Asylum Access is pleased to announce www.refugeeworkrights.org, an interactive website that evaluates refugees’ access to safe and lawful employment in countries around the world. Based on research conducted by Asylum Access, the website provides evidence-based scoring of nearly 30 countries. As a resource for policymakers, academics and advocates alike, the website aims to contribute to policy advancement and implementation in host countries.

Refugeeworkrights.org allows users to visualize the status of refugee work rights according to three criteria: (1) respect for refugee work rights under domestic law, (2) protection of refugee work rights in practice, and (3) promotion of those rights through training support, vocational programs, and other integration services. The scorecard can be viewed as an interactive map or as a list. Designed to be a dynamic site for ongoing monitoring and evaluation of states’ progress, the site will expand its coverage to additional countries and update its research periodically.

Refugee work rights are essential for gaining access to other economic, civil and social rights and are foundational to the pursuit of sustainable livelihoods in host countries. Lack of lawful employment exposes refugees to discrimination and exploitation without legal recourse. Safe, lawful and decent work enables refugees to become economically self-reliant while providing economic benefit to the host country.

Asylum Access led the global call for refugee work rights with its groundbreaking Global Refugee Work Rights Report published in 2014. Today the topic receives significant attention among the media, policymakers, and the private sector. But significant gaps in data persist, and the concept is too often reduced to simply ‘jobs for refugees’ without addressing the host of contextual legal and practical barriers. Asylum Access looks forward to further development of the research presented on refugeeworkrights.org to continue to inform and serve those global actors seeking to connect refugees with employment opportunities and economic empowerment.

Written by Associate Director of Advocacy and Communications Brian Rawson