The Impacts of Syrian Refugees on Host European Countries' Economies (original) (raw)
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Wars, revolutions, and natural disasters will inevitably lead to the emergence of refugees and IDPs. During critical situations, their numbers are fluctuating from the millions to tens of millions of people (as it happened during years of the First and Second World Wars). Nowadays, globalization has allowed a large number of refugees, and IDPs to move over long distances with the use of modern means of transports. Among other things, it had just transferred problems of third world countries to the developed countries, where the legal standards do not allow adequate ways of dealing with them. Current UN statistics, are significantly underestimated, according to competent experts, determines the number of refugees and IDPs is about 22 million. And this number is growing, and in the long-term trend, it is clearly negative. The unsafe situation in Mediterranean and Middle Eastern states forces local people to migrate to better places of living. The majority of these refugees are Syrian asylum seekers who escaped from the Civil war in Syria. Syrian refugees mostly choose to migrate to states like Turkey, Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan, Germany, etc. However, such refugee flow doesn’t have the same impact in the host countries equally, it differs depending on development, demographic situation, and a list of other factors of the state. Therefore, the chosen case of differentials of refugee flow impacts in German, and Turkish socio-cultural values, and labor markets is very interesting. Germany has hosted 484,000 asylum seekers, whereas as a frontline state in Turkey this number is fluctuating around 2,620,553. Although, the refugee flows have different impacts on these countries.
2016
This comment will discuss the current status of the Syrian refugee crisis as well as the economic and humanitarian issues the European Union is facing to assist these refugees in their escape. This comment will also discuss the efforts being made by the European Union to alleviate the issue of refugees coming into their member states. Further describing how these efforts are impacting the European Union’s budget and how much money has already been allocated towards these projects. Is it in the best interest of the European Union to continue to let refugees into their country by the thousands or to put that money towards assisting to build up areas around the borders of neighboring countries? This paper will also discuss whether there are significant benefits in permitting refugees into the country, in regards to the economics of the member states. Specifically, this comment will examine how the European Union is balancing the potential financial harm of accepting refugees while adhe...
Policy Brief: The forced migration of people is first and foremost a humanitarian issue. However, large influx of displaced persons to neighboring countries with national political and developmental challenges calls for innovative measures that will assist the displaced population and their host communities through development approaches and will enhance their resilience against animosity and criminality. This policy brief examines the impact of the Syrian refugees on the host communities and the labor market in Lebanon. It also weighs the vulnerability of both communities in light of various threats including the security peril of the radical groups in the region. The brief is based on the results of fieldwork and research conducted in various regions in Lebanon between 2011 and 2014, as well as on monitoring the media both in Lebanon and in the region. The results of this research reveal that with the influx of the Syrian population into Lebanon, the country has received a huge number of low-wage, low- and semi-skilled laborers. This, combined with a slowdown of the economy caused by the conflict in Syria and exacerbated by political tensions and security challenges, has a) caused fierce competition for scarce low- and medium-skill jobs particularly in the informal sector; b) has driven wages down; and c) has put many Lebanese out of work. The abundant cheap labor seems to be to the mutual benefit of both Lebanese employers and Syrian employees, but severely undermines the position of the Lebanese workforce. While Syrian refugees were receiving aid assistance, affected host-communities in Lebanon were largely ignored; and while Syrian refugees were accepting below-average wages, host-communities were driven out of the labor market and poorer Lebanese were pushed into insolvency. Consequently, resentment toward the Syrian refugees among members of the host-communities has been rising and leading to social antagonism. The Lebanese on the whole have been hospitable to the Syrian refugees, sympathizing with their plight. However, the protracted crisis in Syria and the downturn of the economy in Lebanon, combined with security threats, has had a tremendous impact on the country, the Lebanese host communities, and the refugees themselves. The majority of the Lebanese who took part in this research indicated their support for a) revoking the “open door policy”; b) establishing UN refugee camps in safe areas inside Syria or on the Syrian-Lebanese borders; c) applying the rules on the employment of foreigners to the Syrian refugee workforce in Lebanon; d) settling Syrian refugees in countries with less population density than Lebanon, whether in the Gulf region or in Western countries; e) finding alternative routes and markets for Lebanese goods; and f) finding sources of funds to assist Lebanon in this heavy burden that is beyond its capacity. This brief suggests that, now that the initial emergency-level services are completed and the Syrian population in Lebanon is stabilized, post-emergency refugee programs should be devised and implemented. The brief posits that a transition from aid-centered to development-centered programs is urgently needed to a) help both refugees and host communities; b) benefit from the abundance of labor; c) engage the host country in socio-economic development that would compensate for the cost of caring for the displaced; and d) enhance the resilience of both refugees and hosts against animosity and criminality. Host governments resist development approaches to dealing with the refugees for fear of reducing the intent to repatriate or resettle. I join Konyndyk in his position that “economic integration is unlikely to be a greater incentive to stay in the country of asylum than the provision of completely free food, health care, and education.”
Both global and historical, the different migrations of the new millennium are massive, diverse and particularly linked to wars and invasions in the Middle East and Africa. However, they are also economic (and work-related), cultural and social ones. Our America, Asia and Oceania are not the exception to the rule, but rather the confirmation of the phenomenon of migrations worldwide including their impacts in North America and Europe. But how to understand a phenomenon that is generating great transformations in our time? Such phenomenon cannot be ignored from the Social Sciences and Humanities. In fact, in the present issue of NuestrAmérica journal, readers will have the possibility to investigate at the core of diverse interpretations that demand a holistic and interdisciplinary look as well as the challenge of observing several cases and experiences that allow to generate theoretical approaches and discussions on the central subject: migration, refugees and forced displacement. Starting at this issue, we have decided to make changes in the delivery of our material by expanding the previous section Ongoing Research by two new sections: Dossier, which will gather articles called for a specific theme, and Free Articles, in which we will publish articles that are of our interest but not necessarily related to the call. In both cases, we are talking about the same selection criteria from original research. As it has already been a stamp of our journal, we have the sections Militant Academy, with critical positions on the topic summoned; Conferences and Interviews, with the accompaniment of those who have excelled in an area related to the main theme; and Reviews to update and disseminate recent books of paramount interest. This new delivery contains a large number of material worth reading one by one. For issue number 10, the Militant Academy section presents a critical essay by the historian, and Doctor in History by King's College London, Gabriela Cavalheiro titled "Volunteering and Intellectual Work: A Dialogue with Syrian Refugees in Turkey" in which she narrates the experiences of volunteer work with refugee women in Turkey. Based on gender theories and feminist criticism, Cavalheiro proposes an epistemic dialogue on the effects and impact of intellectual work on daily practice, accompanying the lives of exiled female Syrian refugees in a country directly involved in the Syrian war and destiny of most of its refugees. Working as a volunteer at the refugee camp in the Turkish city of Izmir, Cavalheiro was able to observe the health conditions of rural areas in the region, particularly in the process of "accompanying the menstrual health of women and adolescents with the objective of creating contextual alternatives to the precarious conditions of the camps". In everyday praxis, the academic discourse of gender