As refugees fleeing the ongoing war in Syria continue to pour into Europe in historic numbers, the hunger for a solution to the as-yet-unsolved problem remains high.
At times overlooked in the coverage of the refugee crisis is the fact that Turkey and other countries in the Middle East have already played host to millions of those fleeing Syria in late 2011. As Amnesty International notes, Turkey is currently home to more Syrian refugees than anywhere else in the world.
In a new story for The Conversation, a non-profit media outlet that features writing from the academic and research world, Boston College economics professor Mathis Wagner considers what lessons the European Union might be able to apply to the current crisis from how the situation has played out in Turkey.
Informed by a recent working paper he authored with World Bank senior economist Ximena Del Carpio, Wagner argues that Turkey has not maximized the potential economic impact of its inflow of 1.9 million Syrians because only a small few of them have been issued work permits. As a result, Syrians have mostly displaced workers in informal fields, disproportionately impacting women, the less educated and agricultural workers.
On the plus side, the number of better-paying formal jobs have increased for Turkish workers, and average wages are on the rise. Still, the current situation means that the country “may miss out on the benefits that the most high-skilled and entrepreneurial refugees can bring, as these are encouraged to move westward,” Wagner writes.
In order to avoid that outcome, Wagner recommends a speedier process for integrating refugees into the workforce.
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