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Many key sectors of Europe's economy rely on undocumented migrant workers. More often than not, workers' precarious or irregular status is leveraged by employers to reduce their labour costs, by imposing particularly poor working conditions, such as extremely long hours without rest periods, and withholding or stealing workers' wages.

But undocumented workers do have a range of rights at work that are enshrined in both international and EU legal frameworks. In the EU, several laws on fundamental rights, non-discrimination and equality, employment and health and safety, migration, anti-trafficking and victims' rights provide for specific protections that also apply to undocumented workers.

To begin with, labour rights are human rights, so included in the EU Charter on Fundamental Rights. There are several provisions which are crucial for workers' rights, in particular rights to freedom of assembly and association; information, collective bargaining and action; non-discrimination; effective remedy and fair trial; the protection against unjustified dismissal, and the right to fair and just working conditions. The latter is elaborated as working conditions which respect health, safety and dignity, and the rights to limitations of working hours, daily and weekly rest periods and a period of paid annual leave. These fundamental rights apply to all workers in the European Union, including when undocumented. For some aspects, specific EU directives go further in specifying minimum standards for these rights.

Read our guide

We divide the EU directives between those that definitely apply to undocumented workers and those that should apply to them.

1. Directives that definitely apply to undocumented workers

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Se även ILO-beslut som även rör papperslösa:

ILO 22-06-10: Major breakthrough on occupational health and safety (Extern länk)

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Arkiveringsdatum 220518:

Picum 22-05-05:

Irland/ The 2022 Irish regularisation programme: The long fight of undocumented people

This blog is based on information kindly provided by our member Migrant Rights Centre Ireland, one of the key civil society organisations advocating for the Irish regularisation programme.

At the end of January, the Irish government launched a new regularisation programme that is expected to secure residence status for thousands of undocumented people living in the country.

According to the programme, which will run for six months, residence permits may be granted to people having lived at least four years in Ireland without a residence permit, or at least three years if they have children up to 18 years old. People with pending residence applications and deportation orders can apply. Spouses, children over 18 and de facto partners can be included with the main applicant if they have two years undocumented residence and can prove the relationship. People who have been in the asylum process for at least two years have a separate track to apply.

Those who are granted a permit will have unlimited access to the labour market, without the need of a separate work permit.

This regularisation programme is a significant step forward in the recognition and protection of thousands (some estimates say between 15,000 and 17,000) of undocumented people in Ireland. Its adoption is seen as a historic win for undocumented people after eleven years of campaigning and will change thousands of people's lives for the better.

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Arkiveringsdatum 220413:

Picum 22-04-04:

Europa/ Turning 18 and undocumented: Ensuring a safe transition into adulthood

For thousands of migrant children and young people in Europe, turning 18 means transitioning into an uncertain future, with too few resources to navigate this phase of their life.

The safeguards that international and EU law guarantee to children, regardless of their residence status, no longer apply once they turn 18. Children lose, for example, preferential access to essential support and services like health care, specialised social workers, schooling and training, or a guardian.

This loss of child rights, called 'ageing out', is a fact for all children who turn 18. But for hundreds of thousands of children with a precarious residence status, ageing out not only means losing the fundamental rights they held as children, but also becoming undocumented on their 18th birthday. And, without a secure residence permit, undocumented young people, whether unaccompanied or in families, are prevented from doing most of the things that their peers do, like studying, working, or getting a driver's license. Often, they must leave wherever they were living, and risk becoming homeless.

Unaccompanied children also lose the little protection they had from deportation. Most (16 of 27) EU member states protect unaccompanied children from deportation, either by issuing a temporary residence permit until they turn 18 or by not implementing return orders while they are underage. But, unless the child has secured a residence permit that lasts into adulthood, these protections fall away when they turn 18.

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Arkiveringsdatum 220404:

Picum 22-03-30:

Europa/ What does safety mean for undocumented? Testimonies on safe reporting

Having no, or precarious, residence status often increases a person's risk of experiencing abuse or exploitation. At the same time, it means having fewer options to get support and protection. Through our members and partners, over the last months we got in touch and spoke with people who have experienced mistreatment while being undocumented. They told us what they went through, how they reacted, and what safety means to them. You can watch the first video here.

Everyone's experience is different. But all agree that protection and safety are not a reality for all yet. The people we spoke to know that law enforcement authorities are likely to report them to immigration enforcement if they come forward, because of how irregular stay is criminalised or regarded with suspicion. Institutional racism, in particular in the criminal justice system, is another factor that keeps many black and brown undocumented people away from law enforcement. Social support services may also be unavailable to people without residence permits.

Barriers to safety are many, but there are solutions. The people we talked to spoke about regularisation, specialised and inclusive support for those who are victims of domestic violence, and the possibility of filing complaints without facing deportation. Most of all, they spoke of equality.

At PICUM, we recognise that many things are needed to ensure everyone is safe and protected. When it comes to risks linked to immigration enforcement, "safe reporting" refers to a holistic set of measures that prioritise the safety and rights of all victims above the enforcement of immigration rules. You can find out more here.

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Refugee Support Aegean, Pro Asyl 22-03-31:

Grekland/ Beneficiaries of international protection in Greece

Access to documents and socio-economic rights

The updated report on the situation of beneficiaries of international protection in Greece, published today by RSA and Stiftung PRO ASYL, highlights chronic legal and practical barriers excluding them from the basic documents and socio-economic rights needed to rebuild their lives. Seven cases of refugees granted status by Greece and readmitted thereto by other European Union countries in the last two years illustrate the particular impact of these systemic obstacles on people returned to Greece.

This report provides an update on the situation of beneficiaries of international protection in Greece, including readmitted status holders from other European countries. As highlighted in previous reports, the Greek government maintains a policy expecting immediate autonomy and self-sufficiency of persons granted international protection. This policy, in conjunction with chronic legal and practical barriers to access to basic socio-economic rights may in many cases result in homelessness and extreme deprivation contrary to the prohibition on inhuman and degrading treatment under Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and Article 4 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.

2. In the past year, the Greek government has stressed the "structural imbalances between Member States as regards the prospects of integration and the level of benefits associated therewith, as well as the prospects of access to the labor market considering the persisting high unemployment rate in Greece". The government has particularly emphasised that "we have however, since 2010, to restrict our welfare state provisions" and that support programmes for beneficiaries of international protection "are at risk given substantial reduction to funding".

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Arkiveringsdatum 220316:

Refugee Support Aegean 22-03-04:

Grekland/ Recognised refugee returned, destitute, forgotten and undocumented

Farhad*, a 31-year-old recognised refugee, was returned from Germany to Greece at the beginning of July 2021 after spending more than five years in Germany waiting for his asylum claim to be processed. It was a time when German jurisprudence considered, as a general rule, that beneficiaries of international protection should not be returned back to Greece, as they would face inhuman and degrading treatment.

Farhad, the son of a family of twelve, fled Afghanistan together with his family to save his life. He had been employed with the Special Forces of Afghanistan and his life was under threat from the Taliban. Farhad had already been injured during an explosion and other attacks by the Taliban when he decided to flee his country. He still carries the signs of the attacks on his body and suffers from the mental trauma to date.

Farhad arrived on Chios in 2016 together with his parents, his handicapped sister and other siblings, and sought asylum. While their asylum application was pending, they were faced with squalid reception conditions and the lack of any social support and welfare, and therefore decided to flee Greece. After a long trip through different countries with many hardships, they managed to reach Germany and sought asylum in May 2016. While Farhad's parents, minor siblings and disabled sister received German residence permits (Abschiebungsverbot), Farhad and his other adult sister were not considered vulnerable and saw their asylum claims rejected by the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) as inadmissible in 2018. Farhad's rejection was based on the fact that he had been granted refugee status by Greece, a fact that he was not aware of as neither him nor anyone in his family had been informed of a decision granting them protection before leaving Greece.

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Arkiveringsdatum 211231:

Picum 21-12-09:

Europa/ Vaccinating Europe's undocumented: A policy scorecard

This blog post was authored by Francesca Pierigh, project coordinator of Vaccinating Europe's Undocumented: A Policy Scorecard, at Lighthouse Reports.

Since March 2021, investigative nonprofit newsroom Lighthouse Reports has been working with PICUM to assess European vaccination policies and strategies, in terms of how inclusive they are of undocumented people. We embarked on a joint data journalism project to try and answer one apparently simple question: are undocumented people included in the vaccination efforts of European governments?

The answer is anything but straightforward. Policies are for the most part vague and open to interpretation. This can be a purposeful means of avoiding a charged political debate while still providing for this population, or it can be an exclusionary tactic to deny undocumented people access to the vaccines.

We collected all publicly available documentation related to the vaccination programmes (strategies, implementation plans, policies, but also statements from public health and national authorities) and assessed it through a questionnaire developed collaboratively by PICUM and Lighthouse Reports.

All answers we gathered were then cleaned, checked and validated by the team at Lighthouse Reports, where a data scientist turned them into scores. The results are 18 national Scorecards, one for each country we analysed.

The Scorecard is divided into five sections, each one attempting to assess a different aspect of vaccination policies and access for the undocumented:

+ Policy Transparency evaluates government efforts to make national vaccine policies available to the public;

+ Access for the Undocumented assesses whether language is inclusive or exclusionary and whether some of the practical barriers have been addressed;

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Arkiveringsdatum 211018:

Human Rights Watch 21-10-08:

Frankrike/ Enforced misery - The degrading treatment of migrant children and adults

Five years after French authorities dismantled a sprawling migrant encampment on the edge of Calais, large numbers of migrants continue to arrive in northern France, many in the hope of crossing the Channel to reach the United Kingdom. Today, some 2,000 migrants-including hundreds of unaccompanied children-are living in wooded areas, in and around disused warehouses, and under bridges in and around Calais. Several hundred more are staying in a forest in Grande-Synthe, a commune adjacent to the northern French town of Dunkerque (Dunkirk).

Repeated mass evictions from encampments and other policing efforts to push migrant adults and children out of Calais and Grande-Synthe have not discouraged new arrivals and do not appear to have reduced irregular Channel crossings. But policing practices in these two towns, along with policies that restrict distributions of food, water, and other essentials by humanitarian groups, have made migrants' lives increasingly miserable. Policing operations in Calais and Grande-Synthe have left the adults and children living in encampments "constantly on alert" and "visibly in a state of physical and mental exhaustion," the French Defender of Rights observed after a September 2020 visit.

Police undertake routine eviction operations that require migrants to move off the land they occupy temporarily while police confiscate tents migrants have not managed to take with them-often cutting them open so that they are unusable-along with other belongings left behind. "We do this every other day," Abel N., an Eritrean man, told Human Rights Watch in October 2020 after we observed people moving their tents off a field in preparation for one such eviction. Usually the migrants have to leave their temporary settlement for no more than 20 minutes to half an hour, before returning to set up again. Most Calais encampments were subject to these routine eviction operations every 48 hours in 2020 and the first half of 2021. In Grande-Synthe, these evictions took place once or twice a week.

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Arkiveringsdatum 210808:

Picum July 2021:

Europa/ COVID-19 and undocumented migrants: what is happening in Europe?

COVID-19 has greatly impacted undocumented migrants in Europe. Scroll down this page to find out more about the impact of the pandemic on this population, and about access to the COVID-19 vaccines in Europe.

/KARTA/

This map looks at two critical factors affecting access to the COVID-19 vaccines in Europe for undocumented migrants: the absence of administrative barriers and protection from immigration control consequences of getting the vaccines.

As for administrative access, we consider in particular whether it is possible for undocumented migrants to register for or otherwise get their vaccination without the need to give proof of residence or identity or other documents that many undocumented people simply cannot provide (for instance, a social security number).

As for protection from immigration control, we consider whether there are clear safeguards ("firewalls") against exposure to immigration control, through data protection and freedom from checks or arrest at vaccination centres.

This map focuses on delivery of the COVID-19 vaccines and doesn't provide information about the accessibility of other health care more generally in a country, which in most parts of the EU remains very restricted for undocumented people. This map is a living document, which we're updating as national policies and practices evolve, and as more information becomes available.

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Picum 21-07-29: Covid -19 vaccines for undocumented migrants. Achieving equitable access (Extern länk)

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Arkiveringsdatum 210701:

Picum 21-06-24:

Europa/ Employers' sanctions: Will the EU take steps to protect migrant workers?

EU countries should do better to protect undocumented migrant workers' rights under existing EU rules. This is what the EU Fundamental Rights Agency found in their latest report. The research finds major gaps in the implementation of the Employers Sanctions' Directive when it comes to enabling exploited workers to get justice, nearly ten years since it came into force on 20 July 2011. It highlights the need to improve complaints systems, access to compensation and residence permits, and ensure labour inspectorates focus on protecting workers and not immigration law. This research echoes the experiences of our members.

This issue is not new. The European Commission's (EC) own website summarises two main findings from its first evaluation report of the Employers' Sanctions Directive from 2014[1]: there are differences in the severity of the punishment in different EU countries, and there is room for improvement in all areas offering protection to irregular migrants.[2]

Nonetheless, the EU has done little to encourage such improvements so far, and rather has pursued policies focused on stepping up detention and deportation that run at odds with fundamental rights. Only one evaluation report of the Employers' Sanctions Directive was published in 2014, and the European Commission has since remained silent regarding undocumented workers' labour rights.

Later this year, an evaluation report from the European Commission is finally expected, together with a political direction regarding the future of the policy.

While organisations representing workers have, and continue to, express concerns around the Directive, PICUM recognises and regularly uses its provisions that explicitly reaffirm undocumented workers' labour rights.

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Arkiveringsdatum 210226:

PICUM 21-02-11:

Europa/ The covid-19 vaccination campaigns and undocumented migrants

International and EU bodies have recommended addressing marginalised communities, including migrants in situations of vulnerability, in national vaccination strategies. In Europe, however, national approaches vary a lot.

For undocumented people, who are excluded from the health systems of most European countries, the pandemic and the lockdown measures have exacerbated pre-existing conditions of social exclusion and destitution. Several European countries, regions and cities adopted measures to support this population during the pandemic, including through targeted regularisation programmes. But what is being done with regards to the vaccination campaign, one of the most important tools we have to protect people against COVID-19?

We have been monitoring the news and exchanging with our members and followers, and we have compiled a map that shows which countries are explicitly including undocumented migrants in their vaccination strategies, and which ones are explicitly excluding them. Regardless of whether the strategies mention undocumented migrants or not, it's crucial to note that practical barriers to the vaccines exist in virtually all countries.

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Arkiveringsdatum 200426:

IOM 20-04-21:

Ryssland/ Presidential decree 'of immense help' to vulnerable migrants

The Russian Federation is home to an estimated 12 million migrants, most of whom arrive from neighbouring, former Soviet states. All told, they generate an estimated USD 13 billion annually in remittances, which make a major contribution to the economies of the wider region.

The COVID-19 pandemic has left millions of these international labour migrants stranded, or else facing uncertain futures. Many toil in low-skilled, unregulated areas and are unable to return to their home countries. Many also fear not being readmitted to the Russian Federation if they leave, or worry that once their work permits lapse, they will lose residency status.

They have less to fear today. Over the weekend a Presidential Decree was issued to regulate the legal status of foreign nationals for an interim period of three months.

The move was warmly welcomed by IOM, with Abdusattor Esoev, Chief of Mission in the Russian Federation saying, "This announcement is crucial and will be an immense practical help to thousands of migrants who have lost their jobs and who are now stranded all over this vast country."

The decree means that migrants will not have to pay fees for permits, allowing them to find jobs more quickly and to retain their legal status.

While the announcement helps many people in the country, IOM notes that migrants still face enormous challenges amid the worsening epidemiological situation in the country.

The number of cases has topped 50,000 and is increasing by almost 15 per cent each day. The worst hit areas are Moscow (city and region), which combined host almost 70 per cent of Russia's cases. These are also two areas where the number of migrants is the highest compared to the rest of the country.

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Arkiveringsdatum 200125:

Mayor of London januari 2020:

Storbritannien/ London's children and young people who are not British citizens

Undocumented Londoners, many of whom are entitled to British Citizenship, are struggling to access their rights in the country they call home. Without legal status, they face restrictions in accessing higher education, employment, healthcare and housing - despite being born in the UK or having spent most of their lives here. They are unable to register to vote and face barriers to participating in daily life.

Following changes in Government policies and cuts since 2010, more individuals have risked becoming undocumented with fewer prospects to secure their status. Londoners who try to secure their status in the UK face a long, complex and expensive process. Some of the young people affected are the family members of the Windrush generation, who were failed by the Government and are still struggling to secure their status in the UK.

Many more are now at risk of becoming undocumented as a result of Brexit. European Londoners who live and work in the capital could face losing their rights overnight if they are unable to access the EU Settlement Scheme. If just five percent of people required to apply fail to secure their status, it would equate to 50,000 more Londoners without proper documentation and subject to the Government's discriminatory hostile environment.

The Mayor of London is committed to supporting Londoners to access their rights to residency and citizenship. To do this effectively, it is necessary to know the current number of undocumented Londoners struggling without immigration status. This summary report aims to provide robust, evidence-based estimates of the size of the undocumented population in London and the UK.

For Londoners who are struggling without their status, the Mayor is calling on the Government to:

1. reinstate legal aid for children's immigration cases;

2. reduce the extortionate profit-making element of immigration fees; and

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Arkiveringsdatum 191129:

Picum 19-11-27:

Europa/ Formerly undocumented women address parliament for children's rights

On the 30th anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, five young women, once undocumented, participated in the high-level celebration at the European Parliament on November 20.

Akhrat Selevani, one of the young women, addressed the Parliament and international delegates to share her experience of growing up undocumented in the Netherlands. Akhrat had come to the Netherlands from Iraq in 2005 as a six-year-old but was granted residence papers only in 2014.

During her speech, Akhrat talked about the challenges undocumented children and teenagers face to access decent housing - remembering how she had to move five times in her first year in te Netherlands. She also addressed the fact that undocumented young people cannot access education once they turn 18, as well as their inability to co-decide on matters that affect them the most.

At PICUM we believe it is crucial for policy-makers to listen to young undocumented people directly if we are to have policies that take their best interests into account. We were delighted to host these five young women, all of them Youth Ambassadors for Defence for Children The Netherlands, and set up meetings for them to discuss their perspectives on living undocumented and migration policies with officials from the European Parliament and the European Commission, as well as a joint meeting with Mrs Velina Todorova, vice-chair of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child.

On the 30th anniversary of the Convention, we joined other international civil society organisations and UN agencies in calling EU leaders to effectively implement the rights of the child, regardless of their residence status.

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Arkiveringsdatum 190703:

Comparative Migration Studies 19-06-27:

Malta/ Lost in limbo? Navigating practices of appropriation of non-deportable refugees

Sarah Nimführ Buba Sesay

Malta, an island-state, limits the mobility of non-deportable, rejected asylum seekers who want to leave due to the lived consequences of disintegration. Stripped of any legal entitlements non-deportable refugees only have restricted access to the job market, basic services, and health care. They have no formal legal status whilst their presence and stay are known by the immigration authorities. However, although non-deportability restricts refugees' mobility, they find ways to navigate the system governing their physical and social immobilities.

Based on (auto-)ethnographic fieldwork conducted in Malta and Italy, non-deportable, rejected asylum seekers' lived experiences of first reception in Malta and migrating to Italy are illuminated. While enacting their denied right of mobility, new challenges reveal themselves, resulting in a life in limbo that continues even after they leave Malta. Through the conceptual lens of the 'perspective of migration' we consider the making and unmaking of refugees' (im)mobilities. In doing so, we pursue a three-stage approach. First, we shed light on produced immobilities while in Malta. Second, we explore refugees' practices of appropriation of mobility and third, we turn to new possibilities and challenges they face after a secondary movement to Italy. From a micro-analytical perspective, we examine how non-deportable refugees navigate the system governing their social and physical (im)mobilities. Practices of resistance and conciliation are illustrated.

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Källor: Informationen på denna sida är hämtad från följande källor (externa länkar): EU (kommissionen, ministerrådet, parlamentet och domstolen), Europarådet (mr-kommissionären, domstolen, kommittén mot tortyr), FN:s flyktingkommissariat UNHCR, FN:s kommitté mot tortyr m.fl. FN-organ, Sveriges Radio, SvT, andra svenska media via Nyhetsfilter och pressmeddelanden via Newsdesk, utländska media till exempel via Are You Syrious och Rights in Exile, internationella organisationer som Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, ECRE, Statewatch och Picum, organisationer i Sverige som Rädda Barnen, Asylrättscentrum, Svenska Amnesty, FARR och #vistårinteut samt myndigheter och politiska organ som Migrationsverket, Sveriges domstolar, JO, Justitiedepartementet m.fl. departement och Sveriges Riksdag.

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