Refugee movements to the EU - case study: Afghanistan to the UK

5.5.2 Economic movements within the EU - case study - Poland to the UK

6.1 Urbanisation

Refugee movements to the EU - case study: Afghanistan to the UK

  1. Overview

    1. A refugee is a person who is outside their home country because they have either suffered or feared persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, been a member of a persecuted social group or is fleeing war

  2. Causes

    1. The borders of Afghanistan created by the European empires did not reflect the ethnic divisions there, causing the borders to be fluid & vague as people moved across the borders
    2. Most refugees fled Afghanistan in 4 main waves due to: the Soviet War in the 80s, civil war in the early 90s, Taliban rule in the late 90s and the war in Afghanistan since 2001
    3. Over 60 thousand fleeing Afghans have sought asylum in the UK

  3. Effects

    Place Positives Negatives
    Source: Afghanistan There is less pressure on the environment in land & water supplies Lack of people to tend crops have caused supplies to drop and local prices to inflate
    There are not enough qualified people to work in government positions or basic services, such as healthcare
    Host: UK Many skilled Afghans have settled as doctors, academics and writers
    Young refugees, especially with children, reduce the dependency ratio
    Refugees diversify the country by bringing new traditions, knowledge and skills    		 Accommodation and support of refugees cost the UK over £1.5 million per day