Conflicts and the Refugee Crisis: An International Call for Action
Seminar Report
The Managing Director joined a high-level group of policymakers and representatives from international organizations to discuss the current refugee crisis. They discussed the impact of the crisis on source, transit, and host countries and urged the global community to muster a collective response to this unprecedented challenge.
Key Points:
Panelists emphasized the urgency of taking collective action to face the refugee crisis. Major economies have been reluctant to recognize the global scale of the problem. MD pointed out that Too often, the plight of refugees is conflated with terrorism, making it more difficult to mobilize an effective response.
Though the short-term fiscal costs are real, there are potential long-term economic gains from migration. Recent IMF research suggests that if migrants are successfully integrated, they could boost EU growth by 0.2 percent of GDP, while that figure could be as high as 0.5 percent for Germany and Sweden. Furthermore, there is evidence that refugees who are well integrated do not cause widespread job displacement in host countries.
Europe is in the process of adopting a four-pillar approach to the refugee crisis consisting of harmonizing asylum policies, particularly in terms of social benefits and access to labor markets; securing external borders; combating human trafficking; and tackling the root causes of displacement.
Bremmer argued that for the past 40 years, a modicum of stability was maintained in the MENA region by international efforts and funding, high oil prices, and a relatively quiescent population. None of those elements exist in 2016. Within five years’ time, states will be less important as principal actors in the region, ceding their influence to disparate forces such as warlords, terrorist organizations, and regional and international organizations.
While the world has been slow to wake up to this new reality, Jordan has been contending with the refugee crisis for half a decade, at a substantial fiscal and societal cost. The Jordanian people have made heroic efforts to welcome 1.3 million Syrian refugees and the government has adopted a holistic approach toward the crisis, particularly by seeking to integrate them into the labor market. Countries such as Jordan should be recognized for their efforts and sacrifices, but should not be left to shoulder the burden alone.
Quotes:
“It’s a major humanitarian crisis, which calls for collective, massive action. The huge scale of the crisis requires a bigger, bolder, and broader approach.” Christine Lagarde, Managing Director, International Monetary Fund
“We need to be careful not to mix terrorism and refugees. Too often, there is a tendency to assume there is an intimate link between the two. In the main, those are distinct problems, and refugees originate from countries that are themselves victims of conflict.” Christine Lagarde, Managing Director, International Monetary Fund
“This is not just a humanitarian challenge, it’s a development and economic challenge. We need longer-term thinking about how to incorporate these refugees into national development plans, and how to integrate them into the long-term economic course of the host countries and communities.” Kyung-wha Kang, Assistant Secretary-General and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator, United Nations
“Jordan has been commended as being an incredibly resilient country that has done the right thing and acted as a good global citizen. But Jordan has been let down because we have been left to suffer the consequences.” Imad Fakhoury, Minister of Planning and International Cooperation, Jordan
“The big question is, how can we get global attention to what is inevitably a problem for everybody before the tsunami is too big?” Kristalina Georgieva, Vice President, European Commission
“I’d focus less on great powers and focus on what can be done to help support the local and regional powers who are clearly going to be forced to bear 99 percent of this burden.” Ian Bremmer, President, Eurasia Group
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Moderator: Ali Velshi, Host, Al Jazeera America Ali Velshi was most recently the host of “Ali Velshi On Target” a nightly prime-time show on Al Jazeera America. Velshi has reported from the U.S. Presidential campaign trail, as well as covering ISIL and the Syrian refugee crisis from Turkey among other important world events. Velshi is the author of “Gimme My Money Back” and co-author with CNN’s Christine Romans of “How to Speak Money”. Born in Nairobi and raised in Toronto, Velshi graduated from Queen’s University in Canada with a degree in Religion, and will be awarded an honorary Doctorate of Laws from his Alma Mater in 2016. |
Panelists
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Christine Lagarde, Managing Director, IMF Christine Lagarde is Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund since July 2011. She held various ministerial positions within the French government, including Finance and Economy Minister (2007–11), Minister for Foreign Trade, and Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries. She has also been Chairman of the Global Exchange Committee and Global Strategic Committee of Baker & McKenzie. |
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Ian Bremmer, President, Eurasia Group Ian Bremmer is the president and founder of Eurasia Group, the leading global political risk research and consulting firm. Dubbed the “go-to-guru on political risk” by the Wall Street Journal, he is Time magazine’s foreign affairs columnist and a global research professor at New York University. His latest book, Superpower: Three Choices for America's Role in the World, was released in May 2015. Bremmer earned a PhD in political science from Stanford University in 1994 |
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Imad Fakhoury, Minister of Planning and International Cooperation, Jordan Imad Fakhoury is Jordan’s Minister of Planning and International Cooperation since March 2015, and was a senator from 2014-2015. Previously, he worked as Chief of Staff of the Royal Court (2011-2014). He has an MBA from Chicago University and a Master of Public Policy from Harvard University. In his current capacity, Minister Fakhoury is in charge of overseeing Jordan’s response to the refugee crisis. |
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Kristalina Georgieva, Vice President, European Commission Kristalina Georgieva is the European Commission’s Vice-President for Budget and Human Resources. She was Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response during 2010-14. Prior to joining the Commission, she held several positions at the World Bank, including as Vice-President and Corporate Secretary. Ms. Georgieva has an M. A. in Political Economy and Sociology and a PhD in Economic Science from the University of National and World Economy in Sofia, Bulgaria. |
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Kyung-wha Kang, Assistant Secretary-General and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator, UN Ms. Kyung-wha Kang is Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator in the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs since April 2013. Prior to that, she was Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights. Before joining the UN, she was Director General of Int’l Organizations at the Republic of Korea’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Trade, and chaired the Commission on the Status of Women for the UN. Ms. Kang has a PhD in intercultural communication from the University of Massachusetts, in the U.S. |
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