Question:
Discuss aout the Immigration and Refugees.
In a general term, sustainability is how well one can cope or endure a running situation, with the main principle being not overlooking the aspects causing one to sustain. For sustainability to be effective, there are modes that have to be observed, in that the nature, atmosphere and the environmental in general have to remain intact (Branton& Dunaway, 2009 p289). This ensures a long-term balance in all the aspects of nature and the environment. Most of the times, refugees are accepted in their host country if they do not pose any security threat to the others. The proof that they can live in peace gives them the better advantage for acceptance from the locals.
A refugee is someone who is fleeing war, persecution or natural disasters in their country, thereby relocating to another country. On the other hand, a migrant is a person who moves from their region and seeks a new life in another region or country. Such people may include those who go to other countries in search of ‘greener pastures’, or to unite with their family members and relatives (Biermann& Boas, 2008 p8). There are also those who migrate from their respective countries without the visa, passports or any other type of government approval.
Some regions have rules and regulations regarding their existence in a region in that people should not be in a place where their survival and life is at danger. It shows that one should always feel secure wherever they are despite whether they are the legitimate people from that area or refugees who seek some form of settlement. This signifies that anybody facing the risk of being harmed can always request for the legal permission, and stay as a refugee in an asylum. This has benefits and comes with certain rights although it would be a complicated and a lengthy procedure. Though not all asylum seekers are recognized as refugees, all refugees are initially asylum seekers (Center, 2006 p8).The signing of peace accords between countries has gone a long way in ensuring that the refugees are safe in the hosting countries. The EU has also come in handy in providing financial, humanitarian and legal aid for refugees and the migrants in transit, as well as national advocacy to shape public opinion and some form of support to the countries and organizations hosting refugees.
The EU funding the organizations hosting the refugees comes as an advantage to the hosting country. It is an advantage in that the hosting country will not have to use its funds to sustain the refugees, thus using its funds for the upkeep of its own citizens (Fazel et al, 2005 p1313). Although most countries do not encourage and voluntarily accept playing host to refugees, there are a few advantages that come along with hosting the refugees. One of the advantages is that they bring forth economic benefits through the different methods they use as form of income. This translates to the fact that the hosting country acquires new skills and techniques from the incoming population.
The growth of transportation facilities and infrastructure has impacted positively in the increase of import-export trade, all because of the presence of refugee camps in any given hosting country (Malkki, 2012 p33).
Migration is the movement of people that started since the origin of mankind. The migrations have ranged from journeys of a few miles, to more complicated travels across oceans, seas and continents. Natural disasters, bad governance, invasions, drought and escape from slavery have all played a major part as the main causes of migration.
One of the most important questions revolving around the immigration topics all over the world is the understanding to the policies implemented by different immigration centers at different countries. Different countries have their own guidelines on how they admit refugees in their countries. This on the other hand captures the global eye and end up being an international debate, trying to define the legal statuses of the immigrants and refugees. This usually calls for a deeper perspective in order to understand ethics involved in migration. A human perspective is indeed needed to shape the long-term solution, and still not forgetting the short-term solution.
Another question that rises on this issue is how migration affects the sending countries, the transit and the receiving countries, also known as the host countries. This calls for a debate as to whether the migration should be limited, discouraged or encouraged by the governments of the sending, receiving and transit countries.
The migration debates and conversations should be as open and honest as possible. This will create a form of accountability where the hosts will put the refugees’ agendas and interests in mind (Love, 2010 p46). This calls for the measure of financial costs incurred by the migrant and the involved countries and the view of the society in how it views the whole issue, for instance, the risks and benefits involved in migration
Some migrants freely choose their journey routes and destination points, which at times seem more or less of an adventure. At times, this turns out to be what was not expected, as many of them end up being trapped in the transit countries.
In order to ensure that refugees are comfortable, the host countries should pass their laws with the refugees in mind without passing harsh laws that will affect them negatively (Fazel et al, 2005 p1309). This is recommended because the new population will be subjected to a new constitution in a totally different country/region.
The structural outline, on the other hand, has got more to do with issues beyond the control of an individual. These may include population pressures or unemployment. These are said to be more social and political (Kirmayer, et al, 2011 p959). Networks theory then comes into the picture and it is that which involves the individual’s decisions. This involves the combination of the movement of capital as well as goods, touching on the political elements.
It has also been argued that the migration theory, in its context of gender, cannot explain the reason as to why women become transnational migrants (Gerritsen et al, 2006 p25). The question arises as to why or the very reasons and circumstances that encourage some women to become or turn into transnational migrants. Some of these women enter into trafficking channels and still a greater percentage seeks refugee resettlement.
Refugees being hosted in a country have both advantages and disadvantages to the country hosting them. One of the advantages is through the funds provided by international bodies such as the UNHCR. The advantage of humanitarian funds in a country is that for a particular amount of money spent on the humanitarian response; roughly half of it is added to the economy through multiplier effects. In some parts if the world, the refugee activities contribute to the economic performance of the host country.
If, for example, the local citizens used to work in a firm and they used to get a certain amount of wage, then the same firm employs the refugees, the refugees charge less than the local citizens. In this way, the local citizens feel deprived of their right to get a better pay. The immigration also affects the local businesses in a positive way, in that the local shops, malls and business people in general get a new wave of customers, due to the high demand of their products.
Some of the main disadvantages of hosting refugees are the way they pose as a threat in terms of peace. Terrorists can easily access their targeted countries by posing as refugees or as asylum seekers. This is in itself a real danger because the hosting country cannot separate the terrorists and the genuine refugees until it is too late. Integrating refugees into an economy requires immense coordination and funding, not to mention a public relations offensive. In countries such as Kenya, where the population outside refugee camps is actually poorer than that inside in some cases, that battle is even more difficult (Rainey et al, 2014 p37). In that sense, it is no wonder that Kenya announced plans this month to close its refugee camps, threatening to displace more than 600,000 people, many of whom were born in the camps.
It is also notable that the refugees devour tax money, strain public services, and, prejudices aside, are often truly difficult to integrate into the societies of host countries. Another argument is that the investment of a certain amount of money in the form of refugee assistance would yield almost the double amount in a span of five years. Monsutti (2008), argues that refugees could create returns by increasing demand for services and products, filling gaps in the workforce, and eventually paying taxes and creating new jobs themselves. Meanwhile, taxes on their wages will help fund pensions and public offers.
Max goes on further to state that most refugees and asylum seekers are extremely well educated people who are ready to work(Schweitzer et al, 2006 p179). Even if they are not, many are willing to work jobs that Europeans, for instance, find undesirable.
In this refugee crisis, two feelings sit uncomfortably together in most people: a significant majority wants society to contribute to taking in refugees, yet at the same time the same majority expects that the arrival of so many refugees will cause tension. That discomfort is reflected in public opinion on the refugee crisis, where several different arguments intersect (Murray et al, 2006 p899). It is striking that, for supporters of open borders, all arguments point in the same direction. This means that hosting refugees is a morally acceptable action as it is a humane treatment of others who cannot live within their country for one reason or another.
This brings us to the moral dimension of the refugee issue: morality is not coincidentally the first concept that shapes our attitude. We have seen the photos of desperate people risking everything to seek refuge. All of today’s and yesterday’s images flow together: behind the streams of refugees on abandoned railway lines somewhere in the Balkans, we see images of Bosnians in the 1990s, fleeing Germans after the end of the second world war, or Greeks who fled Smyrna as it burned during the Greco-Turkish war in the 1920s.
Conclusion
The only way to create some dignity for the refugees and some hope for the local communities is a benefit for both parties. This can only be accomplished by bringing resources in from outside. In the same breath, the resources give more aid as it has to be a different kind of financing (Steel et al, 2009 p 537. By different financing, humanitarian agencies and financing institutions have to come together and find ways to simultaneously offer economic development and employment to refugees and the communities that bear the burden of hosting them. This approach would have far greater bearing on the lives of most refugees.
When it comes to employment, there are tricky issues of legal status and citizenship and the fact that most employers shy away from employing refugees. Most of them fear the security threat that the refugees pose. There is a misconception that most governments and their constituents have about refugees, let alone the political risk for any elected official in making long-term investments in people who may be seen as foreigners and leeches.
This brings us to another concept echoing through the refugee debate: self-interest. Since people do not have complete confidence in the morality of conviction, in the next breath an appeal is made to self interest: we are in great need of these refugees-often young men-in our labor market. On a continent with an aging population, we cannot really do without their vitality. This clearly explains and shows that refugees should be seen as a source of investment and not as a burden.
References
Branton, R.P. and Dunaway, J., 2009. Spatial Proximity to the US—Mexico Border and Newspaper Coverage of Immigration Issues. Political Research Quarterly, 62(2), pp.289- 302.
Biermann, F. and Boas, I., 2008. Protecting climate refugees: the case for a global protocol. Environment: science and policy for sustainable development, 50(6), pp.8-17.
Center, P.H., 2006. The state of American public opinion on immigration in spring 2006: A review of major surveys. Terrorism, 6(6), p.8.
Fazel, M., Wheeler, J. and Danesh, J., 2005. Prevalence of serious mental disorder in 7000refugees resettled in western countries: a systematic review. The Lancet, 365(9467), pp.1309-1314.
Gerritsen, A.A.,Bramsen, I., Devillé, W., Van Willigen, L.H., Hovens, J.E. and Van DerPloeg, H.M., 2006. Physical and mental health of Afghan, Iranian and Somali asylum seekers and refugees living in the Netherlands.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology, 41(1), pp.18-26.
Kirmayer, L.J.,Narasiah, L., Munoz, M., Rashid, M., Ryder, A.G., Guzder, J., Hassan, G., Rousseau, C. and Pottie, K., 2011. Common mental health problems in immigrants and refugees: general approach in primary care.Canadian Medical Association Journal, 183(12), pp.E959-E967.
Lindert, J., von Ehrenstein, O.S.,Priebe, S., Mielck, A. and Brähler, E., 2009. Depression and anxiety in labor migrants and refugees–a systematic review and meta-analysis. Social science & medicine, 69(2), pp.246-257.
Love, M.C., 2010. Beyond sovereignty: issues for a global agenda. Cengage Learning.
Malkki, L.H., 2012. Purity and exile: Violence, memory, and national cosmology among Hutu refugees in Tanzania. University of Chicago Press.
Monsutti, A., 2008.Afghan migratory strategies and the three solutions to the refugee problem. Refugee Survey Quarterly, 27(1), pp.58-73.
Murray, J., Batalova, J. and Fix, M., 2006. The impact of immigration on native workers: a fresh look at the evidence. Washington, DC: Migration Policy Institute.
Rainey, B., Wicks, E. and Ovey, C., 2014. Jacobs, White and Ovey: the European convention on human rights. Oxford University Press (UK).
Schweitzer, R., Melville, F., Steel, Z. and Lacherez, P., 2006.Trauma, post-migration living difficulties, and social support as predictors of psychological adjustment in resettled Sudanese refugees. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 40(2), pp.179-187.
Steel, Z., Chey, T., Silove, D., Marnane, C., Bryant, R.A. and Van Ommeren, M., 2009. Association of torture and other potentially traumatic events with mental health outcomes among populations exposed to mass conflict and displacement: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Jama, 302(5), pp.537-549.
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