scholarly journals ‘BRIDGING THE GAP’: APPRAISAL OF THE FACTORS WHICH LIMIT AND IMPEDE THE REALISATION OF THE RIGHT TO WORK OF REFUGEES AND ASYLUM SEEKERS

Author(s):  
Stephen Baidoo

In South Africa, asylum seekers and refugees are expected to integrate themselves into the society. In order to integrate themselves into society, refugees and asylum seekers seek employment. The employment of refugees and asylum seekers in South Africa is challenging. The right to work of refugees is guaranteed by section 27(f) of the Refugees Act, whilst section 22 provides for the right to work of asylum seekers. However, there is a noticeable gap between the provision of this right to work in terms of the Refugee Act and the actual recognition of this right by employers and professional councils. In practice, asylum seekers and refugees are frequently barred from exercising their right to work and thus do not enjoy these protected rights.9 This article, in analysing the difficulty of attaining employment, will firstly set a foundational basis in chapter 2. Chapter 3 will deal with the international framework governing the right to work of asylum seekers and refugees. Chapter 4 of this essay will then deal with the constitutional framework governing the right to work. In chapter 5, the implications of a limitation on the right to choose employment on the right to work will be dealt with. In chapter 6, the specific challenges faced by asylum seekers and refugees concerning their right to work will be discussed, along with recommendations for overcoming these challenges. Lastly, in chapter 7, there will be a summation of the main impediments and suggested palliatives for the realisation of the right to work of refugees and asylum seekers.

2016 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 232-248 ◽  
Author(s):  
Talita Greyling

The influx of asylum-seekers and refugees from across Africa into democratic South Africa has increased significantly. The aim of this paper is to determine the factors that influences the expect well-being of this unique group. Expected well-being is an important determinant of both the decision to migrate and the choice of a country of destination. Knowledge about this determinant therefore informs refugee policies. The results show that only a few of the factors found in the literature explaining the expected well-being of voluntary migrants also explain the expected well-being of forced migrants. However, a number of factors found in the literature that explain the subjective well-being and well-being in general of refugees and asylum-seekers also went towards explaining the expected well-being of this group. These factors include: government assistance, culture, the time spent in South Africa, economic factors, crime, refugee status, reasons for leaving the home countries and the number of people staying in a house in the receiving country. The findings of this study emphasise the differences between forced and voluntary migrants and highlight the factors that influence the expected well-being of forced migrants. These in turn shed light on migration decisions and the choice of destination countries.


2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-81
Author(s):  
Hench Goh ◽  
James Leong ◽  
Adam Haris Othman ◽  
Yee Ching Kho ◽  
Chung Yin Wong

Asylum is granted to people in search for international protection from persecution or serious harm in their own country. The right to asylum for refugees in Malaysia is far from realization and in dire need of a practical solution. Due to the lack of a proper enactment of Asylum Act, asylum seekers are to deal with denial of basic rights. Asylum seekers are also denied of education and healthcare due to high cost since these are not provided by the government. This article discusses the need for a proper enactment of Asylum Act in Malaysia in relation to the rising numbers of asylum seekers and refugees in the country. In this research, a comparative analysis between Malaysia’s existing laws dealing with asylum and the law of Australia, United Kingdom, Indonesia, and European Union was carried out. It was found that these countries have developed their legal framework for asylum considerably and could legally accommodate the influx of refugees into their respective countries, in contrast to Malaysia’s increasingly poor management of the refugees and asylum-seekers. The study suggests the possibility for the adoption of recommended legal principles from those countries into the proposed Malaysian Asylum Act.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-22
Author(s):  
Bilal Dewansyah ◽  
Ratu Durotun Nafisah

Abstract Article 28G(2) in Indonesia’s 1945 Constitution reflects a human rights approach to asylum; it guarantees “the right to obtain political asylum from another country,” together with freedom from torture. It imposes an obligation upon the state to give access to basic rights to those to whom it offers asylum, following an appropriate determination procedure. By contrast, in Presidential Regulation No. 125 of 2016 concerning the Treatment of Refugees, the Indonesian government’s response to asylum seekers and refugees is conceptualized as “humanitarian assistance,” and through a politicized and securitized immigration-control approach. We argue that the competition between these three approaches—the human right to asylum, humanitarianism, and immigration control—constitutes a “triangulation” of asylum and refugee protection in Indonesia, in which the latter two prevail. In light of this framework, this article provides a socio-political and legal analysis of why Article 28G(2) has not been widely accepted as the basis of asylum and refugee protection in Indonesia.


Author(s):  
Rachel Tribe ◽  
Angelina Jalonen

This chapter reviews the socio-political environment and legal factors that provide the context and influence the lived experience of many refugees and asylum seekers. These factors are considered in relation to flight, arrival, and settlement in a new country. How these contextual factors may impact upon refugees and asylum seekers, their sense of identity, and mental health will be reviewed. The chapter reflects upon the possible challenges faced by many refugees and asylum seekers, as well as arguing that the strengths, resilience, and coping strategies that many asylum seekers and refugees exhibit need to be adequately considered by clinicians, if a meaningful service is to be provided. The importance of clinicians being culturally curious and listening to service users’ meaning-making is vital. An overview of some other issues that clinicians may need to consider is provided. The chapter contains a number of case studies to illustrate the related issues.


Sexualities ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 86-110
Author(s):  
John Marnell ◽  
Elsa Oliveira ◽  
Gabriel Hoosain Khan

This article presents findings from three arts-based studies conducted by the African Centre for Migration and Society, in partnerships with Gay and Lesbian Memory in Action and the Sisonke National Sex Worker Movement. Drawing on participant-created visual and narrative artefacts, the article offers insights into the complex ways in which queer migrants, refugees and asylum seekers living in South Africa negotiate their identities, resist oppression and confront stereotypes. It reveals the dynamic ways in which queer migrants, refugees and asylum seekers forge a sense of belonging in spite of concurrent vulnerabilities and structural discrimination. It also reflects on the benefits and limitations of using participatory arts-based research with marginalised groups.


2020 ◽  
pp. 088626052095797
Author(s):  
Ahmad Al Ajlan

This study explores how violence occurs among young adult asylum seekers in collective accommodations in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. It provides an insider perspective to understand a phenomenon related to non-European people who were forced to leave their countries to seek asylum. Based on 16 qualitative interviews with young adult male asylum seekers from Syria and some African countries, seven interviews with social workers, and one interview with a German psychological therapist, the author finds that the asylum procedure in Germany as a total institution catalyzes violence among young adult asylum seekers in collective accommodations. The present study shows that collective accommodations are unhomely places, where “inmates” lack privacy and autonomy. In addition, the asylum procedure deprives them of essential human needs, such as the right to work and to have full access to the health care system. These circumstances make them uncertain and desperate, which leads to violence among them. The author calls for more attention towards the human needs of asylum seekers, rather than making them related to the granting of asylum, which can ultimately take years.


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