refugees need not be a burden, if they are allowed to...

2018/6/21 Refugees need not be a burden, if they are allowed to work - Let them work

https://www.economist.com/international/2018/04/21/refugees-need-not-be-a-burden-if-they-are-allowed-to-work 1/5

Let them work

Refugees need not be a burden, if they are allowed to

work

The successes and failures of Uganda’s liberal refugee policy have lessons for elsewhere

Print edition | International Apr 21st 2018 | OMUGO

TWO years ago, a group of elders in this village in north-western Uganda agreed to

lend their land to refugees from South Sudan. About 120,000 are now in the

surrounding area. Here they live in tarpaulin shelters and mud-brick huts on a

patch of scrub where cows once grazed. Kemis Butele, a gravel-voiced Ugandan

elder, explains that hosting refugees is a way for a remote place, long neglected by

the central government, to get noticed. He hopes for new schools, clinics and a

decent road—and “that our children can get jobs”.

There are more than 20m refugees in the world today, more than at any time since

the end of the second world war. Nearly 90% reside in poor countries. In many, to

preserve jobs for natives, governments bar refugees from working in the formal

economy. Uganda has shown how a different approach can reap dividends. The

https://www.economist.com/sections/international



government gives refugees land plots and lets them work. In some places, the

refugees boost local businesses and act as a magnet for foreign aid. Mr Butele and

many other Ugandans see their new neighbours as a benefit, not a burden. Sadly,

such attitudes are still the exception.

Uganda hosts more than 1m South

Sudanese refugees, in unfenced

“settlements” across hundreds of square

miles in the north. Most came after the

collapse of a peace deal in July 2016. Hilda

walked for two weeks, carrying her four-

year-old son. “If those Dinkas get you on

the road, they will kill you,” she says,

referring to the president’s ethnic group.

This is the third time she has found refuge

in Uganda.

Refugees are “brothers and sisters”, say many Ugandans. Mr Butele was once one

himself. But the welcome is also a pragmatic one. Northern Uganda is so poor that

some locals pose as refugees to receive food aid. Others see refugees as buyers for

local goods. Elsewhere in Uganda has indeed seen such positive spillovers. One

study from 2016 found that the presence of Congolese refugees in western Uganda

had increased consumption per household. Another estimates that each new

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refugee household boosts total local income, including that of refugees, by $320-

430 more than the cost of the aid the household is given. That rises to $560-670

when refugees are given cash instead of rations.

Uganda’s generous refugee policy also opens possibilities for skulduggery. In

February the government suspended its senior refugee official and three

colleagues, after the UN passed on reports of fraud. Allegations include extortion,

the trafficking of women and girls, and the systematic inflation of refugee

numbers, to skim off aid money for non-existent beneficiaries.

Such failures hold lessons for other countries, but so do Uganda’s successes, say

some economists. Paul Collier and Alexander Betts, of Oxford University, argue that

rich countries should pay other “havens” to open their labour markets, as Uganda

has. The result, they say, is a triple win: for refugees; for host economies; and for

rich countries to which the refugees otherwise might swarm chaotically.

But security and cultural concerns often trump potential economic benefits. In

Jordan refugees make up 20% of the population. Only since 2016 has the

government allowed them to work, in exchange for help from Britain, the World

Bank and the European Union. The “Jordan Compact” has had mixed results. The

government handed out work permits, but only for certain sectors. Some refugees

found construction work, but many shunned low-paying factory jobs.

They will go far

Sending aid to the countries from which refugees come may actually encourage

migration, as potential migrants gain the means to pay smugglers. This suggests

that rather than sending aid, rich countries should lead by example and open their

own labour markets (see article

(https://www.economist.com/news/international/21740726-it-eases-fiscal-burden-

without-hurting-locals-prospects-european-countries-should-make) ). In the short

term, as Mr Collier and Mr Betts argue, it may be easier for refugees to find

employment in nearby countries similar to their own. But in the long term, they

will make more money in richer countries, and so send more remittances home.

Refugee influxes produce both winners and losers. In Tanzania, a surge of

Burundian and Rwandan refugees from 1993 caused a sharp rise in food prices,

helping local farmers but hurting town-dwellers. Even in northern Uganda,

protesting locals blocked a road last year, complaining that their hopes for

improved living conditions and abundant jobs had not been met.

https://www.economist.com/news/international/21740726-it-eases-fiscal-burden-without-hurting-locals-prospects-european-countries-should-make



Many refugees in the latest influx are also struggling. Settlements have restaurants,

billiard halls, pharmacies and vegetable stalls, but business is sluggish. In one,

Imvepi, Jeff Mambo, a refugee, recently opened the “Exile Salon”, offering “cute

styles for mens” at 1,500 shillings ($0.41) per trim. But few refugees come for

haircuts; they have little cash to spare. Next door, women sell their bland UN food

rations for salt and soap.

One problem is that donors have given only a third of the funding needed in 2017—

a shortfall of $443m. Health and education services are expanding too slowly: one

school has 4,200 students and just 16 teachers. In the past, refugees in Uganda got

one-hectare parcels of land. New arrivals get smaller, stony plots, big enough to

grow household greens, but not a surplus. During a food shortage last year, some

refugees ventured homeward to recover abandoned crops; a few got killed. The

World Food Programme gave others half their rations in cash. But as yet the markets

to supply grain quickly and in sufficient quantities did not exist—as hungry

refugees were well aware.

Refugees are more likely to thrive and integrate if allowed to move freely and work

legally. It helps, too, if they receive aid in cash rather than kind. However, in

Uganda, which is also coping with a new influx from Congo, the welcome for

refugees is wearing thin. And in South Sudan, the killing continues. Having

returned and fled twice before, Hilda is not hopeful. “I will not go back,” she says.

See also: “European countries should make it easier for refugees to work

(https://www.economist.com/news/international/21740726-it-eases-fiscal-burden-

without-hurting-locals-prospects-european-countries-should-make) ”

Sources

“Their Suffering, Our Burden? How Congolese Refugees Affect the Ugandan

Population

(https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X15002417) ”, by Merle

Kreibaum, World Development, 2016, vol. 78, issue C

“Economic Impact of Refugees

(http://www.pnas.org/content/pnas/113/27/7449.full.pdf) ”, by J. Edward Taylor et

al., PNAS—Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2016, vol. 113, issue 27

https://www.economist.com/news/international/21740726-it-eases-fiscal-burden-without-hurting-locals-prospects-european-countries-should-makehttps://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X15002417http://www.pnas.org/content/pnas/113/27/7449.full.pdf



“Refugee Economies: Rethinking Popular Assumptions

(https://www.rsc.ox.ac.uk/files/files-1/refugee-economies-2014.pdf) ”, by Alexander

Betts et al., Refugee Studies Centre, University of Oxford, 2014

“Yes in my backyard? The economics of refugees and their social dynamics in

Kakuma, Kenya

(http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/308011482417763778/pdf/111303-WP-

Kakuma-Report-Yes-in-my-backyard-December-2016-PUBLIC.pdf) ”, by Apurva

Sanghi, Harun Onder and Varalakshmi Vemuru, World Bank Group, 2016

“Do refugee camps help or hurt hosts? The case of Kakuma, Kenya

(https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304387817300688) ”, by

Jennifer Alix-Garcia et al., Journal of Development Economics, 2018, vol. 130

“The Effect of Refugee Inflows on Host Communities: Evidence from Tanzania

(https://doi.org/10.1093/wber/lhp014) ”, by Jennifer Alix-Garcia and David Saah, The

World Bank Economic Review, 2010, vol. 24, issue 1

“Civil wars beyond their borders: The human capital and health consequences of

hosting refugees (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdeveco.2010.08.011) ”, by Javier E.

Baez, Journal of Development Economics, 2011, vol. 96, issue 2

This article appeared in the International section of the print edition under the headline "Making them

welcome"

https://www.rsc.ox.ac.uk/files/files-1/refugee-economies-2014.pdfhttp://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/308011482417763778/pdf/111303-WP-Kakuma-Report-Yes-in-my-backyard-December-2016-PUBLIC.pdfhttps://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304387817300688https://doi.org/10.1093/wber/lhp014https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdeveco.2010.08.011

2018/6/21 World Class, by Andreas Schleicher | Financial Times

https://www.ft.com/content/0e53607c-5f5f-11e8-ad91-e01af256df68 1/3

Performance metrics: Pupils sit a GCSE exam in the UK © Chris Ratcliffe/BloombergReview by Andrew Jack MAY 28, 2018

When Andreas Schleicher first proposed a global test to compare the performance of differenteducation systems in 1995, officials said it could not or should not be done.

Previous analyses including by his employer, the OECD, the Paris-based club of mostly richnations, focused on the number of years of schooling rather than tracking the skills thatstudents learnt.

By persuading states to try a pilot scheme with standard tests, he began what became theProgramme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) in 2000. The latest iteration iscurrently being given to millions of children around the world.

In a clear and readable new book, Schleicher offers a guide to the findings over the years of Pisaand related surveys, which have often sparked debate with findings that run counter to receivedwisdom.

Despite stereotypes about rote learning in Asia, for example, China and Vietnam performextremely well on maths and literacy, and Singapore ranks very highly for creative problemsolving.

An Asian emphasis on success through hard work translates into more equitable outcomes bystriving for all students to master key concepts. But some western systems believe educationalperformance is linked to inherent intelligence and that weaker students will never master theideas taught in schools.

Non-Fiction

World Class, by Andreas Schleicher

A data-driven approach to educational reform

https://www.ft.com/stream/b359c1e1-f7ed-4239-816c-1720f99df8b4https://www.ft.com/content/d320c9d7-1638-4388-b667-a5d63bd4bbc2https://www.ft.com/content/157bc3d6-b59f-11e7-8007-554f9eaa90bahttps://www.ft.com/non-fiction



Estonian and Finnish children perform extremely well, even though they start school older andspend fewer hours a year in the classroom than their counterparts elsewhere in Europe.Canada’s success in fostering tolerance and integration shows immigrant children perform justas well as native-born ones.

Andreas Schleicher

There are other fascinating findings: despite a western trend towards smaller class size, some ofthe stronger performing systems have larger classes. Students help each other to learn in smallteams while teachers focus support where it is needed.

Schleicher argues that school systems remain the product of the industrial era, focused onstandardisation and compliance. Yet the pace of change in modern society requires studentsequipped with cognitive, emotional and social skills. They need fewer facts and more skills toapply knowledge in novel situations: a move from memorisation to elaboration.

After the 2008 crisis, Schleicher says there was pressure to add more financial education tocurricula in an effort to improve students’ financial literacy. But it may have been misplaced.Shanghai schools, for example, added little such material but its pupils scored best on financialliteracy in the next Pisa round, since they had a deeper understanding through maths of relevantconcepts such as probability, change and risk.

Schleicher argues that the fad for coding risks using “today’s techniques for today’s problems”.OECD survey data show that while moderate use of technology can enhance learning, studentsin systems which use it extensively perform badly.

Pisa has long been criticised, not least by compilers of rival tests and officials in countries whoseschool systems rank poorly. Survey data certainly have their limitations. For instance, the UKemerges on paper as having very high teacher autonomy, which does not tally with theirfrequent complaints of having to “teach to the test”.

https://www.ft.com/content/70f4ca9e-06d1-11e4-b0d3-00144feab7dehttps://www.ft.com/content/3df1d370-a9c7-11e7-ab66-21cc87a2edde



Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2018. All rights reserved.

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The author’s descriptions of exemplary pilot programmes sometimes seem too perfect, withlittle counterbalancing analysis of underperforming schools. The explanations for why somecountries perform better than others — or change over time — are also limited.

Yet many of his recommendations ring true: do not compromise on standards but be flexible inhow they are achieved; raise teachers’ status and give them time for research and innovation;invest in schools; and embrace life-long learning for human fulfilment and economic growth.

Schleicher rightly stresses that Pisa results should not be “about copying prefabricated solutionsfrom other countries”, but rather exploring good practices domestically and abroad. While thedebate on reform is far from settled, his effort to bring figures and comparisons to thediscussion is extremely useful.

The reviewer is the FT’s global education editor

World Class: how to build a 21st century school system, by Andreas Schleicher, OECD

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