Poverty and Refugee Possible Solution?

[Demonsthes]

In some older civilizations (China in particular), lower class people were required to work for a certain time out of the year on public works, namely the great wall of china or several canal systems. China flourished due to this ideal, with it allowing greater transport and defense against invaders. What if we took a similar system and put it into place for refugees and low class workers. I am not saying we should replicate the conditions provided, but that it would give jobs to several thousand currently unemployed Americans and refugees. We could ask nearby cities or towns to offer up housing for the workers, in exchange for reduced taxes or something, or even create housing for the workers, and then have them work cheaply to solidify american infrastructure. We could create more schools for children, hire a great amount of supervisors, and implement those recent ideas that were "too difficult" but gave great long-term effects (solar roads, wind/ water/ sun power).
Pros:
Work for at least poor and refugees
Solidify infrastructure
Long term efficiency
Cons:
Short term spending
Either receive aid from locals, or create housing

 

[waltky]

Finland gives okay for refugees to return to Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia...

Finland Says Refugees Can Return to Safe Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia
Tuesday 17th May, 2016 - Finland tightened restrictions on giving residence permits to asylum seekers from Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia on Tuesday, saying it was now largely safe for them to return to their war-torn homes.

Authorities in Helsinki, where anti-immigration political groups have been on the rise, said security had improved to such an extent that refugees would generally not be at risk in any parts of the three countries, despite the running conflicts. There was no immediate reaction from refugee agencies. But the statement by the Finnish Immigration Service came in the face of a string of international assessments of the scale of the ongoing bloodshed and refugee crisis. "It will be more difficult for applicants from these countries to be granted a residence permit," the immigration service said in a statement. "It is currently possible for asylum seekers to return to all areas in Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia without the ongoing armed conflicts as such presenting a danger to them only because they are staying in the country."

Asylum seekers would now only be allowed to stay if they could prove that they were individually at risk. Somalia has been slowly recovering from more than two decades of war. But the government is still fighting an Islamist insurgency by the militant group al Shabaab, which regularly launches gun and bomb attacks in the capital Mogadishu and other cities. Islamic State still holds key cities and vast swathes of territory in northern and western Iraq which it seized in 2014. Despite battlefield setbacks over the past year, the militants have continued to attack civilians in areas under government control including a string of attacks last week in and around the capital that killed more than 100 people.

The Taliban launched a spring offensive in Afghanistan last month, vowing to drive out the Western-backed government in Kabul and restore strict Islamic rule. Finland's center-right coalition government - which includes nationalist Finns party - has tightened its immigration policies since the influx of asylum seekers last year. Groups of self-proclaimed patriots have launched regular patrols and marches, saying they want to protect locals from immigrants. Around 32,500 people applied for asylum in 2015 from 3,600 in 2014, with most of them coming from Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia. Numbers have come down significantly this year.

Finland Says Refugees Can Return to Safe Afghanistan Iraq Somalia

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UNHCR warns of worsening shelter conditions for refugees, launches global campaign
Thursday 19th May, 2016 - Without a major increase in funding and global support, millions of people fleeing war and persecution face homelessness or inadequate housing in countries such as Lebanon, Mexico and Tanzania.Geneva, 18 May 2016 ' A huge shortfall in funds for sheltering refugees is severely undermining efforts to tackle the biggest global displacement crisis since World War II, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, warned today.

At the launch today of a new global campaign, called 'Nobody Left Outside,' UNHCR said efforts to provide adequate shelter for refugees under its care were facing a half-billion-dollar deficit. Nobody Left Outside calls on the private sector to contribute funds for shelter solutions for 2 million refugees. The campaign is aimed at individuals, companies, foundations and philanthropists worldwide. Forced displacement, most of it arising from war and conflict, has risen sharply in the past decade, largely a result of the Syria crisis, but also due to a proliferation of new displacement situations and unresolved old ones. Some 60 million people are today forcibly displaced, almost 20 million of them refugees who have been forced to flee across international borders, and the rest people displaced within their own countries. Humanitarian funding is failing to keep pace.

A shelter ' be it a tent, a makeshift structure or a house ' is the basic building block for refugees to survive and recover from the physical and mental effects of violence and persecution. Yet around the world, millions are struggling to get by in inadequate and often dangerous dwellings, barely able to pay the rent, and putting their lives, dignity and futures at risk. 'Shelter is the foundation stone for refugees to survive and recover, and should be considered a non-negotiable human right,' said Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. 'As we tackle worldwide displacement on a level not seen since World War 2, no refugee should be left outside.

The Nobody Left Outside campaign aims to raise funds from the private sector to build or improve shelter for 2 million refugees by 2018, amounting to almost one in eight of the 15.1 million under UNHCR's remit in mid 2015. The UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) cares for the remaining Palestinian refugees. Without a major increase in funding and global support, millions of people fleeing war and persecution face homelessness or inadequate housing in countries such as Lebanon, Mexico and Tanzania. Without a safe place to eat, sleep, study, store belongings and have privacy the consequences to their health and welfare can be profound.

Providing shelter on a global scale is a massive logistical undertaking. Every year, UNHCR purchases 70,000 tents and more than 2 million tarpaulins, which have come to symbolize the response to humanitarian emergencies. However, as UNHCR continues to face high levels of shelter needs and with limited funding available, operations often face the difficult decision to prioritize emergency shelter for the maximum number of people of concern, over an investment in more durable and sustainable solutions. Outside of camps, refugees rely on UNHCR support to find housing and pay rent in towns and cities across dozens of countries bordering conflict zones.

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