The Wealth of Refugees: How Displaced People Can Build Economies

by Alexander Betts

Overview

We live in an age of displacement. Refugee numbers are increasing due to a proliferation of fragile states, and this problem will be exacerbated by climate change and the impact of COVID-19. And yet, rising populist nationalism has undermined the political willingness of rich countries to accept migrants and asylum seekers. Given these contradictory trends, how can we create sustainable refugee policies that enable displaced people to live in safety and dignity, while operating at scale?

The Wealth of Refugees draws upon a decade of original qualitative and quantitative research to offer practical solutions. Focusing on refugees in camps and cities in Africa, it identifies approaches that can be effective in improving the welfare of refugees, increasing social cohesion between refugees and host communities, and reducing the need for onward migration. The book argues that the key lies in unlocking the potential contributions of refugees themselves. Refugees bring skills, talents, and aspirations and can be a benefit rather than a burden to receiving societies. Realizing this potential relies upon moving beyond a purely humanitarian focus to fully include refugees in host-country economies, build economic opportunities in refugee-hosting regions, and navigate the ambiguous politics of refugee protection.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780198870685
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	06/22/2021
Pages:	448
Sales rank:	1,121,111
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.60(d)

About the Author

Alexander Betts is Professor of Forced Migration and International Affairs, and William Golding Senior Fellow in Politics at Brasenose College, at the University of Oxford.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
PART I: ETHICS—WHAT IS RIGHT?
2. The Search for Sustainability
PART II: ECONOMICS—WHAT WORKS?
3. Refugee Economies4. The Limits of Urbanization5. Uganda: The Right to Work and Freedom of Movement6. Kalobeyei: A Market-Based Settlement Model7. Dollo Ado: The Private Sector and Border Development
PART III: POLITICS—WHAT PERSUADES?
8. The Politics of Refugee Rights9. Uganda: A Political History of Refugee Self-Reliance10. Kenya: How Turkana County Turned Refugees Into An Asset11. Ethiopia: Conditionality and the Right to Work
PART IV: POLICY—WHAT NEXT?
12. Building Borderland Economies13. Beyond Africa: The Syrian and Venezuelan Refugee Crises14. Refugees, COVID-19, and Future Trends15. Conclusion

Editorial Reviews

"[An] informative account of contemporary refugee policy." — Nicolas van de Walle, Foreign Affairs

"Alexander Betts' book demonstrates his indefatigable commitment to addressing the predicaments of contemporary refugee protection... This work is as significant for the agenda it sets as for the results it reports. [He] makes a compelling case that interdisciplinary analysis of refugee economies has a central place in the future of refugee studies." — David Owen, Times Higher Education

"A timely and thought-provoking contribution to refugee policy literature ... The Wealth of Refugees represents an important work by a leading scholar in the field and it will no doubt be highly influential in shaping the future of global refugee policy in coming years." — Maria O'Sullivan, Australian Book Review

"A thoughtful contribution to the literature of humanitarian aid." — Kirkus

"Alexander Betts grapples with one of the key dilemmas in global politics: how to sustainably protect refugees. Drawing upon extensive research in East Africa, this book provides fresh and powerful insights into the effectiveness of measures aimed at promoting 'self-reliance'. It is a must-read for anyone interested in remedies to the challenges of displacement." — Andrew Geddes, Chair in Migration Studies and Director of the Migration Policy Centre, European University Institute

"In this excellent book, Alexander Betts juxtaposes two ideas not usually connected — wealth and refugees. He shows how, with the right approach, refugees can sometimes thrive rather than merely survive. He challenges everyone interested in improving the lives of refugees to balance principle with pragmatism in navigating a complex political landscape." — Raouf Mazou, Assistant High Commissioner for Operations, the UN Refugee Agency

"An admirably lucid, evidence-based, and solution-oriented engagement with the economic lives of forced migrants. One does not have to agree with Betts to learn from his deep and broad expertise on one of the most critical social justice issues of our time." — Jacqueline Bhabba, Professor of the Practice of Health and Human Rights, Harvard University

"Works by political scientists often aspire to combine interdisciplinary sophistication, methodological pluralism, political realism, and cogent policy analysis. In this incisive analysis of policies for refugee self-reliance, Alexander Betts achieves all four objectives." — Robert O. Keohane, Emeritus Professor of International Affairs, Princeton University

"People who migrate for safety also participate in the economy. They and their children toil, learn, create, and invest. The more policy is designed to unleash their potential contribution, the more material benefit they bring to the places they go. This book explains numerous specific experiences of how to do that, compellingly told by one of the world's foremost experts." — Michael Clemens, Director of Migration, Displacement, and Humanitarianism, and Senior Fellow, the Center for Global Development (CGD)

From the Publisher

2021-04-24
Scholarly examination of the politics and economics of displacement.

Oxford professor Betts, a specialist in “forced migration,” opens by noting that the number of refugees and internally displaced people—i.e., those who remain in their homeland but not in their homes—is vast and likely to grow “due to a proliferation in the number of fragile states.” These states are made fragile both by internal political and economic failings and by external forces such as war, pandemic, and climate change. Two principal examples of nations affected by numerous forces at once are Syria and Venezuela, which have seen huge outflows of people. As Betts argues, one effective means of dealing with the problem of displacement is to apply remedies at home, with the wealthy nations providing aid to poorer ones so that their peoples have less need to go elsewhere—a win for both those poorer nations and wealthier ones in Europe and North America that are less and less inclined to take in large numbers of immigrants. The author calls for programs of infrastructure development and job creation as well as enlisting developed neighbors in a “high degree of specialization,” with those nearby states providing regions of refuge and “sustainable sanctuaries” given that those neighbors are likely to share cultural similarities that would allow for easier assimilation. Betts highlights Uganda as a case study of a place where refugees are allowed to settle and to engage fully in the outside economy, which has mostly good effects though some perhaps unintended consequences as well (Idi Amin drew support from those refugees to shore up a regime that oppressed native Ugandans). Given nationalist tendencies around the world, Betts notes, the Ugandan model may be difficult to apply. “In the short term, amid global recession,” he writes, “the willingness of publics and politicians to share scarce resources with distant strangers will be tested to [the] breaking point.”

A thoughtful contribution to the literature of humanitarian aid.

Kirkus Reviews