World Refugee Day

Conclusion

There is nothing the developed world is doing that will have the slightest effect on the growing number of refugees wanting to move to a developed country for any number of reasons.

People smugglers are being blamed for the crisis. Whilst to a man people smugglers should all be firmly locked up somewhere, we, in our safe first world cocoon, can only blame ourselves for allowing the situation to arise.

What is the solution?

Stop the boats?

In the long run this will be fruitless. The problem is being attacked from the wrong end. By the time people are on a boat they have already made the decision to move- it's too late.

Longer term solutions:

• For the developed world to cooperatively persuade third world to curb their growth in populations and then provide the funds to implement such a programme. Maybe some help could be garnered from the Chinese, who have successfully reduced their own population growth to zero, and whose population will start to reduce in years to come.
• The developed world provide something like $150 Billion per annum in aid. Even if all these funds are used for population growth control, it is unlikely to be enough.
• As well as population growth programmes there should be a focus on education, especially of women. Populations with a high literacy rate among their female populations have a lower birth rate (e.g. The Indian State of Kerala).
• Additionally there needs to be regional solutions. If one takes the Asia pacific region as an example, the media has assailed us all with the plight of the Rohingya people of Burma. It is absolutely in Australia's interests that a regional refugee solution be agreed with its Asean partners (Brunei, Malaysia, Indonesia, The Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos). It is in the interests of the wealthier countries in the region to bear the majority of the funding for this (Including Australia).
• Additional aid will result in additional temptations for corruption. In its own best interests the developed world already needs a solution to tackle corruption relating to their aid programmes. If they were serious about really providing aid for development rather than keeping individual countries inside the tent as a part of a foreign policy programme then a solution will be found.