For refugees fleeing war and persecution, bureaucracy can be what finally puts paid to the chance of a decent job.

According to a study just published in the journal Science Advances, employment prospects dwindle for every month that an asylum seeker waits to enter the labor force.

Based on data on some 17,000 refugees seeking asylum in Switzerland from countries including Serbia, Somalia and Iraq in the period 1994 to 2004, the employment rate one year after approval – a process that took an average of 22 months – was just 21 percent. Make the waiting period a year longer and that rate drops by about 5 percentage points.

Image: Scene from the Kara Tepe refugee camp during the Secretary-General’s visit. 18 June 2016. Lesbos, Greece. UN Photo/Rick Bajornas.