The Refugee Surge in Europe: Economic Challenges (original) (raw)
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Global Affairs, 2017
The world is currently facing the largest humanitarian crisis since the Second World War. The growing number of people displaced by civil conflict or natural disasters has increased dramatically in the recent years and this is posing enormous challenges to host countries. However, to date economic impacts of refugees in host and sending countries are controversial and arguably understood. Therefore, the aim of this article is to analyse how the traditional economic approach of migration and labour can help to understand and manage the refugees' situation, as well as their potential benefits for all the parties involved. The present research concludes that, in the long run, refugee migration may have positive outcomes for sending and host economies, and for themselves. However, it is also emphasized that carefully designed refugee policies are critical to meet that goal, mainly focusing on two aspects: identification and integration.
The economic impact of migrants and refugees on Europe
2019
This policy brief presents some preliminary findings of a recent research regarding the economic impact of legal immigration in terms of growth and unemployment in a large panel of European countries. It sheds some light on a useful and interesting question for policy debate by explicitly distinguishing refugee and economic category immigrants. Our research reveals a non-negative effect of immigration on per capita growth and on employment. The results allow to consider particular implications for the collaboration of EU countries on the immigration issue and seek to inform more specific and actionable public policy interventions. 2. Introduction War, extreme violence, human right violations and persecution worldwide are prompting millions of people to be involuntarily displaced. In 2015, the number of forcibly displaced people in the world was the highest ever recorded, having reached 65.3 million. According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, this number has risen sharply in five years, from 42.5 million in 2011 to 45.2 million in 2012, 51.2 million in 2013 and 59.5 million in 2014. Refugees abroad represent only a fraction of the population displaced by war and conflicts (nearly 21.3 million persons in 2015). Most of the increase happened between 2012 and 2015 was mainly driven by the onset of the Arab Spring and thus the new or reignited conflicts as in Syria, Iraq and Libya, together with older crises as in Afghanistan or South Sudan. This has made the refugee crisis a global crisis and has created from the beginning a climate of heightened uncertainty surrounding its political, economic and societal implications in many developed countries. But much international attention has focused on asylum seekers and migrants arriving in Europe during 2015 by sea and the dramatic increase in their number.
REFUGEES' CRISIS – A NEW CHALLENGE FOR THE EUROPEAN UNION ECONOMY
The paper deals to the idea of analysing the impact of the refugees' crisis on Cohesion Policy. In order to do this, the analysis is focused on three representative indicators: GDP growth rate, inflation rate and unemployment rate. The analysis approach is built on four levels: comparative analysis, regression in order to highlight the economic disparities, cluster analysis and forecasting procedures in order to quantify the economic evolution until 2020. According to the analysis in the paper, EU is not in the best economic position to finance the refugees' crisis costs. Moreover, some Member States face to low economic development and support the idea of an EU with at least two economic development speeds. Germany will achieve the greatest advantages from this new crisis, while the less developed Member States will become net financial donors. The analysis and the conclusions in the paper are supported by the latest official statistical data and pertinent diagrams. The main conclusion of the paper is that EU will not be able to achieve its economic targets as a result of this new crisis.
The Refugee Crises and EU's Policy Response
This article attempts to highlight the flow of migrants/refugees into the developed world in Europe and America that should be viewed and understood in the wider global context to effectively respond to the rising tides of migrants in these parts of the world. Many of these people are fleeing away from war and conflicts, persecution, corruption, lack of opportunities or abject poverty, and they are seeking protection against the ongoing conflicts, massive human rights violations and generalized violence in the source countries (Newland, 2016). Some tend to regard the majority of these people as economic migrants seeking better job opportunity and standard of life which they could not have in their own country. These two different points of views tend to conflict and mix up in the on-going debates on the migration “crises” in Europe and the United States regarding how to effectively address these growing challenges. It looks apparent that the increasing number of refugees and related challenges cannot be effectively addressed in the current policy approaches of increased border control, deportation, poor treatment of refugees and harsh conditions in detention centers. Despite the negative media portrayal of refugees as terrorists and threats to the Western life style, the economic rationale of the developed world seems to favor the positive impacts of increasing the participation of the migrant population in the unskilled labor markets in these countries. This is not, however, to argue that there should not be any attempt to control the flow of refugees into Europe. It is rather to promote the establishment of a more organized system of immigration that is harmonized under the proposed institution exercising a central authority within the EU which can provide a more orderly immigration process in line with a planned and agreed distribution key among member states. The policy response to the challenges of refugees should also consider the broader context of the global inequalities in terms of the distribution of wealth and employment opportunities that reflect deeper structural imbalances which would continue to sustain the flow of refugees into the developed world in the West. Therefore, there should be a strategic effort to correct such structural imbalances in global political and economic order to genuinely involve in the creation of wealth and better opportunities in the developing part of the world that are among the major factors which drive many of the migrant population to the attractions of the Western world.
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...
Refugees in Europe Consequences of the Challenges
Intense refugee flows into Europe created some internal and international problems. In order to identify and propose solutions to them, this issue will be analyzed on both political and economics perspectives. The role of the individual as a refugee in the international politics creates some problems such as procedural disharmony and unjust burden sharing between states especially with inadequate regulations like Dublin Regulations. From the public policy perspective, access to basic health care services is one of the most problematic issues since data collection requires great international cooperation to get a proper data to prevent infectious diseases. Providing public services comes with a price and unjust distribution of the refugees creates short-run economic struggles for the host countries. However, there are also some benefits that refugees provide to European countries in the long term with being a part of the labor market especially in the countries which suffer from shortage of the youth population. In this sense, education of the refugees is necessary because it makes easier and more rapid the process of refugees’ integration to the both society and labor market. The problems are interwoven; therefore, the solutions should not only be a single focused harmonization but a complete one for the EU case since the EU states have already been in a steady integration process.
Refugees, asylum seekers and policy in Europe
Labor Mobility and the World Economy, 2004
The number of refugees worldwide is now 12 million, up from 3 million in the early 1970s. And the number seeking asylum in the developed world increased tenfold, from about 50,000 per annum to half a million over the same period. Governments and international agencies have grappled with the twin problems of providing adequate humanitarian assistance in the Third World and avoiding floods of unwanted asylum seekers arriving on the doorsteps of the First World. This is an issue that is long on rhetoric, as newspaper reports testify, but surprisingly short on economic analysis. This paper draws on the recent literature, and ongoing research, to address a series of questions that are relevant to the debate. First, we examine the causes of refugee displacements and asylum flows, focusing on the effects of conflict, political upheaval and economic incentives to migrate. Second, we examine the evolution of policies towards asylum seekers and the effects of those policies, particularly in Europe. Finally, we ask whether greater international coordination could produce better outcomes for refugee-receiving countries and for the refugees themselves.
Using EU aid to address the root causes of migration and refugee flows
2019
To my parents, who once migrated to Madrid, and to my sons, Marco and David, who are also children of emigrants and for whom the world is their home He would also like to thank: Mauro Lanati, from the Migration Policy Centre of the EUI, for useful discussions on the relationship between aid and development and for sharing some of his data; Alessandro D' Alfonso, EU Fellow at the RSCAS and European Parliament official, for many helpful exchanges on the budgetary and financial implications of the EU's migration policy; Sergio Carrera (EUI and CEPS), for discussion and documentation on the new EU facilities for refugees and on EU cooperation with third countries on returns and readmission; Sonia Plaza, Dilip Ratha and Eung Ju Kim, from the World Bank, for data, documentation and insights on remittances; Caroline Bahnson and Thomas Djurhuus, also from the World Bank, for support on the IDA and GCFF refugee facilities; and Manuela Naessl (EBRD) for input on the EBRD. He is also very grateful to the following colleagues from the European Commission and the European External Action Service (EEAS) for providing valuable documentation, data or insights: Johan Bendz (DG BUDG), on the EU' s Multi-Annual Financial Framework; Antonella Colavita (DG NEAR and DG DEVCO) and Laszlo Csoto and Jean-Martial Marenne (both DG ECFIN), on the EIB, the External Investment Plan and the multilateral facilities for refugees; Joern Griesse and Dirk Lenaerts (DG ECFIN), on Macro-Financial Assistance; Frederik Schutyser (SG) and Dan Rotenberg (DG HOME), on the new Partnership Framework and EU policy on returns; Lucas Spieser (DG NEAR) and Sibylle Bikar (EEAS) on the EU-Turkey Statement and the Facility for Refugees in Turkey; Joanna Athlin (DG NEAR) on the Madad Fund; and Ignacio Burrull (DG DEVCO) on the EU's trust fund for Africa. Finally, the author is very grateful to Giorgio Giamberini for his superb job in formatting the book. i Table of Contents List of abbreviations iii 1. Introduction 2. Can aid work? A fresh look at the academic debate 2.1 Development and migration 2.2 Aid and migration: the direct link 2.3 The recent literature on aid and migration: a more encouraging view 3. Is EU ODA responding to the migration challenge? 3.1 General evidence from the academic literature 3.2 The actual response of EU aid: an updated analysis of ODA data 3.2.1 ODA flows and forced displacement 3.2.2 Regional breakdown of ODA and overall migration flows 3.3 The role of EU institutions and the MFF for 2021-2027 4. The EU's new trust funds and facilities for refugees 4.1 Basic features and rationale of the new facilities 4.2 Performance of the new facilities: achievements and criticism 5. Other external financial instruments of the EU 5.1 The EIB's External Lending and its Economic Resilience Initiative 5.2 The European External Investment Plan 5.3 Macro-Financial Assistance 6. The new multilateral facilities for refugees 6.1 The IDA's refugee facility for low-income countries 6.2 The Global Concessional Financing Facility 6.3 The EBRD´s refugee response package ii 7. The relevance of climate change finance 7.1 The debate on the relationship between climate change and migration 7.2 The EU's climate finance response in an international context 7.3 Scope for improvement in the composition of climate change finance 8. The role of remittances 8.1 A financial flow of growing importance 8.1 Why remittances matter for migration 8.3 An EU policy strategy for remittances 9. Increasing aid effectiveness through compacts 9.1 Compacts as a developmental approach to refugee protection 9.2 The EU-Jordan Compact 9.3 The EU-Turkey Statement 9.4 The Partnership Framework with Third Countries on Migration 9.5 A new framework for refugee aid: the UN's Global Refugee Compact 10. Conclusions and policy recommendations