According to Oxford professor Paul Collier, Western countries can help more than one hundred refugees locally, for the same money we spend here on one of them.
The professor spoke at a conference of Denmark’s Social Democracy party in Copenhagen last week. He rejected the idea that Europe should receive migrants and said:
“We spend 135 dollars for every person who shows up here, compared to one dollar for every person that we help in their own region. Those staying home are often much weaker than the ones who have the resources to get to Europe.”
Collier also made a statement about the migrants and refugees who come to Europe:
“Almost everyone coming to Europe from countries where they were already safe… The idea that this group has an enormous need for help, is simply irresponsible and a result of intellectual laziness.”
Paul Collier is Professor of Economics and Director of the Centre for the Study of African Economies, Oxford University. He has previously served as Director of the Development Research Group at the World Bank.
Currently he is Advisor to the Strategy and Policy Department of the IMF, advisor to the Africa Region of the World Bank; and he has advised the British Government on its recent White Paper on economic development policy.