Ethiopia Allows Almost 1 Million Refugees to Leave Camps and grant right to Work

Ethiopia passed a law Thursday giving almost 1 million refugees the right to work and live outside of camps, in a move praised for providing them with more dignity and reducing reliance on foreign aid.

Home to Africa’s second largest refugee population after Uganda, Ethiopia hosts more than 900,000 people who have fled conflict, drought and persecution in neighboring countries such as South Sudan, Sudan, Somalia and Eritrea.

The refugees — many of whom sought refuge decades ago and have children born in Ethiopia — are largely confined to one of about 20 camps across country. Most were not permitted to work.

European Migration Network Study on Approaches to unaccompanied minors following status determination examines Right to work

The author of this blog (also a legal guardian of unaccompanied minors) advocates for any measure that can facilitate access of unaccompanied minors to the labour market, without prior work permit and irrespective of legal status. All unaccompanied minors should have access to "student job/ student contract" after school or during holidays providing they are identified as unaccompanied minors and go to school and vocational education or have full access to the legal market beyond school age, while being protected with specific work contract for minors. We also strongly believe that alternative educational vocational programmes where UAM can spend the most of their time learning vocational skills should be promoted. Those programmes are highly efficient and relevant for some unaccompanied minors who would remained out of school or demotivated otherwise.  We believe that UAM who attend educational trainings in sectors exposed to labor shortage should be also taken into consideration for residence permit whenever possible. 

The European Migration Network (EMN) recently released a study which explores the situation of unaccompanied minors (UAMs) who have been granted a residence permit in the EU plus Norway (EMN Study on Approaches to Unaccompanied Minors Following StatusDetermination in the EU plus Norway).The findings of this study are the following:

Support to employment to unaccompanied minors in the EU+

Ireland: Information session on the right to work of asylum seekers

Legal employment hardly accessible to refugees in Turkey

While refugees are allowed to seek employment under Turkish law, legal jobs are largely inaccessible for the vast majority of refugees in Turkey. In its study, “I Am Only Looking for My Rights”: Legal Employment Still Inaccessible to Refugees in Turkey, Refugees International examines the challenges and consequences facing refugees as they seek employment in Turkey. The study is based on a October 2017 research mission.

The report finds that without legal employment, refugees become trapped in a cycle of informal work where the risk of exploitation and abuse is high and wages are low. 

Refugees in Turkey face enormous hurdles to finding legal employment and commonly work excessively long hours often in difficult working conditions and are paid a faction of their Turkish counterparts. In addition, the lack of decent wages for adult refugees pushes many refugee children into the job market as well, instead of attending school.

One of the difficulties refugees face is a climate of hostility and negative myths about the impact of refugees on Turkish society. 

The report offers the following policy recommendations (a.o):

KNOMAD study on Refugees' Right to Work and Access to Labor Markets

Refugees' Right to Work and Access to Labor Markets

A December 2016 study produced under the KNOMAD's Thematic Working Group on Migration and Development finds a generally restrictive approach to refugees’ right to work across 20 countries that have taken in 70 per cent of the world’s refugees. Most are reluctant to ease these restrictions too.

The majority of refugees work in the informal sector, but under much less satisfactory and more exploitative conditions compared with nationals. Informal labour markets are also constrained in countries with fragile economies which often host large numbers of refugees, says the study.





The research concludes that:
-more national and international coordination is required,
-multiple actors should share in the responsibility to deliver decent work,
-labour market policies as well as training and education should be harnessed to support sustainable livelihoods,
-refugee social capital should be more effectively engaged. 

ECRE Paper: The Right to Work for Beneficiaries of International Protection

In December 2016 ECRE released the paper The Right to Work for Beneficiaries of International Protection: 

The ability to engage in decent work is a fundamental human right, integral to human dignity and self-respect. Failure to ensure proper access to the labour market hinders the ability of a beneficiary of international protection to successfully integrate into their new society, and leaves them at risk of destitution. It may also result beneficiaries of international protection engaging in unauthorized work in dangerous and degrading conditions, or their unauthorized onward secondary movement.

As a result, it is essential to ensure beneficiaries of international protection are given effective access to the labour market. In order to effectively enjoy the right to work, individuals not only need effective access to the labour market, but also access to vocational training courses and to have their qualifications recognised in a reasonable period of time. Studies have revealed that when beneficiaries of international protection initially enter the labour market they frequently only have access to jobs subsidised by the State and/or requiring a lower level of qualifications or skills.