Alexander Betts and Paul Collier’s analysis of today’s refugee crisis offers little in the way of solutions When the Ottoman empire collapsed almost a century ago, more than 1.2 million Orthodox Christian refugees fled into Greece. – a massive influx for a country of 5.5 million people, dwarfing the number of recent incomers. Yet the crisis was managed, not repulsed by panicking politicians, and turned into something strikingly positive for the Greeks. Backed by international loans, they moved arriving families into under-developed areas, encouraged integration and ended up dramatically improving the nation’s agricultural output. What a contrast with the abject reaction to today’s refugee crisis, which finds Greece again on the frontline. With a few noble exceptions, the political response in the world’s wealthiest nations has been shamefully selfish and callous. Unfortunately _Refuge_, although it claims to offer “moral and practical” solutions, is a flawed and frustrating work. Much of the authors’ analysis is correct. The vast majority of refugees live in developing nations, yet a crisis caused by mass flight to Europe has exposed gross failures of existing systems to cope with large numbers suddenly on the move. Continue reading...
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