From Legal Right to Real Opportunity: Why the Right to Work Depends on a Document
How documentation gaps turn formal employment rights into practical barriers to refugee self-reliance
By Zoë Parkin
Network Engagement Intern | Refugee Self-Reliance Initiative
This blog post is a follow-up to the RSRI’s webinar on Domain 7 (Employment) of the Self-Reliance Index (SRI) and focuses on the role of documentation in refugee employment. It examines a recurring gap between policy and practice: refugees may have a formal right to work, but the documents and administrative systems needed to exercise that right remain inaccessible.
Employment is central to self-reliance
For refugees, employment is not simply about earning an income or meeting basic needs, but also about regaining dignity. Access to livelihood opportunities can improve safety, reduce vulnerability, and provide a critical pathway to independence. Access to decent work is therefore central to self-reliance.
Forced displacement often disrupts livelihoods and leaves refugees reliant on humanitarian assistance to meet their basic needs. Employment can help restore a measure of economic independence by providing income for food, housing, and daily life, particularly as humanitarian resources become increasingly constrained. The right to work is also grounded in international law: Article 23 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights establishes the right to work and to just and favorable conditions of work, while Article 6 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights gives this right binding expression for States Parties.
While legal permission to work is an important first step, it does not necessarily translate into meaningful access to employment. Whether refugees can actually enter and participate in the labor market often depends on the documents they hold and whether those documents are recognized by the systems and actors they encounter.
Documentation is part of the employment infrastructure
In host countries, a lack of documentation limits an individual’s ability to protect their rights and access services or benefits. Yet many displaced people arrive without passports, civil registration records, educational certificates, or professional credentials, as documents may have been lost, left behind, or destroyed. Requiring people to obtain replacement documents from their country of origin may be impossible or unsafe.
These gaps follow people into the labor market. Importantly, documents are often required to determine eligibility for legal rights to work, occupational or business licenses, work permits, or labor protections. Even when refugee documentation is legally sufficient, officials and employers may not recognize it. Inconsistent or opaque eligibility rules can turn an administrative step into a substantive barrier. A right to work that depends on inaccessible documentation is not a right that can be exercised equally.
The gap between law and practice
In July, the world marked the 75th anniversary of the 1951 Refugee Convention, the foundation of the international refugee protection system and one of the most consequential international legal instruments ever adopted. While the Convention has been a lifeline for people fleeing conflicts and persecution, it does not create a uniform guarantee of access to the national labor market. Instead, Articles 17-19 establish different standards for employment, while permitting some restrictions. Domestic law therefore remains decisive.
The 2022 Global Refugee Work Rights Report found that 55% of refugees live in countries where their right to work is significantly restricted in practice by administrative barriers, due to anything from the inability to obtain work or business permits to restrictions on leaving refugee camps. Thirty-one of the 51 countries surveyed by the CGD impose significant de jure limitations on refugees’ free movement, which can prevent refugees from reaching jobs even where employment is formally permitted.
Recent developments in Egypt show how documentation can determine whether legal reforms can change everyday life. Egypt’s new Asylum Law No. 164 of 2024 created the country’s first national asylum framework. Its executive regulations were published in May 2026 and are scheduled to come into force this month. Yet the transition to a national registration system remains uncertain, and the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights has warned that gaps between expiring UNHCR documents and new national documents could leave refugees without recognized proof of status. Earlier research on Sudanese refugees found that they were unable to obtain work permits without producing a passport and visa, as well as passing an opaque security screening. In theory, the Egyptian government grants Sudanese refugees an array of rights, including the right to work. However, in practice, no refugee has met the requirements to obtain a work permit. This forces displaced people into informal labor markets where they are more likely to experience exploitation or abuse.
East, South, and Southeast Asia have some of the most restrictive de jure work rights for refugees and displaced people, with Iran the only country in the region granting refugees a formal right to work. Bangladesh, for example, illustrates how the absence of legal status can create an even more fundamental barrier to employment than the administrative hurdles described in Egypt. More than one million Rohingya refugees live in Bangladesh, but the country is not party to the 1951 Refugee Convention and does not generally recognize Rohingya refugees as having a formal legal status or provide a pathway into the formal labor market. Restrictions on movement and work confine people to camps and deepen dependence on humanitarian assistance.
Refugee women in Uganda make and sell clothes in local markets. This income-generating activity helps support their families and pay their children's school fees.
Photo: Jonathan Torgovnik/Getty Images/Images of Empowerment
Uganda’s recent approach to promoting self-reliance through integrated settlements and access to land could offer a promising model for refugee employment and livelihoods. As Uganda gradually moves away from large refugee settlements, providing refugees with land or livestock can support livelihoods while enabling greater freedom of movement and economic participation. Refugees also have the legal right to seek jobs and start businesses. Importantly, however, the dispersal of refugees must be accompanied by investment and preparedness in host communities. Uganda has incorporated refugees into its National Development Plan, enhancing service delivery and capacity in host communities. But a 2026 assessment by Refugees International found that some new arrivals at the border were being asked to present valid identity documents from their countries of origin–conditions many people fleeing conflict cannot satisfy. Uganda’s experience is therefore both instructive and cautionary: progressive policies can create a foundation for self-reliance, but documentation requirements and inconsistent implementation can still prevent those opportunities from reaching workers.
How can documentation enable access to employment?
Documentation reform should begin with the realities of forced displacement. Governments must provide timely and accessible registration for refugees; accept flexible forms of verification where passports or civil registration are unavailable; and ensure that refugee documentation provides clear, recognized proof of identity and status. Separate work permits can also create an unnecessary administrative barrier when authorization to work could instead be included directly on a refugee or asylum document.
Implementation matters as much as legal design. Registration and renewal of refugee documents should be decentralized and include secure digital options. Government agencies and private sector actors must be trained to recognize and accept refugee documentation. Complaint and appeal mechanisms should be made available when documents are rejected.
Donors can support this work by funding legal assistance and refugee-led and community-based organizations that help people navigate administrative systems. Refugees should be involved in the design and evaluation of these reforms as they are best placed to explain where the process breaks down.
In a 2021 consultation conducted by the RSRI with the Global Refugee Youth Network (GRYN) and the Refugee-Led Research Hub (RLRH), 94% of respondents identified documentation as their top policy priority. That finding reflects how deeply documentation shapes self-reliance: it can determine not only access to employment, but also freedom of movement, education, housing, financial inclusion, healthcare, and access to assistance. Closing gaps in documentation is therefore an important part of creating the conditions for self-reliance.
A legal right to work is only meaningful if refugees can actually exercise it. Ensuring that refugees can obtain, renew, and use recognized documentation is essential to turning formal employment rights into real opportunities and creating meaningful pathways to self-reliance.
This blog post was published as part of the RSRI’s “12 Months, 12 Domains” campaign, a new learning and webinar series that takes a deeper look at the Self-Reliance Index (SRI), one domain at a time. Sign up for the RSRI newsletter to learn more →
