Under what conditions can the EU resolve the refugee
crisis and curb the rising hostility toward the refugees is a question that has
been on my mind for some time. The
motive for this work is to explore whether education, which is an investment in
human capital, can pave the path to social peace and the integration of the immigrants
on the one hand, and restore trust among the member states deeply divided over illegal
immigration, on the other. The question
is – how should the EU respond to this challenge? To this question, I
tentatively try to explain that the best approach for the EU is to invest in
human capital and continue on its declared path.
All the amount of literature, research, and proof of the
possibility of a positive contribution of the refugee flow fell on deaf
ears.
Many economists and scholars note that
in view of the low birthrates in the majority of EU countries, a large number
of immigrants will be needed to preserve the potential for economic growth and
ensure the long-term financing of European welfare systems; in this way,
reversing the upward creep of the cost of state pensions.
Furthermore, even though in the very short
run, the IMF estimates that refugees will add around 0.19% of Gross Domestic Product
to public expenditure in the EU, later on, as the new arrivals integrate into
the workforce, they are expected to boost annual output by 0.1% for the EU as a
whole
.
European nations share the assumption that the way to
address the refugee crisis is through border security and, therefore, have made
mass investments in advanced border controls.
The EU focuses on investing in tools and means allowing for limiting/blocking
access to Europe (border patrols), shifting the problem to someone
else (sending money to other countries instead of taking in refugees
permanently), or getting rid of the problem (by helping with
deportations).
Oxford University Professor Ruben Andersson shows, in his
paper, that even though European attempts to secure or protect the borders have
clearly failed, more of the same is being done in response to the escalating refugee
crisis.
He further explains that focus
on border security indicates a failure to see the "migration crisis" as
a global crisis of the twenty-first century, which plays out not only at
European borders but also in many of Europe’s neighboring countries and the
developing world.
Focus on border
security implies that the influx of refugees represents a temporary threat to
Europe that can be eliminated; in other words, this is a short-term external
'risk'.
"Most recommendations on how to manage
the migrant crisis are security-based," he says, stressing that "the
striving for ‘security’ tends to produce ‘insecurity’ ad infinitum," and
suggesting that "a different systemic approach" is needed to replace
the current security model."
Nevertheless, over and over again the EU continues
to adopt a tough stance toward illegal immigration with politicians insisting
and recommending solutions to "manage"
the influx instead of
admitting that the "The Refugee Crisis Is Here To Stay
,"
and that the security-approach
is
counterproductive, urgently in need of a shift.
Human
Capital
It is widely assumed that
education plays a vital role in successful integration. The United Nations Human Development
Report 2015: Work for Human Development, stresses the importance of
education in human development, emphasizing that human development encompasses
development in several dimensions of human well being, social development one of its important dimensions. Education is
also one of the most important means to improve personal endowments, build
capabilities, overcome constraints and in the process, enlarge available set of
opportunities and choices for a sustained improvement in well-being. The
process of education and attainments thereof has an impact on all aspects of
life. It is a critical invasive instrument for bringing about social, economic
and political inclusion of people.
Only recently, however, the importance of education in the
integration of refugees in Europe has become topical.
T
he United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHRW) 2013 report entitled
"A New Beginning: Refugee Integration in Europe," has only two
references to education. The first one
is in the Table of Contents and the other that "there is little
refugee-specific literature on education and integration in France, but some
studies report on refugees and language." A joint
paper released by the UN Refugee Agency and the Global Education Monitoring
Report in 2016, however, is entitled "No more excuses: Provide education
to all forcibly displaced people" calling "for countries and their
humanitarian and development partners to urgently ensure that internally
displaced, asylum seeking and refugee children and youth are included in
national education plans." Obviously, the task of integrating large
numbers of migrants and refugees in the EU challenges educational systems and
concepts; but the report emphasizes the importance of the EU investing in its
people for the long-term goal of shared and inclusive growth. I would like to draw attention here that
since 2000, the deportation of illegal immigrants cost at least 11.3 billion
Euro to the 28 EU member states.
Furthermore, there is some evidence that immigrants, who
have obtained their education in host-country schooling, have higher odds of
being employed than other non-educated immigrants. The same study shows that
the benefits of host-country schooling are related to an increasing number of
ties to … natives and to an overwhelming degree of increasing
productivity."
One of the main challenges facing refugees trying to integrate in their host country
is finding a suitable job.
If the EU
recognizes this issue, it can invest in the education of the refugees; in this
way, investing in refugee integration.
In my opinion,
in our increasingly
interdependent world, importance should be attached not only to education but to
future education. I will now proceed to explain
what I mean by future education for the purpose of this paper. As the demands on education have become
increasingly complex today, it becomes essential to determine the needs of the
future, and evolve a system of education that equips youth to face the
challenges that the 21st century will
bring. What is important to keep in
mind in this approach is that the future for which we are educating the youth
does not yet exist and to a large extent is unknown or unknowable. For this reason, we may not be able to
anticipate the precise nature of the future, but we can provide an education
based on the understanding that it will be very different from the present.
In the "Future Education
Symposium"
held in 2015, it was noted that education as it is widely practiced around the
world today, still largely functions according to an old system and fosters
passive submission and obedience to authority at a time when the world needs
individuals with the self-reliance, initiative, and problem-solving
capabilities to fashion new solutions rather than merely regurgitate old
ones. Traditional education still
emphasizes getting the 'right' answers to questions. It prepares youth for
increasingly scarce salaried jobs rather than imparting the capacity to create
new jobs through self-employment and entrepreneurship.
Education is our best hope for a better future but education
should be much more than learning and passing of information.
Various scholars have underscored the
importance of a shift from overemphasis on information to creative thinking and
spiritual values in education.
As stated in an article entitled "Overcoming the Educational Time
Warp," the "knowledge and skills society needs in the 21
st century are those that nurture the
mental, emotional, and social development of individuals who know how to live and
interact with other people, to lead and collaborate with others, to understand
themselves and empathize with others.
"
For this reason, both the European youth
and the refugees should be prepared to "confront uncertainty
".
The current refugee crisis in Europe shows
that an issue can have its origins in one part of the world, and its effects
seen in another distant part of the world.
Being concerned with a narrow cause, ignoring the larger picture and imagining
that anything can be contained are ideas education has to work on to eliminate
in youth.
In her book entitled
Learning Futures – Education,
technology and social change, Professor Keri Facer suggests that education
should create the future instead of preparing the youth for or against a future
we have already imagined.
Furthermore, education
needs to create the conditions that will enable students to assume societal
leadership and responsibility, confront uncertainty, nurture the capacity for
democracy and debate, build solidarity, and participate in the dynamic creation
of possibilities.
Discussion/Conclusions
"All life is problem solving" says Karl Popper in
his book and recommends that the memorization of important material by
repetition be replaced with a problem-oriented approach and that "error
correction is the most important method in learning"
.
In this regard, insistence on outmoded
approaches under new conditions may generate intractable problems for the
European Union.
One of the main tenets
of Popper's philosophy is that progress is achieved "if and only if, we
are prepared to learn from our mistakes: to recognize our errors, and to
utilize them critically instead of persevering in them dogmatically."
Since this approach upholds the view that
there can be no progress without mistakes and that each and every decision we
make may give rise to undesirable consequences, admitting to an error is
necessary in order for the EU to proceed and achieve progress.
In this regard, the EU has obviously failed
to resolve the refugee crisis by focusing only on the border security
approach.
I, therefore, suggest that the
EU turn its attention from the security approach to the educational
approach.
I also suggest that, along
these lines, the EU identify the changes needed in the present education system
and determine a course of action to meet the challenge of a graduate shift to
"Learning to Live Together," which was determined as one of the four
pillars of learning by UNESCO.
In other words, education
as a tool
for
equipping
young
people,
our
future
generation
of
leaders,
with
the
knowledge,
skills
and
attitudes
to
tackle
prejudice
and
hostility
and
to
build
more
peaceful, tolerant and equitable societies.
The refugee crisis is unlikely to be a one-off phenomenon.
Given the tensions in Europe’s wider neighborhood, refugee flows to the EU
might well become the "new normal" over the coming years. While this
can become an opportunity for aging Europe, it is time to prepare for the
"new normal". I suggest,
therefore, that the EU take a risk and invest in the education of both the
refugees and the local population to adjust to the "new normal."
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Frattini,
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(Article)
