‘Only wealthy nations should take in refugees’ DiscussAnalysis of Key TermsWealthy nations

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‘Only wealthy nations should take in refugees.’ Discuss.Analysis of Key TermsWealthy nations: Developed, first world countryRefugee: A person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution, or natural disaster.Approach1) Acknowledge that the wealthy nations should take in refugees.2) Reject the absolute proposition and explain why wealthy nations shouldn’t be the only ones that should take in refugees – explain the dire consequences it’ll have on the wealthy nations.3) Argue that other nations should also take in refugees.Possible PointsPart 1: Wealthy nations should take in refugees because1) They have the financial capability to do so. In US, on average, it costs about $15,000 to help settle a refugee, including both initial background checks as well as job and English training once they arrive.Taking in refugees requires large amount of money – which only the wealthy nations can afford.2) Taking in refugees can be seen as a form of investment which is beneficial to the country.Many refugees are well-educated – for example, it is estimated that nearly half of all Syrian refugees to enter Europe have a university degree. Many arrive with professional qualifications, potentially saving their new country the cost of training people from scratch to become nurses, engineers or other professionals. In the U.K., training a doctor from scratch costs roughly $340,000, whereas certifying a refugee doctor is estimated to cost only $34,000 – one-tenth of the cost. Unlocking these skills will benefit society both directly and through their tax contributions.3) It is a moral duty to give to the less fortunate.Wealthy nations, whom are better well off should help those the refugees because then they can be better off and the world can be better as all the countries progress.Part 2: However, wealthy nation shouldn’t be the only ones that take in refugees because1) Their own national interest comes first. Taking in too much refugees will put a strain on the country’s resources. This might lead to unhappiness from the citizens. (Germany expects to take in 800,000 refugees and says it will spend at least 6 billion euros ($6.7 billion). Austria, which received 16,000 migrants in just two days, said it won’t be able to keep up with this pace.If wealthy nations were to shoulder this responsibility alone, their economy might suffer and hence this is not desirable and hence other nations should also contribute.Part 3: Other nations should also take in refugees because1) Refugees can help to aid in the economic development of the poorer nations. (Benefit)This is especially for countries with tight labour market as refugees can join the labour force and help to boost the economy. Many refugees are well educated and may even set up their own business and bring about employment to the locals.International Monetary Fund (IMF) mentioned that taking in refugees is likely to result in a “modest increase in GDP growth” in the short term, due to higher state spending on housing and benefits for asylum seekers, as well as a boost to the job market from the newcomers.It is estimated that the GDP in the EU as a whole could be lifted by 0.05%, 0.09% and 0.13% in 2015, 2016 and 2017 respectively. ‘Technological advancement has reduced the problem of poverty.’ Do you agree?Analysis of Key TermsTechnological Advancement: generation of information or the discovery of knowledge that advances the understanding of scientific relations or technology Poverty: the state of being extremely poor Approach1) State that technological advancement may exacerbate the problem of poverty at certain circumstances.2) Argue that these problems could be solved.3) State how technological advancement help to reduce the problem of poverty.Possible PointsPart 1: It may exacerbate the problem in certain circumstances.1) Modernisation of industries meant that unskilled workers are displaced from their jobs as the companies now requires people who know how to operate the machineries instead of those who does manual works. Besides, these machines are much more efficient and hence this reduce the need for manpower. This meant that the workers lost their source of income and this might affect their livelihood, making them poorer.For example, with the development of self-checkout machines in supermarkets, this reduces the need for cashier.Part 2: These problems could actually be solved.1) Re-training and Re-education of workers could be done to ensure that the workers possessed skills that are relevant to what is demanded in the workforce.In Singapore, the government encourages citizens to pick up new skills even when they grow old. This can be seen from the huge sum of subsidies on the school fees of these citizens. Under the Workforce Training Scheme (WTS), individuals can apply for training allowance of up to $4.50 per hour when attending a course. The skills obtained will then help them to gain employability.2) Technological Advancement creates more jobs than it destroys.Although the advancement of technology has reduced the need for manpower, it also creates more job oppurtunities for the people. These could help to alleviate poverty.Example: The advancement of robotics and artificial intelligence will make 75 million jobs obsolete by the year 2022, according to a new report.Part 3: Technological Advancement has indeed help to alleviate poverty.1) Technology has helped in modernising agriculture and hence increasing output.For example, with machineries like tractors and harvestors, more crops could be harvested at one time and more profits would be received by the farmers. This helps to improve their standard of living and hence alleviate poverty.This can be also seen from commercial fishing whereby expensive equipment are used and this tells the fishermen where the fishes are and hence increases the catch.2) With technology, poorer countries can gather international aid more quickly with the help of social media platforms.There are many pages set up online so platforms such as Facebook to raise awareness of the problem of poverty in a particular country. This also helps to gather donations from people all around the world. The donations received can then help to get people out of poverty.