Untold struggles: unveiling employment challenges faced by asylum seekers in Türkiye

Abstract

In the 21st century, conflicts all over the world still cause people to leave their homes and/or countries and seek refuge in other countries. Due to Türkiye’s geographical location and history as a former empire, it has faced numerous requests for asylum since its founding. This research was conducted using the principles of the phenomenological approach and by interviewing 15 asylum seekers (6 of Afghanistan and 9 of Iraqi nationality) and 17 non-governmental organization (NGO) professionals working with asylum seekers in Ankara in order to delve into the challenges asylum seekers face in accessing employment and the problems in employment. Data was analysed using thematic analysis. The findings of this study are categorized into three themes: (1) Challenges faced by asylum seekers in the labour market; (2) Problems in assessing employment from a professional perspective; and (3) Common misconceptions and priority issues in the employment of asylum seekers. A total of 16 sub-themes were included under these themes. It has been determined that asylum seekers in Türkiye are forced to work in unregistered and temporary jobs, under severe conditions such as long working hours, with a salary lower than the minimum wage. It is also concluded that asylum seekers are inadequate in terms of language skills and lack of professional skills that facilitate access to the labour market; some asylum seekers cannot receive their wages from employers and they do not know any legal mechanisms that they can apply and claim their rights in such cases.