Beauty of Resettling Refugees

“Refugees are the source of insecurity, diseases, unemployment, drug trafficking, prostitution and all those vices a country may face!’’: This biased mainstream way of thinking has been hard-wired into most of us. The notion that admitting refugees will ruin a host country’s social economy is rooted in false socioeconomic ideas, fundamentally a well-structured set of propaganda. For example, critics peddle the belief that refugees will take jobs away from the native population, thereby increasing poverty and unemployment. Additionally, the nativist argument claims, refugees present a huge burden on public resources, without creating economic value themselves. The augments sound reasonable until they are placed under a microscope for observation and analysis.

Now, away from prejudiced way of thinking, studies have shown that refugee influxes have positive or neutral effects on host country economies in the long term. After the initial high cost of resettlement, refugees start businesses, pay taxes, and are active contributors to their communities. The refugees bring along with them a variety of skills and knowledge which can be worthwhile for a country’s socioeconomic growth. Refugees also create additional demand for goods and services, since more people directly translates to more consumers of foodstuff, clothing, accommodations, transportation, telecommunication services, banking, and other consumer goods and services. Thus, some experts say that accepting refugees is akin to making a “lucrative investment,” according to the Washington Post.

Just to paint a picture, the International Rescue Committee reported that 85% of refugees resettled by the IRC were employed within 180 days of their arrival. Meaning in just 180 days someone who possibly had not spent a single coin of his/her host country on education, public security, and health to name but just a few, will begin generating equity and paying taxes! Good business for the host country! Such refugees are literally more valuable to the county than the native taxpayer who would be essentially just paying back what the government had and is spending on them. Over time, refugees add more value to the economy than the initial cost of resettlement. In terms of taking jobs from the domestic population, studies show that low-skilled foreign workers and low-skilled domestic workers tended to complement each other, rather than compete. Additionally, refugees have a higher likelihood of starting their own business than other groups.

As much as refugees can be valuable to the country’s economy, they need live and work legitimately in order for them to contribute to their host country’s coffers. Kenya for instance through legal restrictions, is not fully ripping from the benefits of legitimizing and allowing more refugees to live and work within the country– leaving them vulnerable to exploitation, human trafficking, black market, and dangerous work. By offering refugees a new home not only do we give them a second chance to rebuild their lives, but also gives an opportunity to the host nation to benefit economically from them.

Author: Beline Nyangi

Beline is an International Relations Professional. She holds an MSc. degree in Conflict and Governance from University of Amsterdam. She has competence and interest in social policy research advisory and implementation in the areas of peace and security, transitional justice, human rights, refugee rights, immigration and social justice. She enjoys traveling, drinking "dawa", good books and rich and thoughtful conversation. View all posts by Beline Nyangi