Migrants;

An Opportunity or A Threat?

Migration phenomenon is not new in the world but its acceleration process in which it renamed to a crisis is the product of events that accrued in the last decade in the world of politics.

News ID: 70001

Date: 02 November 2016 - 16:06

One of the events is Arab Spring sequences which hastened in Western Middle East countries and North Africa in a manner that domino of a change in political and economical structures along with the emergence of insecurity caused citizens of these countries to expatriate and build a bright future while thinking about a new refuge, MANA international correspondent reported.

Another resulting factor was the emersion of an ominous phenomenon of ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) as if it woke up the sleeping giant. This led to mass exodus to survive not on voluntary basis but by force.

Political conflicts in the countries and the presence of violent terrorisms such as ISIS in Syria made the world to be the witness of increasing asylum seekers to the extent that one of the world’s crises of 2015 was the issue of migration. In line with this, the latest UN figures show 70 million of people who are seeking a second country to be sheltered.

Hopeless people in the Middle East and North Africa dreaming of a good life headed for the West and Europe. These areas have been long identified by their glamour pattern to be a certain superior model.

76Meanwhile, European and American countries which are struggling with financial crisis which happened in 2008 and are rebuilding ruins of these global issues have not got the ability to accept more and more migrants. However, events such as the sinking of migrants’ ship in which Alan Kurdi’s died, a three-year-old Syrian boy of Kurdish ethnic background, named the most tragic one, has led to the fact that people of the world are fighting not to live but to remain alive.

Misty shadow of financial crisis in the world made southern governments of EU which are of their feet due to the international loan aid, not respond to people from the East. As a result, they blocked the borders against these deprived people in the first step.

Extreme right movements became active across Europe justifying the facts that “why European taxes should be spent on foreigners in the critical situation as well as “loss of job opportunities for local citizens”, Europe overcame migration and demagogy to the extent that Great Britain couldn’t succeed in dealing with this superficial challenge and “being elected” was the final step which results in the Britain exit from the European Union!

Is migration really expensive and unproductive?

European countries which faced capital flow from the West to the East during financial crisis of 2008, are dealing with the question of why China could affect the economic ties more than Germany and EU.

Economics scholars received one point for the correct answer and it was cheap labor!

Migration Advantage

Latest reports and investigations show, asylum seekers who arrived in Europe last year can return twice the costs to Europe’s economy within five years.

Statistics show that obligatory homelessness has affected the life of 65 million people who lived in developing countries in 2015. This figure includes refugees, war victims, migrants and all those who are homeless in the borders of their own country and forced to move.

War and economic inequality resulted from the global economy, added the number of asylum seekers who are leaving their settlement to arrive a country for a better life. In line with this, governments’ reactions differ in which it ranges from repression in Australia to economic transactions in Europe or donations.

Public opinion is often influenced by prevailing interpretations which rely less on the facts. Considering bad economic conditions and the cost that is carried by the migrants to the host countries for example, why countries should accept the migrants?

Deceptions and ignorance of the public opinion could set these kinds of slogans in the campaign of Brexit.

Guardian presented the facts in a report in which hardliners would prefer to ignore it. The report said if you do not believe in humanity, think about economic calculation which shows refugee admissions in the favor of Europe.

Philip Green, former economic adviser to the European Commission believes that the presence of refugees creates more jobs, increases supply and production, and resolves the lack of manpower in Europe.

Green believed that it would help the government to invest less in unemployment insurance and public services. He said that it is very unlikely that the refugees reduce workers’ salaries and increase unemployment of indigenous workers.

Considering the calculations, the refugee absorption increases public debt by 69 billion Euros between 2015 and 2020. In line with this, economic activity of the refugees will result in the growth of GDP to 126 billion Euros: twice of the incurred costs.

Tenet Foundation- a nongovernmental organization- that aims to help displaced people and create economic networks announced in its recent report that “one euro invested in refugee admissions leads to two euro profit within five years.”

Common Misconceptions

Many believed that Green’s enlightenment about statistics and predictions regarding the refugees led to an increase in public awareness of the issue. The most important misconception of the public opinion is that the refugees are barriers and this is common among those who believe that refugees should be allowed to enter.

They consider the entrance of refugees to the western countries to be expensive but accept it because of morality. While refugee absorption creates short-term pressure on public costs, it increases economic demand at the same time which is a good monetary stimulus for the low level of supply and production. Meanwhile, the presence of the refugees in a long-term period is an aid to make money through taxation and job creation.

Green believed that there are not a limited number of enterprises in the market, but they are scattered in the society. Refugees who work have created the jobs themselves. Spending their own wages lead to an increase in their required supply and production. In the same way, they can create jobs for other groups. The refugees, who are for example construction workers, create jobs for supervisors of construction workers or for the housing market.

Green also noted the important role of refugees on Europe’s imminent demographic challenge: “demographic change in Germany is crystal clear. The country’s population who are ready for a job by 2030 will reach a sixth of today’s 8.7 million without the refugees, while the elderly population will rise over 1/4 percent and increase to 4.7 million”. He therefore suggested that the admission of young refugees can help the country’s growing resource payments for the elderly population.

To support his argument, Green points to the examples of leading organizing of refugees in history. Specifically, managing 800 thousand refugees in America after the Vietnam War was one of the largest organizing actions in the history. Although Vietnamese refugees incurred costs for the government at first, Vietnamese-Americans’ income and their employment rates showed better statistics when compared to the natives in America after the passage of decades.

However, it should be notified that the positive economic impact of refugees on host countries will be stopped if their absorption is not accompanied by the workplace. Asylum seekers should be allowed to work as long as their request is under investigation. They need to go to the language classes as soon as possible. Meanwhile, they have to dwell in the places with high job opportunities.

Officials have to quicken the process of receiving documents and educational certificates of the refugees in order to benefit the existing advantage of young and cheap manpower. Quick access to the labor market reduces reliance on public assistance for refugees, leads to their presence in the field of economy through working and paying taxes, helps them to fit rapidly in the host country and finally reduces the risk of their marginalization in the labor market and society.

Use of Cheap Labor

The particular situation which results from cheap labor for the industry and Western economy responds to the above mentioned point.

Chinese economic paradigm which is rapidly converted to developing countries’ economic model includes use of cheap labor and capital turnover. The latter makes these countries powerful and causes decline of the Western economy. So, the West can make use of free market capacity which leads to the countries’ development during consecutive decades to be integrated with Chinese model in order to take advantage of cheap labor migrant not only to make it more efficient in their cultural process but also to make their industry active.

In addition to this advantage and optimal use of cheap labor, it should be noted that migrants’ dispersion differs in jobs and ranges from high-level jobs that requires knowledge and technology to low-level ones that natives refuse to do.

People who have recently migrated to the United States of America for example, showed 22% of total labor market input for specific jobs. Meanwhile, migrants hold 15% share of Europe labor markets. The question arises from the fact that what kinds of jobs are migrants to America and Europe are likely to choose? It is enough to look at the list of jobs which are open to migrants. Most jobs relate to health and medical professions, as well as high-level careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

The other side of the coin shows that migrants seized about a quarter of low-level jobs in Europe (24%) and America (28%). A comprehensive look at the Europe represents manual labor, working with various machineries and assembly lines are top choices by the migrants. Meanwhile, work in process manufacturing, installation, maintenance, and repair occupations are the main occupational areas in America. In other words, migrants choose the jobs which are not preferred by the natives.

Regardless of the West trying to disturb the Chinese economic paradigm, it uses cheap and productive manpower to cover its vacuity, the same statistics showed.

It is worth mentioning that Jonathan Henry Sacks- a British rabbi- wrote: “it is through exchange that differences become a blessing, not a curse.” Such a statement is true about the West facing with the migration phenomenon which can turn crisis into opportunity by making optimum use of it.