Development actors are well suited to play a meaningful role in scaling up complementary labour pathways for refugees, yet their current contribution falls far below its potential. Exploring how development actors can engage to support refugee labour mobility is a worthwhile endeavour that can help increase the size, scope, and sustainability of these pathways.
Against a backdrop of rising displacement, fewer resettlement places, and frequent obstacles to refugee mobility, complementary pathways are a promising tool for providing more durable solutions for individuals in need of protection. With labour shortages widespread across Europe, complementary pathways for work deserve particular attention as a strategy that can bring tangible benefits for refugees, receiving employers and economies, and countries of first asylum. Facilitating refugee mobility on the basis of knowledge and skillsets, these pathways are meant to come alongside, and in addition to, refugee resettlement.
Such schemes can benefit countries of first asylum in various ways – increasing self-sufficiency of refugees, reducing pressure on labour markets, and spurring remittances. These aims also align with multiple Sustainable Development Goals, including ending poverty, promoting decent work, reducing inequality, and promoting peaceful and inclusive societies – as well as with the overarching principle to Leave No One Behind.
While Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom have paved the way, several pilot initiatives have been launched in EU Member States since 2021. In one of the newest pilots, the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), is working with the NGO Talent Beyond Boundaries to facilitate access to pathways for skilled refugees for the German labour market.
Sustainability and scale are needed to realise the full potential of complementary labour pathways. In this endeavour, development actors can play an important role by investing in infrastructure and services and bringing different stakeholders together. Their involvement can help bridge the frequent disconnect between skills initiatives for refugees and those targeting nationals of the given country.
Despite the skills and resources of refugees, and this new pilot project, the participation and role of development agencies remain underdiscussed – pointing to a significant potential opportunity.
Why should development actors engage in refugee labour mobility?
Conflicts, and the displacement that results, are often long lasting. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimated that, as of the end of 2024, 2 out of 3 refugees and others in need of international protection were living in protracted situations – ranging from periods of five years to several decades. Given this dynamic, the humanitarian, development, and peace nexus has gained traction as a strategy for strengthening collective responses, and development actors have become increasingly involved in responding to situations of long-term displacement.
Legal and practical barriers to accessing the labour market in the country of first asylum remain a persistent challenge for refugees. In an effort to address this, development actors are providing support to governments to ease labour market restrictions, for instance, providing support for Ethiopia in its pledge to boost refugee employment opportunities and for Kenyan plans to transition refugee camps to integrated settlements and promote socioeconomic inclusion. Development actors can also influence barriers to labour market access such as language skills and discrimination directly and indirectly through activities that facilitate language learning and promote social cohesion. In addition to pursuing local livelihood opportunities, opportunities in third countries enable refugees to leverage their skills to build a prosperous future, and development cooperation can help facilitate these opportunities.
Development actors have also become increasingly active in the field of labour migration through global skills partnerships, skills mobility partnerships, and Talent Partnerships, which combine skills development with mobility for (some or all) participants. Such partnerships are often cited as a way of addressing skills shortages in a collaborative and development-sensitive manner, but do not currently target refugees.
The development sector has amassed considerable experience delivering livelihood programmes for displaced persons and host communities, and it is increasingly attempting to link experiences in this field with approaches to labour migration. Indeed, there is considerable potential for these two fields to be combined: Development actors can help set the stage for refugee labour mobility.
What role can development actors play in complementary labour pathways?
To flourish, complementary pathways require anchor points in the country of first asylum and the country of destination. Development actors, particularly those holding close ties with both countries, could fulfil this (frequently unfilled) role and support a seamless corridor for refugee labour mobility. They are also particularly well suited to help build an enabling environment in countries of first asylum.
Development stakeholders can help build infrastructure and provide other support to:
- Raise awareness about opportunities among refugee communities.
- Provide advice to refugees on legal migration opportunities in third countries.
- Enhance vocational and linguistic skills to help more refugees get a job abroad.
- Make skills visible via available platforms, enabling employers to find and recruit displaced talent.
- Support capacity development to improve registration and coordinate with humanitarian actors regarding travel and credential-related documentation.
- Ensure the participation of refugees in the design of such initiatives.
- Promote dialogue among all relevant stakeholders (including labour market actors, humanitarian agencies, and refugee-led organisations) to overcome prevalent silos.
These efforts would make complementary labour pathways, which typically rely on existing migration channels and their requisite requirements (ideally with some flexibility), accessible to a wider group of displaced persons. Development actors cannot create new legal migration pathways, but they can support refugees in accessing existing pathways.
Foreseeing the challenges to scaling refugee labour mobility
However, challenges to such an approach remain – in general, and among development actors in particular.
Firstly, clear development benefits for countries of first asylum – the direct partners of development actors – are essential for the eligibility of such measures for Official Development Assistance (ODA). From this point of view, as well as from a social cohesion perspective, it is essential that both refugees and the local population of the respective country can benefit from labour mobility schemes to third countries. For ODA eligibility, the (measurable) development benefit in the country of first asylum must be the primary focus of these activities. This means that initiatives relying on development funding need to plan their design accordingly or secure multiple funding sources. Secondly, governments of countries of first asylum might, for political reasons, prioritise providing labour mobility opportunities for citizens over those for refugees. Thirdly, refugees and employers require legal clarity in case a work contract is terminated by either side. In the context of international protection, individuals would not be able to (be) return(ed) to their country of origin and it might not be clear if the country of first asylum would readmit them.
Moreover, all of the typical challenges related to labour mobility also exist in the realm of refugee labour mobility, such as finding an employer willing to hire from abroad and challenges in securing housing and other aspects of settling in. Given displacement and possible trauma among hires, the need for psychosocial support may also arise.
Where can development actors start?
There is no need to start from scratch: Current approaches can be adapted to reach refugee talent and enable international labour mobility.
Skills mobility partnerships can provide an avenue for refugees to receive job-related training that can lead to international employment opportunities. Here, NGO-led and employer-driven ‘hire-train-move’ approaches focusing specifically on refugees can provide inspiration. Alternatively, recruitment quotas for refugees and host community members could be established, spurring buy-in and supporting social cohesion.
Training is already included in refugee livelihood support from many development actors. However, unlike skills mobility partnerships, it is not typically paired with mobility opportunities. By offering bridging training and job matching support, taking into account international credential recognition requirements, and partnering with actors in the refugee labour mobility space, development actors can help refugees engage in complementary labour pathways. Mimicking the logic underpinning skills mobility partnerships, development actors could opt for a two-track approach that provides training that is relevant for both the local and international labour market.
International higher education partnerships, with co-designed curricula, are another way to unlock labour mobility opportunities that do not typically target refugees. These partnerships can provide graduates with mutually recognised credentials, making it easier to take up work locally or in another country (especially if combined with job matching and visa support).
Refugee higher education programmes, such as the UNHCR DAFI Tertiary Scholarship Programme and complementary education pathways for university study, could be more closely connected with international employment opportunities. This would be easiest for graduates in high-demand fields. In this regard, a recently launched pilot in Australia, the Refugee Student Settlement Pathway, focuses on sectors with current and projected demand and is an initiative to watch. The programme will bring a cohort of undergraduate, postgraduate, and vocational students to Australia on permanent humanitarian visas for study and subsequent career building.
Moving forward on complementary labour pathways
If complementary pathways are to work, a wide constellation of partners must be on board, and development actors could be the game changers – increasing the size, reach, and sustainability of pathways to create more durable solutions for a far greater number of refugees. The humanitarian, development, and peace nexus has highlighted challenges in speaking the same language as different fields came together. Similarly, refugee labour mobility stands at the intersection of multiple policy areas, meaning that its scaling will require open and responsive coordination among the various stakeholders, who have different perspectives and funding parameters.
It is critical to break silos and pursue solutions together. This is even more relevant today, given the funding cuts both humanitarian and development actors are encountering. These funding challenges make creative, private sector-driven, and sustainable solutions ever more relevant.
This commentary is part of ongoing cooperation between ICMPD and GIZ. It was produced in the context of the “Complementary Labour Pathways for Refugees: What role for development cooperation?” workshop co-hosted in 2024.
Caitlin Katsiaficas is Policy Analyst at the ICMPD Policy Unit, where her recent research focuses on talent attraction, complementary pathways, and integration.
Stephanie Deubler is Senior Planning Officer for Migration and Displacement at the GIZ Sectoral Department, where her current work focuses on the intersection of social and economic development and employment as well as migration and displacement.
The views expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) alone and do not necessarily represent the views of ICMPD or GIZ, ICMPD Member States, or ICMPD partners.