Entry # 10 Essay

Refugee policies, the advantages and disadvantages of opening the borders

According to the United Nations, the percentage of refugees has largely increased in the past years, right now there are 26 million refugees globally. Nearly 42% of them were under the age of eighteen. The majority of these refugees come from just five countries; which are Syria, Venezuela, Afghanistan, South Sudan and Myanmar. Millions of them have been denied access to basic rights (such as freedom, healthcare and education) and a new and safer nationality. From an ethical point, all countries should accept refugees on their land. However, it is not news to say that this is not the case. There are many opinions on the fact, this is not a black or white situation. But on the whole, there are two options, a government can be: either in favor of accepting refugees in their country or against. In order to establish their position on the matter, governments are going to consider a long list of advantages and disadvantages. The key to decide on refugee policies is to consider the disadvantages of hosting asylum seekers as problems to solve and not as mere reasons not to accept them into the country.

In the first place, we have the exchange of cultures; or cultures collision, if taken as a disadvantage. There are plenty of different and rich cultures around the world. Some of which share lots of similarities, some of which can almost be considered opposites. It is fair to say that the cultures form occidental countries would, most likely, blend better together and with no big complications than with oriental cultures. It is vital not to focus on the differences or preconceived ideas, as some would while arguing that refugees do not share the same ideas of correct social behaviour or that they tend to gather together in “ghettos” in a search of preserving their ways instead of inserting themselves into their new community. Ideas like those dismiss the enormous value the cultural exchange could represent for everyone involved. It should be taken as an opportunity to become more flexible and diverse. It will not only provide all the participants a whole new perspective on their vision of the world; changing, adapting or reinforcing their conceptions; but also increase their knowledge of the world. To change what is considered a disadvantage into an advantage, the government should apply tolerant and inclusive inmigration and refugee policies.

In the second place, there is an economic dilemma, are refugees stealing the residents’ jobs? The more conservative anti-refugee side will say they are. One of the reasons they will use to prove this idea is that the arrival of refugees increases the labour demand causing wage depression which allows low-wage competition, making refugees more employable than native workers. All of these based on “the erroneous notion that there is only so much work to be done and that no one can get a job without taking one from someone else.”1 (Davidson, 2015) Nevertheless, there is no actual proof that opening up the borders to refugees, or immigrants in general, has a significant effect on native unemployment. “The nature of these effects also depends on other policy choices by the host countries. More than anything else, the economic effect of migrants and refugees is a decision.”2 (Clemens, 2017) Once refugees are incorporated into the labour market, they do not take jobs out of the native workers’ hands but, indeed increase the size of the economy.

In third place, there is the healthcare issue, the question here is if refugees represent a threat to the healthcare system of the hosting country. The allegation is that refugees already enter the country with numerous health necessities, due mostly to the lack of assistance in their homeland. Although the fact that most certainly, refugees will have health difficulties and necessities, those problems tend to be resolved or at least controlled at asylum-camps. This means that refugees do not mean any significant harm to the healthcare system.

The decision of opening the borders to refugees and asylum seekers is not an easy one, there are multiple factors to take into consideration. In spite of that, the government's decision should not be whether to accept refugees or not, but how to do it in a way that benefits both sides.