Implementing policies to facilitate the arrival and integration of refugees is necessary to steer the crisis toward a more positive outcome.

The response by the European Union (EU) toward the refugee crisis has been fragmented and chaotic, leading to warnings by the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) that the crisis will only worsen if there is no “united European emergency response.”

While some within the EU do not support the intake of Syrian refugees due to “anti-Muslim” sentiment or fears of “foreign infiltration,” the implementation of policies to facilitate the arrival and integration of refugees is necessary to steer the crisis toward a more positive outcome.

Refugees-cum-migrants are less likely to commit crimes than the native population; are more likely to contribute to the social system than extract from it; and are likely to help alleviate the problems brought about by an ageing population in Europe.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Fair Observer’s editorial policy.

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