Monday, October 26, 2020
Displacement Rates at an All Time High
As of the past year, 2019, displacement rates have seen an all time high amongst former years. Currently 79.5 million people around the world have been forced to leave home due to circumstances like persecution, conflict, violence, or violations of human rights (UN Refugee Agency, N.D.). This staggering statistic is a result of a 11% increase (8.7 million people) in displacement from the previous year (UN Refugee Agency, N.D.). As a result of the global problem of human displacement, programs have been created to combat the rates of displacement. Moreover, groups like UNHCR, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, have been set in place since the time after World War II. The role of this group is to lead and coordinate international actions pertaining to the refugee problems worldwide.
Figure 1: Number of displaced humans worldwide
(https://www.unhcr.org/en-us/figures-at-a-glance.html)
Rates of Resettlement Amongst Refugees Declining
In most recent years resettlement rates have been declining. There are currently 1.4 million refugees waiting to be resettled that have certain vulnerabilities that cannot be addressed in their host countries according to the United Nations (Ritchie, 2020). Today they are waiting in their host countries to be relocated to another country that will hopefully grant these refugees permanent resettlement. The number of refugees awaiting relocation is increasing but resettlement rates are decreasing because other countries with the power to grant them access and visas are hesitant to do so. Without being relocated these displaced humans face violations of human rights within the country they are attempting to flee. The media and various news sources portray refugees as a burden to carry. This is due to the economical detriment they believe they would be facing, by having places in the work field taken up by refugees and not of those that are already unemployed within the country itself. Instead of trying to combat the issue of resettlement for these refugees and look at the benefits of relocation, these powerful countries are trying to keep them within their host countries.
Figure 2: The number and rate of resettled refugees
(https://www.unhcr.org/refugee-statistics/download/?url=R1xq)
Why Countries Should Accept Refugees?
Countries are extremely hesitant to grant access for refugees to come into their countries because refugees are often portrayed as a burden, whether it be an economic burden or a social burden. However, there are benefits that can be seen from the resettlement of refugees. There have been numerous studies that state refugees are more likely to be entrepreneurs and to have higher employment rates than the local citizens. The CGD, or Center for Global Development, has recently published a report providing ideas and new financial innovations that have the possibility of increasing resettlement rates and quality of life for the refugees as well (Ritchie, 2020). Ultimately by providing refugees the right to work, health, and education they are able to obtain a more progressive life within their new country. The faster refugees are incorporated within the new host country the faster they will be able to become productive members of society. Within the host country itself natives are often afraid that their jobs will be at risk due to the influx of immigrant workers. Overall this creates competition within the workers field ultimately boosting worker productivity in means of sustaining their jobs. Even with all this competition, natives are still at low risk for losing their jobs to refugees because they each carry very different skill sets and qualify for different types of jobs within the labor force. Refugees are much more likely to go into the field of entrepreneurship because they are more likely to take riskier jobs due to the fact that fleeing a country itself carries many risks and exhibits risk taking behaviors. In conclusion, by taking on more refugees on a horizontal scale across countries, more jobs will be obtained within the countries, hypothetically benefiting the country’s productivity in means of economy. Not only will this benefit the country, but the overall well being of the displaced humans globally.
References
Refugee Statistics. (n.d.). Retrieved October 27, 2020, from https://www.unrefugees.org/refugee-facts/statistics/
Ritchie, H. (2020, August 19). 1.4 Million Refugees Need Resettlement: Can Innovative Finance Help? Retrieved October 27, 2020, from https://www.cgdev.org/blog/14-million-refugees-need-resettlement-can-innovative-finance-help
Bahar, D. (2018, June 20). Why accepting refugees is a win-win-win formula. Retrieved October 27, 2020, from https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2018/06/19/refugees-are-a-win-win-win-formula-for-economic-development/
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