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):

Legal work rights for refugees in Malaysia is a first positive step forward

Legal work rights for refugees in Malaysia is a positive step forward but they must be offered adequate protections for the scheme to succeed long-term writes Gerhard Hoffstaedter on the Asia & the Pacific policy society blog.

Several news outlets have reported on a pilot scheme to provide work rights to 300 Rohingya refugees in Malaysia. This scheme is a cooperation between the Malaysian government and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR). It has been long in the making and refugee advocates, as well as the UNHCR, have been arguing for more regularisation of refugees in Malaysia for a long time.

The announcement comes at a time of escalating violence against the Rohingya in Myanmar and reports of ethnic cleansing. The Malaysian government’s approach to the plight of the Rohingya has long been guided by the ASEAN policy of non-interference. However, last week the government demanded action from Myanmar in a public statement and summoned the Myanmar ambassador to convey their message.

Malaysia is not a signatory to the UN refugee convention or protocol and therefore does not recognise refugees legally. The UNHCR is allowed to register refugees on the understanding that the majority are to be resettled to safe third countries, such as the US, Australia, Canada and European countries. Currently, over 150,000 refugees are registered by the UNHCR with many more remaining unregistered and very vulnerable.

The UNHCR does not have sufficient means to look after so many refugees, which necessitates their employment in often dirty, dangerous and demeaning occupations. Without outside help, refugees turn to the large Malaysian shadow economy, where they find badly-paid work, are often cheated out of their wages, or worse. When accidents happen, entire families can become destitute overnight as few have health insurance or access to workers’ compensation schemes.

Will Turkey grant Syrian Refugees the Right to Work?

We would like to reproduce an already dated article (7 August 2015) by Dasha Afanasieva entitled 'Turkey will not give Syrian Refugees Right to Work' highlighting the plight of Syrian refugees in Turkey. Do not hesitate to send us any updates on this topic.

Overview of Right to Work for Refugees Syria Crisis Response: Lebanon & Jordan

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) in its' policy paper 'Overview of Right to Work for Refugees Syria Crisis Response: Lebanon & Jordan' examines the access to work of Syrian refugees in Jordan and Lebanon, as codified under international law. It then considers the domestic law in Jordan and Lebanon that governs work rights for Syrian refugees and provides recommendations for future policy and practice to help realize their right to work. 

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.

Rohingyas refugees denied right to work in Malaysia

The recent IRINs' article Kept afloat by hope - the endless odyssey of the Rohingya illustrates the plight of refugees who are denied the right to work in Malaysia:

"More than 150,000 people are currently registered with the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) in Malaysia, just under a third of whom are Rohingya. But Malaysia is not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention and treats Rohingya and all other refugees and asylum seekers as illegal migrants. Registration with UNHCR can take up to two years and even with the agency’s refugee cards, they have no right to work, cannot send their children to government schools and live at constant risk of detention. Most eke out a precarious existence on the fringes of society, vulnerable to exploitation and abuse."  

Read the whole article to learn more about the plight of Rohingyas in Malaysia: 

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: 

Right to work granted for asylum seekers in Ecuador

 In a post on the "Refugee Work Rights " blog, Adina Appelbaum reports that on May 2012 the Ecuadorian government adopted a decree (Decreto 1182) that contains restrictive measure for asylum seekers. The decree nevertheless allows for asylum seekers who asked for refugee status to have the right to work.  Previously, only refugees who had gained refugee status were given the right to work in Ecuador.  Despite the fact that the Ecuadorian constitution states that anyone within the limits of Ecuador has the right to get paid if they are working, in reality employers have notoriously discriminated against asylum seekers, refusing to hire them if they did not have documents.  

To read Asylum Access full post: http://rtwasylumaccess.wordpress.com/2012/09/27/the-right-to-work-in-ecuador-a-positive-development-within-a-restrictive-new-law/ 

Exploring experiences of forced labour among asylum seekers and refugees in England, the Precarious lives project

The Precarious lives (exploring experiences of forced labour among asylum seekers and refugees in England) project is co-organizing a  conference at the University of Leeds, UK, on 14 December 2012 on the subject of Vulnerable Workers, Forced Labour, Migration and Ethical Trading.

The conference will bring together academics, campaigners, and policy makers to explore both the drivers and the broad experiences of vulnerable, forced and exploitative labour, to place the UK experience within a global context, and put questions of globalisation, migration and ethical trading centre-stage. Organizers are particularly interested to support campaigning groups, including trades unions, those supporting refugees/ asylum seekers, and organisations concerned with the wider implications of forced labour, including ethical trading and the regulation of supply chains; and to consider how research evidence can strengthen the work of those active in these areas.

More information can be found on the Precarious lives project blog. 

Understanding the informal economic activity of refugees in London (a Community Links and the Refugee Council Report)

A report on the cause of informal activity within refugees community by Community Links and the Refugee Council

Community Links and the Refugee Council released, in 2011 a report on the cause of the participation of refugees in informal activities. The report identify ways for refugees to enter mainstream employment and formalise their informal activities.  

Background of the study

In December 2009, the Mayor of London launched a three year strategy for refugee integration and committed to support an inquiry into London’s informal economy to identify ways for refugees to enter mainstream employment and formalise their informal activity.

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.