les bonnes pratiques et les défis à relever dans ce domaine et apporte une contribution au travail approfondi du CESE en matière de migration/asile/intégration, comme par exemple à l'avis SOC/532 sur l'Intégration des réfugiés (rapporteure Mme Schweng, corapporteur M Gkofas), au travail du groupe d'étude permanent IMI et au Forum européen sur la Migration.

Thematic bibliography

We would like to recommend once again to follow the thematic electronic updates of the Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog. We reproduce the last thematic bibliography that may interest our readers. 

Thematic Focus: Work/Economic Aspects

Posted: 25 Aug 2017 12:27 PM PDT

Belgium: Agreement between reception and employment agencies to accelerate access of asylum seekers to the job market

Fedasil et le Forem s'entendent pour l'intégration des demandeurs d'asile (l'article ci dessous est un article de l'agence Belga, publié le 29 août 2017, NB nous avons corrigé les dernières lignes par soucis de précision juridique):

Le secrétaire d'Etat à l'Asile et à la Migration Theo Francken (N-VA) et le nouveau ministre wallon de l'Emploi Pierre-Yves Jeholet (MR) ont signé mardi un accord de collaboration pour favoriser l'insertion socio-professionnelle des demandeurs d'asile. L'occasion aussi de donner un "signal" en termes de coopération entre le gouvernement fédéral et la Région wallonne.L'accord de collaboration signé par les deux hommes au centre d'accueil de Rixensart doit permettre d'intensifier la présence du Forem dans les centres Fedasil en Wallonie. Des séances d'informations seront notamment organisées pour les demandeurs d'asile.

Workeer and Action Emploi Réfugiés, online jobfairs for refugees

Job search websites for refugees

Our attention was recently caught by a French and a German Job search website offering jobs to refugees and acting as "jobfair websites". The Websites are the following :
Action EmploiRéfugiés: http://www.actionemploirefugies.com/

Workeer: http://www.workeer.de/  
AERé (Action Emploi Réfugié) is a virtual meeting place for employers who are looking to hire and for refugees who are trying to find jobs. The organisation was set up in September 2015 with the aim to improving refugees' access to the French labour market from the early stages of their arrival. 

Momentum for campaining coalitions: Business, NGOs, citizens and refugees could benefit if asylum seekers were able to start working sooner

Initiatives from European companies and trade confederations are being publicly released to promote the early access of asylum seekers and refugees to the labour market. It seems that the momentum has come for some politicians to understand that economic, demographic interests and enhancing the rights of asylum seekers and refugees can go hand in hand when comprehensive and humane policy are designed. 

We would like to reproduce this MUST READ article from The Economist (12th December 2015) Businesses could benefit, and refugees integrate faster, if newcomers to Europe were able to start working sooner. It shows that refugees, the State and companies could both benefit - and refugees can integrate faster if asylum seekers were authorized to work just after they have lodged their asylum claim. 

This excellent article also describes successful programmes and activities set up by various companies and NGOs in Europe to support asylum seekers and refugees in accessing the labor market. It identifies a series of problems, however, that hinder the smooth movement of refugees into European workplaces. 

Better integration of refugees could lead to savings in Denmark

In the press article 'Better integration could lead to massive savings for councils' dating from the 8th of January, Peter Stanners in the Copenhagen Post highlights the fact that local programmes favoring the integration of refugees into the local labor market make sound economic sense.

Another interesting article, not related to refugees but concerning the lack of right to work of  family members of persons living as a mixed- couple for years without being authorized to stay permanently in Denmark- caught up our attention. Call it our "billet d'humeur" of the day: 

Join Asylum Access Refugee work Rights Coalition, fill in their Survey!

Asylum Access is conducting a survey on the right to work of refugees and asylum seekers and is initiating the Refugee work Rights Coalition. We invite all individuals and organisations active on this topic to fill in Asylum Access' questionnaire and to join the Coalition. 
Who should fill out the survey?  Academics, service providers and those generally familiar with the refugee population in their area of residence are invited to answer this short survey. 

Why you should join the Coalition? NGOs, academics, advocates and service providers committed to advocating for and facilitating access to safe, lawful employment for refugees are welcome to join this international forum. Together we can put this issue on the agenda, make informed recommendations, and help refugees access their right to work around the world. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to be a part of this discussion.

Interested in being a part of the movement? Sign up for updates and meeting notices by joining the Refugee Work Rights Coalition Google group.To obtain more information on Asylum Access campaign and survey: click here. To fill in Asylum Access survey on the right to work in English (click here) or in Spanish (click here)

Refugee Livelihood and the Humanitarian Innovation project

 The Forced Migration Current Awareness blog has brought to our attention the Humanitarian Innovation Project (HIP) website where we found the following excerpts: 

“It is unacceptable that many refugees are left indefinitely dependent on international assistance, deprived of the right to work or freedom of movement. By developing a bottom-up approach to humanitarian innovation, the Humanitarian Innovation Projects aims to support sustainable, market-based solutions that build upon refugees’ own skills, aspirations and entrepreneurship” declared Alexander Betts, director of the Humanitarian Innovation Project. 

UNHCR Discussion Paper: Reception Standards: Employment

This Discussion Paper on Reception Standards published in 2006 by the UNHCR, focuses on the right to employment os asylum seekers and refugees contains invaluable contributions on the topic.

UNHCR Discussion Paper: Reception Standards: Employment

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Regional Office for Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and the South Pacific

N°. 1, 2006, pp. 5-20.

Introduction

Granting the right to work to refugees is a relatively standard practice among industrialised countries, but the same rights are not always extended to asylum-seekers and efforts to do so have faced resistance by many governments. Economic factors and deterrence measures are cited by governments as reasons not to treat asylum-seekers in the same way as recognised refugees. 

The issue of reception standards for asylum-seekers which ensure that human dignity and basic rights are protected was discussed at the 2006 October’s Executive Committee meeting of States. A particular focus was the right to gainful employment for both refugees and asylum-seekers as perhaps paramount among the articles of the Convention. Arguably, without the right to work, many other provisions could be considered meaningless.

Ahead of this discussion, UNHCR's Regional Office in Canberra invited contributing perspectives on this issue and its application in the region from the Australian Government, the Hotham Mission Asylum Seeker Project and academic Alice Edwards, who provides internationally comparative data. UNHCR's position drawn from Standing Committee papers, is also provided.

Providing Refugee Women the Right to Work

We reproduce below some extract from an article by Samuel Witten on the livelihood programmes targeting women refugees and asylum seekers in the countries receiving them. Samuel Witten has been serving for 22 years at the U.S. Department of State, including three years as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees and Migration (PRM). 

Source: The Huffington Post, 08/10/2011, Samuel Witten, Skills to Survive: Providing Refugee Women the Right to Work:

Refugees are victims of circumstances they did not create and cannot control. And women, often unaccompanied by men, caring for young children, and lacking in job skills and opportunities, generally have the most difficult time. I have seen firsthand the lack of hope and economic opportunity for women displaced from their homes by political turmoil and living in refugee camps or squalid urban areas.  Most refugees cannot work legally or get work permits that might be available to other foreigners. This often forces them into the informal economy, which can have a devastating impact on their safety and well-being. All of us who have been involved in humanitarian relief have heard countless stories of refugee women who work 15 to 16 hours a day for little or no pay, often abused as domestic workers or trapped in other oppressive labor situations. Many are routinely denied wages and suffer sexual abuse in the workplace. But they often do not report abuse for fear of being punished or deported, or treated even worse by their employers. We have also heard of numerous heartbreaking cases of women who could not find work and were forced into prostitution in order to provide for themselves and their families. What will it take to stop this exploitation and empower refugee women? A key step is systematically developing and expanding economic opportunities for refugee women that are safe and will allow them to ultimately become self-reliant. 

National programmes facilitating access to the labour market of asylum seekers

The European Union, under the EQUAL funding asylum seekers and refugee line, has financed domestic programmes enhancing access of asylum seekers to the labour market. EQUAL webpage contains both practical activities and political recommendations on access of asylum seekers to the labour market at a European scale.