In particular, during their discussions, EU Ministers must take into account that the right to work for people who have fled persecution and violence and applied for asylum is strictly limited in many countries. This makes these persons vulnerable to exploitation as cheap labour, and creates additional difficulties for them to build a new life. Denying asylum seekers the right to work is also an appalling waste of valuable skills and as such very detrimental to European economies.

EU governments and the European Parliament have now the opportunity to agree on rules that facilitate access to the right to work for people waiting for their asylum claim to be decided, when negotiating the revision of the European common rules on reception conditions for asylum seekers. Bjarte Vandvik, ECRE Secretary General said: “It is difficult to understand why governments seem more willing to force skilled and motivated workers to rely on benefits instead of allowing them to work to support themselves and their families and pay taxes”.

Even for refugees who are legally entitled to work, discrimination and problems concerning the recognition of their qualifications, skills and work experience result in unemployment or underemployment for many. ECRE calls on Ministers to strengthen their efforts to tackle discrimination in the area of employment and to promote the establishment of innovative methods to make refugees and asylum seekers’ skills more visible to employers.

For further information

ECRE Recommendations for the 2010 Ministerial Conference on Integration.<

ECRE, Review of European asylum policy: a promising start.<

Refugee Council, I hate being idle: Wasted skills and enforced dependence among Zimbabwean asylum seekers in the UK, July 2009.<

European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, <EU Minorities and Discrimination Survey, 2009.<

Contact

Ana Fontal, Media and Information Officer- Tel: +32 (0) 2 212 08 12 - afontal@ecre.org< - www.ecre.org<