Work-Based Pathways to Refugee Protection under EU Law: Pie in the Sky?

This article focuses on the contested policy idea of utilising labour migration as a complementary pathway for refugees in the EU. Advocates view this as a “triple win” solution that empowers refugees, boosts economies, and supports post-conflict reconstruction. Yet, it re-mains unclear to what extent the EU labour migration acquis provides an adequate basis for such a novel approach. This paper provides a comprehensive assessment by combining an analysis of EU law with empirical data from interviews with international, EU and national stakeholders, such as public officials, employers and NGO s. It argues that such an approach requires amongst others, Member States’ readiness to make existing admission procedures more accessible for refugees, incentives for employers, and willingness of potential candidates for complementary pathways to accept initial limitations of some of the rights they would otherwise enjoy as refugees. The article concludes that despite the policy potential of work-based channels to create access to the EU for people in need of protection, at best a select group of highly-skilled refugees will be able to make use of the EU labour migration acquis in their ‘journey to a durable solution’.