International Workshop on Refugees’ Employment and Integration

The “number of international migrants is growing faster than the global population” while the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) stated that the number of forcibly displaced people was over 100 million people in 2021, which was the highest number on record.  Although the late industrialising countries (LICs) have been considered as typical locations of emigration, many LICs have become host locations for immigrants and refugees coming from low-income regions and conflict zones located nearby. Currently, more than 30 per cent of world’s migrants are in LICs, with 8 per cent increase in 2013-2019. Moreover, more than 85 per cent of the refugees are currently in low and middle-income countries. Three LICs – Turkey, Colombia and Pakistan – host the largest number of refugees worldwide. Most of these displaced people are at working age and join the labour market and have become an important workforce in the key industries of their host economies. The governments of countries hosting the refugees as well as international organisations have been developing policies and programmes for improving the integration of refugees in the labour markets of host societies, which plays a key role for them to have a decent life in those locations. Nonetheless, the majority of the forcedly displaced populations are employed in the informal economy and continue to work in precarious conditions.

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This workshop aims to understand the reason behind this by bringing together a diverse group of stakeholders that are relevant to migrants’ and refugees' employment. The workshop will focus on addressing the question why refugees end up working in labour‐intensive jobs that are prone to exploitation, and what can be done to improve refugees’ employment conditions. It will have a specific focus on the case of Syrian refugees in Turkey, as Syrians currently constitute the largest number of displaced population, and Turkey hosts the highest number of refugees worldwide. The workshop will also involve researchers and stakeholders concerned with refugee populations in other countries, in order to facilitate debate and learning from one another. The speakers will include non‐governmental organisations (NGOs), business representatives, refugee representatives, policy institutions, think-tanks, and academics working on the employment and labour market integration of refugees.

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The discussions in the workshop will be prepared as a report and will be published on the website of Loughborough University London. Additionally, a blog post will be prepared to be published in a media outlet. 

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Some of the questions to be explored will include:

• What are the legal factors affecting the status of refugees in the country and how do these affect refugees’ working arrangements?

• How does the refugees’ background (training, education, experience etc.) influence their employment in the host country?

• What are the advantages and challenges of employing refugees for businesses?

• What are the current training programmes addressed towards refugees and how are they impacting refugees’ employment?

• What role are the international organisations and NGOs playing in refugees’ integration and employment?

• How do racial discrimination and language barriers affect refugees’ employment in labour-intensive jobs, and how is this different compared to other jobs?

• How do the global supply chain management strategies and regulations of global corporations affect refugees’ employment?

• What roles do domestic and global businesses, NGOs, governments and international organisations play to improve employment opportunities and conditions of refugees?