Author
Access to the labour market is the means for applicants and beneficiaries of international protection to integrate into the social environment, regain their autonomy and self-esteem and feel empowered.
Up until the end of 2019, asylum seekers had access to the labour market as employees or service or work providers from the moment an asylum application had been formally lodged and they had obtained an asylum seeker’s card.[1] Applicants who had not yet completed the full registration and lodged their application (i.e., pre-registered applicants), did not have access to the labour market. As noted in Registration, the average time period between pre-registration and full registration across mainland Greece (registration via Skype) was 44 days in 2019.[2] Similar data for 2023 is not available at the time of writing.[3]
Following the entry into force of the IPA on 1 January 2020, a six-month time limit for asylum seekers’ access to the labour market was introduced and continued to be applied under the Asylum Code, until the latter was amended by L. 5078/2023 (article 192) in a welcome development in December 2023. Following this, article 57 Asylum Code, as amended, provides that applicants have a right to access the labour market within sixty days of the lodging of their application and the receipt of the relevant legal documents, as long as no first instance decision has been taken by the Asylum Service, and the delay cannot be attributed to the applicant.[4]
The amendment, coming at a time of significant shortages in Greece’s labour market, was part of new legislation that also introduced the possibility of undocumented third country nationals to regularise their status, inter alia subject to being able to present a job offer, and has been welcomed by UN Agencies as a step forward, with the potential for bringing positive results for both third country nationals and locals. As noted by the Representative of UNHCR in Greece:[5]
“These measures are a step in the right direction. They respond in a pragmatic manner to workforce needs in Greece’s productive sectors that remain unfulfilled and promptly puts asylum-seekers on the path to self-reliance and inclusion, which in the end will yield significant socio-economic returns for all […] The amendment is a positive example of political will to dismantle barriers that render people invisible and marginalized, contributing to the broader prosperity of the Greek economy and society”.
As long as they hold a valid asylum applicant card, article 57(2) Asylum Code provides them access to paid employment or the provision of services or work throughout the period of validity of the card. Applicants are also under an obligation to inform the competent reception authority of any professional activity they engage in (commencement of a profession, contract of employment), and submit relevant documentation. Failure to comply with this obligation can lead to the reduction or withdrawal of material reception conditions in accordance with article 61 Asylum Code.[6] Lastly, the right is automatically withdrawn upon issuance of a negative decision which is not subject to an automatically suspensive effect, and applicants lack the right to stay on the Greek territory.[7]
That being said, observations made by the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights in 2018, still remain valid in 2023. Specifically, in her 2018 report, the Commissioner had emphasized that access to the labour market is seriously hampered by the economic conditions prevailing in Greece, the high unemployment rate, further obstacles posed by competition with Greek-speaking employees, and administrative obstacles to obtain necessary documents, which may lead to undeclared employment with severe repercussions on the enjoyment of the basic social rights.[8]
Despite a notable 3% decrease in a period of 12 months (Dec. 22-Dec. 23), unemployment rates remained high in Greece in 2023, standing at 9.2% in December. These rates remain higher than the average unemployment rate throughout the euro area (6.4%) and the EU (5.9%) and were second only to Spain (11.7%).[9]
Data collected through an ongoing survey conducted under the coordination of UNHCR, between February 2022 and March 2024,[10] helps provide some further contextualisation to the challenges. Namely, based on a total of 107 surveys carried out during the reference period with the participation of households in the asylum procedure or pending registration (fully registered, pre-registered and unregistered while willing to apply for asylum), the vast majority of respondents (80%) were either not working (63%), in most cases during the 12-month period preceding their participation to the survey, or were only able to find occasional work (17%). Moreover, of those working on a regular (20%) or occasional (17%) basis, the majority (56%) were doing so without any type of legal contract, indicating significant levels of labour exploitation. Lack of knowledge of the language, lack of documentation and the inability to find legal employment were noted as the main three challenges with respect to finding work in Greece, followed by the lack of knowledge on how to find employment and the lack of day care for the children, which to GCR’s experience particularly affects single parent households with a female head. Discrimination/racism was also noted as a hindering factor in 5 out of 107 cases, while in only 2 cases did respondents state they did not wish to find work in Greece at the time.
A December 2023 study commissioned by UNHCR, as part of which more than 3,700 applicants and beneficiaries of international protection were surveyed between May-July 2022, seems to further corroborate this data. Namely, as per the study’s findings,[11] of the total participants of the survey, 64% were not working in the 4 weeks preceding their participation to the survey, even though more than half (52%) were actively looking for work. Of the rest of those not working, slightly more than 1 in 10 (11%) stated they had been doing unpaid work, 9% that they were unable to work on account of sickness or disability and close to 1 in 4 (24%) were at the time not looking for a job. The study also identified a gender-based gap vis-a-vis access to employment, with women being affected to a significantly higher degree than men (women unemployment stood at 82%, as opposed to 54% for men). Interestingly, no significant difference vis-à-vis employment was found based on respondents’ legal status, with unemployment affecting to near similar extents applicants (66%) and beneficiaries (62%) of international protection. By contrast, the correlation between the type of accommodation and employment was much more pronounced, with applicants and beneficiaries who were self-accommodated displaying significantly higher degrees of access to employment (68%) compared to those residing in the former ESTIA scheme or supported through the Helios project (16%) and even more so compared to those residing in camps (10%). This seems to re-affirm persisting challenges in accessing the labour market for applicants residing in mainland camps, on account of the secluded nature of their accommodation and prolonged displacement, reported in previous years.[12]
High levels of exploitation/undocumented labour were also found by the study, with only 36% of working applicants (and 48% of beneficiaries), being able to do so with a formal contract, while in all cases of those working, wages were identified as being much lower than the Greek national minimum wage, even though weekly working hours were in 41% of cases similar to average working hours for Greek nationals and in 22% of cases more (60-hour working weeks). A third of participants (31% in the case of men and 233% in the case of women) also reported feeling discriminated against in the labour market, while a very high percentage of all participants (68%) reported having to resort to negative coping mechanisms, such as skipping meals, on account of economic hardships.[13]
In another survey conducted by GCR, IRC, and Diotima between November 2021 and April 2022, which reached more than 180 respondents, lack of Greek and/or English courses, the lack of a social network and connection with the Greek labour market, insufficient information on the relevant procedures, obstacles in recognising their qualifications and skills, prolonged displacement, secluded accommodation, or restriction of movement imposed, delays in access to the asylum system on mainland Greece, and racism and discrimination, were among the main issues reported.[14]
Based on the same survey,[15] the main obstacle in finding employment for both applicants and beneficiaries of international protection was correlated with the lack of Greek and/or English language competence, a prerequisite for any job in the Greek labour market. Lack of access to sponsored or free workshops by the Greek Manpower Employment Organisation (OAED), according to the social service of GCR, and a gap in Greek language programs, which, however, is covered, as far as possible, free of charge by non-governmental organisations. The sole exception is the HELIOS programme, which is however addressed to beneficiaries of international protection, providing integration courses, including 280 hours of the Greek language. Also, according to the data provided by UNHCR, the primary problem in accessing the labour market identified by the respondents-asylum seekers (61, i.e., 76%) is Greek language competence.[16]
As in previous years,[17] asylum seekers have also continued facing obstacles in opening bank accounts. Based on data collected through the abovementioned ongoing survey conducted under the coordination of UNHCR, as part of which 107 asylum applicant households (fully registered, pre-registered and unregistered while willing to apply for asylum) were reached between February 2022 and March 2024, 62% of respondents did not have a bank account, with main causes relating to procedural challenges, including, in 10 out of 107 cases, their request being declined, though in 16 out of 107 cases respondents stated they did not wish or need a bank account.[18] On the other hand, based on the same survey, issuance of a VAT verification number (AFM) seems to have been somewhat streamlined in recent years, with 87% of applicants stating they had been able to obtain said number, even though 35% of respondents reported that they required support in order to be able to issue it.
Another obstacle hindering the employment procedure for asylum seekers is their inability to prove and recognise existing education and training qualifications, as, due to the circumstances forcing them to leave their homes, many do not have their original diplomas of study or other relevant certification with them,[19] nor, in GCR’s experience, can they issue copies in Greece, despite the European Qualification Passport for Refugees (EQPR), which could be used to recognise studies from third countries outside the EU.
As regards vocational training, Article 17(1) L 4540/2018 provides that applicants can access vocational training programmes under the same conditions and prerequisites as foreseen for Greek nationals. The same is reiterated in Article 58 (1) Asylum Code. However, the condition of enrolment “under the same conditions and prerequisites as foreseen for Greek nationals” does not take into consideration the significantly different circumstance faced by asylum seekers, and in particular, the fact that they may not be in a position to provide the necessary documentation.[20] Article 58 (2) Asylum Code provides that the conditions for the assessment of applicants’ skills who do not have the necessary documentation will be set by a Joint Ministerial Decision of the Ministers of Labour and Social Affairs, Education and Religious Affairs and Migration and Asylum. As far as GCR is aware such a decision had not been issued by the end of 2023.
[1] Article 71 L 4375/2016, as previously in force; Article 15 L 4540/2018 as previously in force.
[2] Information provided by the Greek Asylum Service on 17 February 2020.
[3] Information provided by the Office of Analysis and Studies of the MoMA on 31 March 2021.
[4] Article 57(1) Asylum Code, as amended by article 192 L. 5078/2023.
[5] UNHCR & IOM, UNHCR and IOM welcome new amendment facilitating access to labour for migrants and asylum-seekers, 19 December 2023, available at: https://tinyurl.com/39m8xwtk.
[6] Article 57(4) Asylum Code.
[7] Article 57(3) Asylum Code.
[8] Council of Europe, Report of the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe Dunja Mijatović following her visit to Greece from 25 to 29 June 2018, CommDH(2018)24, 6 November 2018, available at: https://bit.ly/2IwG4EG, paras 54-55.
[9] Eurostat, December 2023: Euro area unemployment at 6.4%, 1 February 2024, available at: https://tinyurl.com/2s36p6yb;
[10] See UNHCR, Inter-Agency Protection Monitoring for Refugees in Greece: Key findings, available at: https://tinyurl.com/3z6t3y9f. For the data presented in this paragraph filters have been used, in order to only include the data arising from the surveys carried out with households that were clearly still in the asylum procedure or were waiting for their application to be registered.
[11] Casalis M. et.al., Home for Good? Obstacles and Opportunities for Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Greece, December 2023, available at https://tinyurl.com/ycyacy57, pp. 24-26.
[12] AIDA, Country Report: Greece, 2021 Update, May 2022, available at: https://bit.ly/3MRVkLf, p. 185 and AIDA, Country Report: Greece, 2022 Update, June 2023, available at: https://bit.ly/3PUOVk9, p. 184.
[13] Ibid. pp. 28-32.
[14] GCR, Do the human right thing: Seeking a new life, seeking employment, March 2022, available at: https://bit.ly/42eyDWf.
[15] Ibid.
[16] See UNHCR, Inter-Agency Protection Monitoring for Refugees in Greece: Key findings, available at: https://bit.ly/43dZsuK.
[17] For more, inter alia see AIDA, Country Report Greece: 2022 Update, available at: https://bit.ly/3PUOVk9, pp. 185-186.
[18] See UNHCR, Inter-Agency Protection Monitoring for Refugees in Greece: Key findings, available at: https://tinyurl.com/3z6t3y9f. For the data presented in this paragraph filters have been used, in order to only include the data arising from the surveys carried out with households that were clearly still in the asylum procedure or were waiting for their application to be registered.
[19] For instance, as per the aforementioned ongoing survey carried out under the auspices of UNHCR between February 2022 and March 2024, 44% of applicants (registered or pending registration) who had an undergraduate or higher degree of education, did not have original copies with them. UNHCR, Inter-Agency Protection Monitoring for Refugees in Greece: Key findings, available at: https://tinyurl.com/3z6t3y9f.
[20] GCR, Observations on the Draft Law transposing the Reception Directive, 31 October 2016, available in Greek at: https://bit.ly/42sh0Cb.