By Cristina Fossanetti
Since January 2024, the regulations regarding refugees’ access to the labour market in Cyprus slightly changed. The biggest change is that asylum seekers can start working only nine months after registering with the Asylum Office. Due to this decision, some beneficiaries from the shelter (over 16) who were working regularly before, were obliged to leave their job and wait. Moreover, hiring asylum seekers becomes more and more complicated due to the bureaucratic procedures an employer has to follow. Data show more reluctance to employ asylum seekers now because the employer does not trust the migrant to stay in Cyprus after nine months.
This is highly problematic when we consider there are minors from the shelter who do not have the “advantage” of having family members in Cyprus or anywhere else in Europe or who want to send money to their families in need. From what I observed in these 10 months here, most of the minors are anxious about their future; meaning what happens from the day they are 18 and need to leave the shelter. The organisation, of course, provides all the necessary information and support to find an affordable home, access the labour market and access all the useful services provided by the State, such as health care, government benefits for refugees, etc. However, they need to start working from before in order to have money saved to pay rent, groceries, transportation, etc. And since the salary of the jobs permitted for asylum seekers is really low, most beneficiaries leave school and start looking for a job as soon as they are 16.
According to law, asylum seekers in Cyprus are allowed a limited choice when it comes to labour sectors: agriculture, fishery, processing, waste management, trade repairs, service provisions, and restaurants are basically the only categories allowed. These are usually the jobs with lower salaries because they do not require any particular competencies and skills and with the worst working conditions. Once again, this is another reason for the minors of the shelter to decide to pull out of school; they feel that the effort put into going to school does not allow them to pursue an appealing career and the limited options they have do not allow them to have ambitions and dreams for their future.
Some time ago, I attended an event held by the organisation Generation for Change where refugees were sharing opinions and stories on their living conditions in Cyprus, and they ended up reflecting on this nine-month gap. Of course, they are all concerned about this new provision as they are wondering what they are supposed to do in these nine months and admitted they had to rely on working under the table or staying in the streets. Also, some of them would like to propose to policymakers to introduce training and free education courses and tools for the new asylum seekers finding themselves in this limbo.