Alexander Betts: Our refugee system is failing. Here's how we can fix it
Alexander Betts: Nuestro sistema de refugiados está fallando. Así podemos solucionarlo
Alexander Betts explores ways societies might empower refugees rather than pushing them to the margins. Full bio
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really quite ashamed
siento bastante vergüenza
arrived in Europe in need of our help,
llegaron a Europa en busca de ayuda,
frankly, has been pathetic.
francamente, ha sido patética.
more than 200 children
más de 200 niños
in the Mediterranean.
en el Mediterráneo.
are a shared responsibility,
son una responsabilidad compartida,
than the whole of Europe combined.
toda Europa en su conjunto.
of human smugglers,
de traficantes de personas,
la única ruta viable
our economic and demographic needs
necesidades económicas y demográficas
in opposition to fundamentalist Islam,
en oposición al Islam fundamentalista,
from their families,
de los refugiados.
response to a humanitarian crisis?
a una crisis humanitaria?
it's because people don't care,
a las personas no les importe,
it's because people don't care.
our politicians lack a vision,
de visión de nuestros políticos,
an international refugee system
un sistema internacional de refugiados
is take a step back
system not working?
el sistema actual?
para solucionarlo?
of the Second World War by these guys.
Segunda Guerra Mundial.
or worse, turns against its own people,
si se vuelve contra su pueblo,
until they can go home.
hasta que puedan volver a casa.
like the situation we see in Syria today.
como la que vemos hoy en Siria.
signed by 147 governments,
firmado por 147 gobiernos,
on the Status of Refugees,
el Estatuto de los Refugiados,
el ACNUR, los estados
admit people onto their territory
a admitir en su territorio
conflictos y persecución.
have a right to seek asylum.
tienen derecho a pedir asilo.
block the path to safety.
bloquean el camino a la seguridad.
to a pathway to integration,
derecho a una vía de integración,
they've come from.
in almost indefinite limbo.
en un limbo casi indefinido.
are a shared global responsibility.
una responsabilidad global compartida.
that countries proximate the conflict
que los países cercanos al conflicto
of the world's refugees.
de los refugiados del mundo.
because the rules are wrong.
debido a reglas erróneas.
adequately to a changing world,
a un mundo que cambia,
about how the current system works.
cómo funciona el sistema actual.
institutional perspective,
jerárquica institucional,
de un refugiado.
many of the people I've met in the region.
personas que conocí en la zona.
of the world's refugees,
los refugiados del mundo,
because she comes from this city
porque viene de esta ciudad
hermosa y con historia,
of resettlement to a third country,
de asentarse en otro país,
of the world's refugees.
de los refugiados del mundo.
can take her family to a camp.
a su familia a un campo.
for Amira and her family.
para Amira y su familia.
zonas áridas, desoladas,
de Zaatari en Jordania,
across the border in Syria at nighttime.
la frontera siria por la noche.
de mala calidad.
who are in camps
que están en campos
choose that option.
eligen esa opción.
to an urban area
a un país vecino,
like Amman or Beirut.
of Syrian refugees have taken.
el 75 % de los refugiados sirios.
great difficulty as well.
grandes dificultades.
don't usually have the right to work.
por lo general no pueden trabajar.
significant access to assistance.
have used up their basic savings,
hayan agotado sus ahorros,
and likely to face urban destitution.
enfrenten la pobreza urbana.
numbers of Syrians are taking.
más adeptos sirios.
esperanza para su familia
on a dangerous and perilous journey
en un viaje peligroso
in Europe today.
with an almost impossible choice
refugiados opciones casi imposibles;
and dangerous journeys.
y viajes peligrosos.
the global refugee regime today.
el régimen global de refugiados.
reconsiderar esa opción.
limitamos estas opciones
that are available to refugees,
disponibles para los refugiados,
as a zero-sum issue,
como una cuestión de suma cero,
we're imposing costs on citizens.
supondrá costos para los ciudadanos.
or burden to society.
una carga inevitable para la sociedad.
They can contribute.
Pueden contribuir.
expand that choice set
ese repertorio de opciones
y las comunidades,
of how we think about refugees.
de pensar sobre los refugiados.
the opportunities of globalization,
las oportunidades de la globalización,
about the refugee issue.
el tema de los refugiados.
a very basic recognition
like everyone else,
seres humanos, como otros,
in extraordinary circumstances.
extraordinarias.
a research project in Uganda
de los refugiados.
it's representative of all host countries.
representativo de los países anfitriones.
around the world,
de los otros países,
It gives them freedom of movement.
Les da libertad de movimiento.
como para el país anfitrión.
own a business that employs other people,
tiene un negocio con otro empleado,
los refugiados crean empleos
we found extraordinary examples
hallamos ejemplos extraordinarios
and entrepreneurial businesses.
florecientes y emprendedores.
called Nakivale,
llamado Nakivale,
de refugiados congoleños
de música digital.
who runs a business that's available
que tiene un negocio
and recycled televisions.
de restricción extrema,
is a Congolese guy called Demou-Kay.
se llama Demou-Kay.
in the settlement with very little,
con muy poco,
he started a community radio station,
creó una radio comunitaria,
con y para nuestro equipo,
out of very little.
our response to refugees.
respuesta a los refugiados.
upon humanitarian assistance,
de la asistencia humanitaria,
with opportunities for human flourishing.
para su florecimiento humano.
en etapa de emergencia,
to connectivity, electricity,
de conectividad, de electricidad,
to the global economy
a la economía global,
de los refugiados.
is economic zones.
es la de "zonas económicas".
host country in the world
los países anfitriones
their economies to refugees
no abren sus economías
alternative options that we can use.
que podemos usar.
with my colleague,
con mi colega,
Paul Collier,
while we were there
mientras estuvimos allí
and the government,
y el gobierno,
national development strategy.
de desarrollo nacional jordana.
integrate the employment of refugees
integrar el empleo de los refugiados
of Jordanian host nationals.
anfitriones jordanos.
from the Zaatari refugee camp,
de refugiados de Zaatari,
Bin Talal Development Area.
Rey Hussein Bin Talal.
over a hundred million dollars
más de USD 100 millones
connecting it to the road network,
a la red de carreteras,
y a la inversión interna.
were able to work there
pudiesen trabajar allí
atrapados en los campos,
skills through vocational training
y formarse profesionalmente
that could benefit Jordan,
beneficiar a Jordania,
requires it to make the leap
requiere dar el salto
to manufacturing.
a país productor.
but it could also contribute
pero podría contribuir también
reconstruction of Syria
luego del conflicto
to incubate refugees
incubar refugiados
of eventually rebuilding Syria.
reconstruir Siria.
in the journal Foreign Affairs.
la revista Foreign Affairs.
Syria Conference two weeks ago,
de Londres hace dos semanas,
between states and refugees
entre estados y refugiados
you see here in the selfie
que vemos en la selfie
and a Syrian refugee.
what they want, where they want to go,
qué quieren, dónde quieren ir,
the idea of matching markets,
la idea de mercado concordante,
of the parties shapes an eventual match.
modelan una concordancia consiguiente.
and Alex Teytelboym
could be applied to refugees,
esa idea a los refugiados,
their preferred destinations,
sus destinos preferidos,
the types of refugees they want
indicar los refugiados que quieren
you'd need to build in quotas
and vulnerability,
y vulnerabilidad,
the possibilities of matching.
las posibilidades de concordancia.
has been successfully used
se ha empleado con éxito
students with university places,
de estudiantes con universidades,
y pacientes,
that exist on dating websites.
de los sitios web de citas.
to give refugees greater choice?
más opciones a los refugiados?
at the national level,
que enfrentamos
to accept refugees.
para que acepten refugiados.
in my country, for instance,
and farmers to the cities,
rurales y granjeros a las ciudades,
to bring those preferences together
potencial para unir esas preferencias
of the populations that host
de las poblaciones anfitrionas
is of humanitarian visas.
es la de "visas humanitarias".
we've seen in Europe
que hemos visto en Europa
in Europe's asylum policy,
de las políticas de asilo europeas,
by embarking on those dangerous journeys
embarcado en esos viajes peligrosos
in an era of the budget airline
una era de vuelos económicos
of over 3,000 people
de más de 3000 personas
and within European territory.
y dentro del territorio europeo.
and seek asylum in Europe,
y buscar asilo en Europa,
called a humanitarian visa,
to collect a visa at an embassy
pedir una visa en una embajada
from Turkey to the Greek islands.
de Turquía a las islas griegas.
airline from Bodrum to Frankfurt.
económica de Bodrum a Frankfurt.
it would have major advantages.
tendría más ventajas.
the entire market for smugglers,
we see from Europe's front line
en la primera línea de Europa
rather than a rational solution.
y no una solución racional.
have been able to get humanitarian visas,
consiguieron visas humanitarias;
on arrival in Brazil.
de refugiados al llegar al país.
every Syrian who has gone through it
todo sirio que lo solicitó
and been recognized as a genuine refugee.
reconocido como refugiado genuino.
for it as well.
were used as travel documents
como documentos de viaje
Turks and Chechens
turcos y chechenos,
elsewhere in Europe.
en el resto de Europa.
International Refugee Office
de Refugiados Nansen
being a viable strategy.
como estrategia viable.
that I've presented you
Amira's choice set.
de opciones de Amira.
greater choice for refugees
dar más opciones a los refugiados,
impossible three options
elementales imposibles
en mejor situación.
we really need a new vision,
necesitamos una nueva visión,
the choices of refugees
las opciones de los refugiados
don't have to be a burden.
no tienen por qué ser una carga.
about refugees being a cost.
refugiados sean un costo.
responsibility,
with skills, talents, aspirations,
talentos, aspiraciones,
contributions -- if we let them.
perdurará entre nosotros durante años.
will be with us for many years.
realistic ways of managing this --
racionales y realistas de manejarlo;
of humanitarian assistance,
de la asistencia humanitaria;
markets and mobility.
los mercados y la movilidad.
and urge our politicians
y a instar a nuestros políticos
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Alexander Betts - Social scientistAlexander Betts explores ways societies might empower refugees rather than pushing them to the margins.
Why you should listen
In media and in public debate, refugees are routinely portrayed as a burden. Professor Alexander Betts argues that refugees, who represent a wide spectrum of professional backgrounds, are in fact an untapped resource that could benefit nations willing to welcome them into their economies.
Betts is the director of the Refugee Studies Centre at the University of Oxford, where he spearheads research on refugee and other forced migrant populations. His book, Survival Migration, explores the predicaments of people who are fleeing disaster yet fall outside legal definitions of refugee status.
Alexander Betts | Speaker | TED.com