ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the rights of asylum seekers to work in the EU and the Netherlands. The chapter maps EU and Dutch regulation on labour market access for asylum seekers as it stands and – with regard to the Dutch regulation – what arguments were put forward in its making. Building on the report ‘Van azc naar een baan’, De Lange argues that the removal of practical impediments to formal employment will limit the attractiveness of the informal labour market, likely to provide less decent work. The chapter concludes that the limited right to work and the obligations of asylum seekers to contribute financially to their reception once income is acquired does not help prepare them for their eventual financial independence.
