The Right to Wage-Earning Employment Under the 2019 Refugee Proclamation of Ethiopia
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Date
2020-12
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Addis Ababa University,
Abstract
The 2019 Refugee Proclamation, which is one of the very progressive refugee laws in the
world, is aimed at ensuring the right to gainful employment without undue constraints.
Unlike the 2004 refugee proclamation, the 2019 Proclamation eases the restriction in order
to align Ethiopian laws with that of the 1951 Refugee Convention. One of the challenges to
make the right to wage-earning employment practical is lack of implementation tools like
regulation and directive. Moreover, incompatibility of labor law also influences the
implementation of the new refugee legislation. The implementation of Refugees right to
wage-earning employment decided based on reference to and interpretation of other
relevant laws like the labor law, Civil Servants Proclamation and Foreigners of Ethiopian
Origin (FoEO) laws. Article 26(1) of the refugee proclamation sets the standard of
treatment for refugees and it extends most favored treatment that accorded to foreign
nationals in Ethiopia. The most favored foreign nationals in Ethiopia are FoEO. Ergo, the
right to wage-earning employment accorded to FoEO be extended to Recognized refugees
and asylum seekers on certain requirements and the subsequent procedural laws shall state
those entitlements and requirements clearly. In this respect, the implementation of the 2019
refugee law needs harmonization with other relevant laws governing refugee rights. This
thesis demonstrates how important it is to implement the right to wage-earning employment
of refugees by harmonizing other existing laws. Thus, the aim of this study is to further
identify and clarify the gaps and recommend solutions to implement the right to wage earning employment of refugees without unreasonable restrictions.