Gambian Representative to the World Summit on Refugees and Displaced Persons - Julie Mertzman

Economics of Refugee Movements

The Gambia's economy is suffering due to refugee movements into the country. While the economy is already instable due to natural disasters, the movement of refugees into The Gambia is making it more difficult for the state to support itself. The refugees place extensive strain on welfare and they add to the existing unemployment. The trouble begins when these refugees settle into their new environment. The best idea would be to assimilate the refugees into the economy to make them industrious members of the society. This will make the economy more stable and the refugees will be less of a burden on The Gambia.

The Gambia's external national debt topped out at 430 million US dollars. The Gambia is the recipient of $45.4 million in economic aid. This debt is mainly due to the number of refugees that escape to The Gambia every year. The Per Capita Income in The Gambia is 330 US dollars. With the help of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), The Gambia is looking for not only food, medical and economic assistance, but also for local integration assistance to help refugees and displaced persons become self-supporting. The Gambia also already has begun education in such areas as family planning and family health. The country has also started activities like talks and lectures to allow women to acquire skills such as sewing and knitting.

While The Gambia is already on its way to helping their economy, and the country has been fortunate enough to receive substantial amounts of aid, it does not compare to the number of untrained refugees that are fleeing into The Gambia. Countries which The Gambia exports to, such as Japan, UK, France and so on, need to help with the building of retraining camps. These camps will make it possible for the refugees that flee to the Gambia to work in small-scale industry to earn a living and contribute to the economy instead of exhausting the economy.

Repatriation and Naturalization of Refugees

Refugees are a direct concern to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees. Two of the ways in which the UNHCR helps The Gambia with their refugees is in voluntary repatriation including preparations for departure to the country of origin and the resettlement for refugees who are granted asylum. The UNHCR helps the refugees to The Gambia to both return and reintegrate into their country of origin, or it helps them to become independent and fruitful members of society. The trend that has been set in Africa is repatriation of refugees rather than the granting of asylum. This has happened mainly because of the limited competence of the host countries in Africa.

The problem of refugees is clearly related to human rights violations. Countries that have mass exoduses should look for the reason behind the fleeing from their country to The Gambia or other such host countries. If poverty is the cause then developmental and mechanical relief should be made available; if it is the case of human rights violations, then the situation should be constantly studied and supervised to find the right provisions to be made on a country basis. In the case of The Gambia, fleeing is due to both poverty and to breaches of human rights. These refugees need to be incorporated into a society in which their rights to healthcare, employment and education can be guaranteed.

While Naturalization is not without its problems, it seems to be the best way to go about the refugees in The Gambia. It is constructive because it allows the refugees to not have to return to their country of origin. Instead they would become part of the society in The Gambia and become a productive part of the economy instead of depleting the economy. Repatriation on the other hand is a little more stressful because there is the chance that the countries of origin do not adhere to the commitments that they have made internationally. The Gambia suggests further aid and help with the initiation of retraining camps to be provided to supply for the refuges that they naturalize as part of The Gambia.

The Situation in Afghanistan

Many countries, similar to Afghanistan, are at war with themselves because of ethnic differences and external interference. For this reason, people flee from their countries of origin into nations such as The Gambia. As was stated before, these refugees introduce considerable strain on the economies of the state into which they have fled. The Gambia is one of those countries that are in a large debt due to the growing number of refugees who move into the state every year. The tribulations arise because many of these refugees have no incentive to move back to their homelands. Numerous amounts of the refugees are women who are mistreated in their land of origin. This mistreatment can be anywhere from rights violations to the civil liberties they try to find in their religious lifestyle.

Refugees leave their homelands for several various reasons, many of which have already been stated. The new host countries, such as The Gambia, need to be equipped with a substantial amount of aid to provide for the new people entering their state. Many of the new host countries are already in a considerable size debt due to their own problems, as in The Gambia, where one of the biggest reasons for debt are the numerous amount of natural disasters which occur. The Gambia needs to increase its amount of exports to help stabilize the economy. The Gambia feels the need for economic relief in the terms of provisions for the refugees to become part of their new societies by participating in the economy and becoming self-sufficient.