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ASYLUM SEEKER ACCESS TO EMPLOYMENT AND SOCIAL ASSISTANCE

ASYLUM SEEKER ACCESS TO EMPLOYMENT AND SOCIAL ASSISTANCE . The Asylum Paradox. Every asylum seeker who arrives at the border, whether or not a refugee, represents BOTH The fulfilment of the receiving state’s int’l obligation AND The failure of border control

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ASYLUM SEEKER ACCESS TO EMPLOYMENT AND SOCIAL ASSISTANCE

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  1. Prof. Audrey Macklin, Faculty of Law, University of Toronto, November 2012 ASYLUM SEEKER ACCESS TO EMPLOYMENT AND SOCIAL ASSISTANCE

  2. The Asylum Paradox Every asylum seeker who arrives at the border, whether or not a refugee, represents BOTH • The fulfilment of the receiving state’s int’l obligation AND • The failure of border control Paradox is managed by suppressing indeterminacy of asylum seeker’s identify: purporting to ‘know’ (prior to or independent of RSD) that the asylum seeker is bogus/dangerous/infiltrator/economic migrant eases moral distaste for punitive measures Prof. Audrey Macklin, Faculty of Law, University of Toronto, November 2012

  3. Policy Drivers • Deterrence • Segregation of asylum seekers (physical/social/moral) • Avoidance of fiscal burden to state • Benefits to employers of access to illegalized labour • Legal constraints (usually via judicial application of domestic, regional, international human rights) Legal constraints formally preclude blanket denial of employment access as well subsistence: when do states cross that line? Prof. Audrey Macklin, Faculty of Law, University of Toronto, November 2012

  4. Regional/ Int’l Legal Constraints • Refugee Convention • Employment, housing, public education, social security etc. on same basis as ‘most favoured nation’ or nations guaranteed to refugees, but [arguably] not asylum seekers • ICESCR – social and economic rights (including employment and social assistance) without discrimination, but subject to progressive realization • EU Reception Directive (Recast 2008, amended 2011) • Employment after 6 months, subsistence support • No const’l protection (Australia); not litigated in US, Cda Prof. Audrey Macklin, Faculty of Law, University of Toronto, November 2012

  5. Policy Instruments • Work Permits • Conditioned by: passage of time, occupational sector, location, duration • Social Assistance (from equivalence to percentage of subsistence for citizens/non-asylum seekers) • Cash, voucher, in-kind, mixture • Conditioned by dispersal, pre-requisites, reporting requirements, subject to revocation for breach • Reception Centres, Detention Prof. Audrey Macklin, Faculty of Law, University of Toronto, November 2012

  6. Examples • UK • Judicial decisions: Adam (2005) • Australia • Employment under bridging visas, very limited subsistence • US • 6 month eligibility for work permit • Varying state level benefits • Canada • Work permit for most asylum seekers, access to social assistance Prof. Audrey Macklin, Faculty of Law, University of Toronto, November 2012

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