There’s been a lot to say about the world’s humanitarian responsibility toward Syrian refugees this week. The global call to help Syrians has been heard loudly and many countries have recently altered their policies. Nonetheless, concerns remain over the impact of receiving so many new people into countries.
Syria alone has around 4 million refugees in neighboring countries right now. Many of them have recently tried making their way to Europe. Some go by land, though many also try by sea where at least 2,400 have died this year alone. While Syrians are the majority, there are also large numbers of people from Afghanistan, Iraq, and Eritrea.
Syria itself was once a land that welcomed in refugees from around the region. Many of them came from persecution in modern day Turkey. Armenians, Greeks, Assyrians, Kurds, and Chechens sought refuge and built vibrant communities in Syria over the years. As Armenians in particular commemorate the 100 year anniversary of their people’s genocide, Syrians continue to flee their own president’s barrel-bombs and indiscriminate killing by ISIS.
Now, there’s a question of what European countries should be doing to assist in the ongoing crisis. Germany has led the way by agreeing to accept 800,000 refugees next year.
But even those openly welcoming refugees worry that with such large numbers have serious concerns. The economy, jobs, and assimilation are all pressing issues on the minds of many people who try to meet their humanitarian duty.
“Some believe that the crisis is likely to weaken or even destabilize the economy and society of host countries,” Jean-Christophe Dumont and Stefano Scarpetta, both of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, wrote in a CNN op-ed on Wednesday. “Yet Europe has both the means and the experience to cope. Several countries have recently managed massive population displacement without jeopardizing their economic strength or social cohesion.”
Not only can Europe handle a population influx, but it could actually end up being beneficial. Many countries in the region have declining populations. An influx of immigrants could revitalize parts of the workforce. In Germany, for example, the population has been decreasing since 2003 and even 200,000 immigrants a year won’t alter the population forecast.
“Europe needs economic migrants,” the Economist reported. “It has too few workers to pay for its citizens’ retirement and to provide the services they want. Migrants are net contributors to the public purse. They inject economic dynamism. They are, almost by definition, self-starters.”
Immigrants also do the jobs that Europe’s educated don’t want to do. “In Europe, 65% of the increase in the workforce between 2000 and 2010 is attributable to immigration,” Dumont and Scarpetta wrote. “Over the same period, new immigrants accounted for 15% of admissions in fast growing professions, and 28% of those in decline, rejected by native workers.”