Wealthy countries should accept more refugees and provide them with basic assistance, such as food and housing. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

There is little doubt that the issue of refugees is a global problem. While it most immediately affects developing nations, there is a strong argument that industrialised countries should help by allowing higher levels of immigration. This is certainly not an easy issue though, because historically immigration has caused as many problems as it solves. The principal reason why developed nations should help is that we now live in a global village and it is no longer possible to ignore what happens on the other side of the world. This is partly a moral issue and partly because it is in the economic self-interest of industrialized nations to ensure that developing nations continues to progress. A practical way of achieving this would be to accept more immigration, particularly when it is caused by natural disasters or civil war. I would argue, however, that this is not an open and shut case, as there is a negative side to mass immigration. The multi-cultural experiments in Europe have not always succeed and immigrants have often suffered badly from racism and other prejudices. On a practical level, refugees are sometimes better off receiving aid in their native land than begging on the street in a country where they cannot speak the language. Many so-called economic migrants end up returning to the country of their birth. My personal conclusion is that developed nations should agree to take in more refugees, but only in restricted numbers and in extreme cases. I also believe that there needs to be a global effort to provide aid to solve the problems that cause immigration. Prevention is as they say better than cure.