As the Syrian refugee crisis enters its fifth year, Jordan has accepted more than 650,000 refugees. With its national resources stretched, Jordan continues to struggle with the large number of refugees seeking to take part in the labour force, while the lowest-paid Jordanian workers find themselves replaced by desperate Syrians willing to undercut them. As more time passes, the Syrian refugees’ need for gainful employment intensifies. Yet this is not an easy call for the Jordanian authorities. This paper intends to address the contentious and multifaceted issue of access to work for Syrian refugees in Jordan.
In this discussion paper, the International Labour Organization, funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, seeks to develop a qualitative understanding of the legal and policy framework applicable to Syrian refugees seeking work, complimentary to the recent quantitative studies of the impact of Syrian refugees on the Jordanian labour market.
