Thread by @CompositeGuy_

1/ Someone presented this article to me as evidence that asylum seekers are a net benefit to European economies

Such headlines are common, so I thought I'd examine how they have come to this conclusion

This is a perfect example of how academia and the media lie to you

🧵

2/ The article's author challenges the notion that asylum seekers will be an economic burden, stating many argue without evidence.

They then cite a 2014 Oxford study as their proof.

So let's look at this study >>>

3/ The research opens by telling us how we're facing the most serious refugee crisis in 20 years and aims to dispel five myths pertaining to asylum seekers' economic impact

So how will they measure this?

Oh, by looking at refugees settlements in UGANDA

rsc.ox.ac.uk/files/files-1/…

4/ That's right, Uganda.

This is a country with a literacy rate of 74%, a life expectancy of 60-years-old and is ranked 166th in the Human Development Index

Their GDP per capita is ranked at 155th and their average IQ is 76

5/ The authors highlight refugee entrepreneurship, showcasing Ethiopian restaurants, Somali gaming parlours & a Congolese cinema

Compelling evidence that refugees will thrive in Europe

Who here can say that Vienna wouldn't benefit from a screening of Ghostbusters in a mud hut?

6/ Another 'key finding' is that refugees are more technologically adaptive and have higher levels of internet use than the native population.

At the time of the study, only 15% of Uganda had access to the internet.

7/ Here are some examples of refugees creating 'appropriate technologies'

While Europe replicates the conditions which caused the big bang with 17 mile particle accelerators, the authors suggest that asylum seekers will enhance Europe with mud stoves and wooden bikes

8/ Without actually quantifying their contribution, the authors claim that many asylum seekers positively contribute to the thriving economy of Uganda.

So now let's check the actual data for how asylum seekers have impacted European economies >>>

9/ Research from the University of Amsterdam revealed that the average asylum seeker cost the Dutch €475,000 per refugee

demo-demo.nl/wp-content/upl…

10/ In Norway, asylum seekers earn half of what natives do, have substantially lower employment rates and far higher rates of participation in social welfare programs

cream-migration.org/publ_uploads/C…

11/ In Finland, the average Iraqi migrant (aged 20-24) costs €844k if they choose to have children, costing €1.27 million more than the average Finnish-born family

Worse still, a single Somali immigrant costs the Finnish state almost €1 million

suomenperusta.fi/content/upload…

12/ Sweden took in the most refugees per capita during the migrant crisis of 2015.

A report estimated that the net tax cost for migrants and migrants' relatives amounts to an average of $10bn per year.

The net tax cost is on average 2.38% of GDP

via.tt.se/data/attachmen…

13/ Six years after the migrant crisis, 65% of Syrian refugees & 43% of Afghan refugees of working age are still on social welfare in Germany

euractiv.com/section/politi…

14/ The individual who shared the initial article likely only read the headline, reinforcing their preconceptions

This is what the majority do and it's expected

What's despicable is how academics and the media knowingly use such obviously ludicrous data to push narratives