A refugee is a commonly used term used to describe someone who has been forced to move out of his or her country for some reason. Someone may be displaced because of war, famine, violence, or persecution. In many countries, refugees are located in the same geographical area that the government allocates. There various upsides and downsides that come along with this issue. In this article, the pros and cons of refugees are discussed in lengthy.
Pros of Refugees
Refugees are components of economic, social, and political development in the country. They contribute greatly in ensuring their rescue country develops. Here are some of the advantages of refugees:
1. Stimulating Economy: Increase in population is directly proportional to an increase in the country’s economy. It has been proven that the more people participating in a country’s economy, the more the chances of economic growth. Some of these benefits include: rise in economic activities, increased investment, a cheap and available workforce, etc.
2. Increased income: As the country’s economy rises, the more the income is collected. This helps in raising people’s living standards. The government uses the increased income to cater to the needs of the refugees in providing them with essential goods. Also, it has been proven that people who come as refugees are more likely to start a business than existing people.
3. Culture Enrichment: Refugees enrich culture. Refugees come from different backgrounds, and thus they may have unique cultures, foods, practices, and religions. When they interact with the existing people, they exchange these cultures among themselves, thus boosting the existing culture.
4. Intermarriages: Intermarriages are marriages that result when two people from different tribes marry. Refugees may be attracted to the existing people, and as a result of this, families may arise. Therefore, intermarriage takes place since both parties involved come from different tribes.
5. Civic and community life: In some countries, refugees are allowed to participate in civic activities like voting; this enables them to choose leaders of their choice. They volunteer and contribute to community developments by engaging in community projects and events. This greatly helps in changing the status of society. Also, the number of people involved in voting may increase if refugees get citizenship of the country.
6. More and qualified skills: Refugees may come with new skills and talents; this adds to the skills available in the job market. In areas experiencing a shortage of labor may benefit positively as refugees come to the rescue and reduce labor shortages.
7. Trade sector: As refugees struggle to earn a living and get something to put on their mouths, they may directly or indirectly promote the trade. In recent years, many trading centers have grown next to refugee camps, making many refugees depend on trade as their main economic activity.
8. Cheap workforce: As a result of refugees, there is an increase in population in a given area, and thus many people are looking for employment. This, in turn, creates a scenario where there are few job opportunities. To employers, they benefit as they can get workers at cheaper pay.
9. Rural Development: Many refugees are situated in rural areas. Therefore government strives hard to improve the facilities (schools and hospitals) in rural areas to ensure refugees enjoy their rights like other citizens.
Cons of Refugees
1. Erosion of culture: Other than enriching the culture, the existing people may fully adopt the culture of the refugees. This may lead to the erosion of the culture of the existing people. Also, they may adopt bad characters and behaviors from the refugees.
2. Overcrowding: Overcrowding is a common challenge with refugees. Since they don’t own their land, they are placed in one area (refugee camp), which is generally small, resulting in overcrowding. This gives birth to other challenges and crimes related to over-population.
3. Lack of employment: Unemployment has been the talk of every day in the current world. The refugee crisis has been on the front line promoting unemployment in a country. This is so because it causes an increase in population in a given area compared to the number of people available.
4. Increased crime rate: As a result of unemployment, many refugees look for alternative ways to earn a living. However, many engage in criminal activities like stealing and thus promoting insecurity in society.
5. Racism and Cultural Differences: If the refugee and the existing community are unwilling to lose their culture or accept any culture from outside, it may result in racism and hatred. As the involved communities try to protect their culture, war may arise, destabilizing community peace.
6. Language Barrier: Most of the refugees are uneducated; they may also refuge in an area with many uneducated fellows, which poses a great challenge in communication. Language barrier creates a higher probability of war and hatred as the communities do not understand each other.
7. Brain Drain: Brain drain occurs when educated fellows flee their origin country or community to another. It is a common occurrence with the refugees; they flee from their place of origin to other places, thus passing the benefits of them to other people of the community where they settle.
8. Over-exploitation of resources: As a result of the high population, there available resources and land is likely to be exploited to cater to the needs of refugees. Over-exploitation leads to exhaustion of resources.
9. Poor land use: Refugees are allocated inset pieces of land; the land is usually small. Due to this, they are forced to do all their activities in that small land. With time, the soil in the area becomes loose and loses its fertility.
10. High level of illiteracy: Many refuge children cannot enjoy their right to education. Refugees cannot raise money to cater to their needs and pay school fees for their kids; hence, most of the refuge children don’t attend school at all.