Youth and Migration

Employment and undocumented youth

Employment remains the key pillar of social inclusion for young people in countries of origin as well as destination. Labour-market participation enables young people to fully integrate into society and usually implies access to health, social security coverage, and social networking. Youth are a key asset for society and giving them opportunities to become well-integrated into the labour market contributes not only to their own well-being, but also to the productive potential of the economy, and to social cohesion more generally.

For undocumented youth, lack of access to the labour market and opportunities to pursue careers can be hugely demoralizing and exclusionary. Qualitative interviews among young undocumented people describe their feelings of alienation, shame, rejection, and frustration at having skills they are unable to use. The point of completing education and making plans regarding careers is questioned when young people find themselves restricted to working in low-wage sectors of the labour market, alongside their parents.

Further, although undocumented youth are not entitled to access the labour market in most countries, the majority have to work to support themselves and their families and lead productive lives. Therefore, lack of protection of labour rights for all workers, regardless of residence status, is also a key issue. In countries of destination, young migrant workers are entitled to safe and fair working conditions and full respect for their labour rights according national and international standards as set forth by the United Nations as well as International Labour Organisation instruments. These standards establish that young migrant workers should be primarily treated as workers rather than migrants, regardless of their migration status. While migration legislation and regulations still apply and nationals or regularly-residing foreigners may have privileged access to the labour market, once a person is working, there are a set of human rights and basic labour rights which must be respected. This includes, for example, rights with respect to fair working conditions, unjustified dismissal, and freedom of association, as well as access to justice for violations of these rights. However, this is not the case in practice in many destination countries, where undocumented workers are often unable to enforce their labour rights. Especially vulnerable are young undocumented migrants, who often find themselves working in low-wage and informal sectors of labour markets, where their rights are inadequately defined. They are often exposed to restrictive legal frameworks with no access to formal social protection and very limited coverage by labour laws regulations. Along with an absence of formal channels for migration and regularisation, these conditions impact on several of their human rights, including the right to an adequate standard of living and the right to development, and can have significant short- and long-term impacts on their health and well-being.