The right to work under international law

22/05/23

The Global Strategic Litigation Council for Refugee Rights (“GSLC”) and La Corporación Opción Legal (together, “Interveners”) have filed a legal intervention (amicus curiae) in the Constitutional Court of Colombia on the right to work and due process under international law.

The appeal is a test case brought on behalf of 39 Venezuelan asylum-seekers who claim that they have a right to work while their asylum applications are being processed. The case arises in the context of the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Venezuela, and growing concerns that asylum-seekers are disappearing into exploitative working conditions in the informal economy.  

In Colombia, those seeking recognition of refugee status may be granted a temporary permit called a “salvoconducto SC-2”. This allows them to stay legally in the country pending the outcome of their asylum applications, and carries certain other, limited rights. The executive government issued guidance in 2019 stating that this did not include the right to work; instead, asylum-seekers have to apply for a separate work permit, the administration of which has received wide-spread criticism for unreasonable delays in processing applications and unreasoned rejection decisions.

The 39 claimants in this case are Venezuelan citizens who hold the SC-2 permit.  Some of their applications have been pending for five years. Many have additional vulnerabilities which has resulted in discrimination and hate crimes.

The Claimants make two complaints concerning (i) Colombia’s lengthy delays in processing their asylum claims, and (ii) the policy and practice regarding the right to work under the permit scheme. In respect of both complaints, the Claimants allege that Colombia has violated their rights under international law.

In that regard, the GSLC has been called upon to intervene in the case, given its expertise in the protection of asylum-seekers and refugees. GSLC has assisted the Court by outlining the relevant obligations under international law which are binding on Colombia.

First, the Interveners highlight the Claimants’ rights to work under international law, and in particular rights arising under the Refugee Convention and associated international human rights treaties - the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the  Inter-American Convention on Human Rights, and the San Salvador Protocol. Secondly, the Interveners outline the right to due process under the Inter-American Convention on Human Rights, which prohibits unreasonable delays in the processing of asylum applications.