Labor Market Access Program

When refugees and other forced migrants have access to formal work, they are more independent and empowered, and can more fully contribute their skills and knowledge to strengthen the economy of their host community. The Refugee Convention and Protocol provide that refugees should have such access to employment, but over the past several decades, that objective has seldom been realized. Today, some governments, recognizing that humanitarian aid can only go so far in a world of growing need and donor fatigue, are implementing policies that provide refugees with access to work and the opportunity to own businesses. Still, the vast majority of refugees and forced migrants in developing host nations today do not enjoy such rights. This creates a wide range of challenges and forgone benefits, including protection risks for those who turn to the informal economy, diminished economic productivity, lost tax revenues, lower incomes and living standards for refugees and forced migrants, and greater dependency on aid.

Building on previous reporting and advocacy to date, Refugees International is now partnering with the Center for Global Development to research innovative programming and ideas to expand labor market access for refugees and forced migrants around the world. Our research generates evidence on the economic and social benefits and the protection imperatives around expansion of labor market access for refugees and forced migrants, develops policy recommendations on these issues, and supports efforts to mobilize the private sector and other partners to champion this cause. When the rights of refugees to work are genuinely recognized, everyone benefits.

Our Work

Media Contact:

Sarah Sheffer, Director of Communications
ssheffer@refugeesinternational.org
Phone: +1 202 540 7029