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The EU-Jordan Compact: a model for burden-sharing in refugee crises?
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Bonn International Center for Conversion (BICC)
Abstract The EU has committed itself to relaxing its trade regime towards Jordan as an incentive to promote the employment of Syrian refugees staying in the country. However, the current limitation to garment, plastic and metal industries in designated special economic zones does not match the skills Syrians... view more
The EU has committed itself to relaxing its trade regime towards Jordan as an incentive to promote the employment of Syrian refugees staying in the country. However, the current limitation to garment, plastic and metal industries in designated special economic zones does not match the skills Syrians have. Therefore, the EU-Jordan Compact should be opened up to further sectors, such as agro-industries.
The government of Jordan has waived work permit fees for Syrian refugees since April 2016 and has now stretched the grace period until the end of 2019. To make the planning for employees and job seekers reliable, the ILO and UNHCR should ensure that the waiver remains in place until Syrians can return home. Transparency about the future cost of work permits and early information before fees for work permits for Syrians are re-introduced are also necessary.
Work permits for Syrians are an entry point for refugees in formal labour relations. However, social security and labour rights are still not guaranteed for the majority of Syrian work permit holders. Agencies that support the implementation of the EU-Jordan Compact should insist on employers’ compliance with labour rights and ILO standards of decent work for work permit holders and assist in implementing them.
Establishing a business can alleviate tensions in the Jordanian labour market. The government of Jordan should relax the administrative barriers for Jordanian-Syrian joint ventures and abrogate restrictions for Syrians in access to finance. Small-scale home-based businesses for refugees should also be permitted.
To avoid failures in reaching the targets of the EU-Jordan Compact, Syrian refugees and Jordanian employers need to be included in revising the Compact. UNHCR could support the establishment of a representative refugee council, which should have an advisory role during the negotiations about the contents of the Compact in the mid-term review scheduled for 2020.... view less
Keywords
EU; policy on refugees; social integration; Jordan; employment; standard of living; labor; Syria; labor market; social security; EU policy; work permit; international agreement; migration; refugee
Classification
Special areas of Departmental Policy
European Politics
Free Keywords
soziale Sicherheit
Document language
English
Publication Year
2019
Edition
3/2019
City
Bonn
Page/Pages
7 p.
Series
BICC Policy Brief, 3/2019
ISSN
2521-7801
Status
Published Version; reviewed
Licence
Creative Commons - Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0