English Speech Adaption for Portfolio – What is right and what is just

Immigration is a problem in many countries and impacts millions of people yearly. New Zealand, an affluent country, can accommodate some of these millions of refugees who are forced out of their homes. No human should be forced to experience this ordeal. People enjoying the luxuries of life with more means available, must do their part and deny the flourishing of this immoral occurrence.

In the Middle East, there has recently been an increase in conflict, leading to the displacement of innocent civilians, people who are now without homes. This series of events has led to the need for countries to accommodate these refugees. However, this has hardly happened. The wealthiest countries are not playing their part in housing refugees. Half of all refugees are accommodated by 10 neighbouring countries in Africa, the Middle East and South Asia, even though they can hardly offer adequate housing. Australia has 5 times the population of New Zealand yet takes in 18 times more refugees per year. New Zealand, as a successful and certainly well-off country, must increase its contribution to the relocation of refugees.

A misconceived idea is that refugees will solely be of detriment to a nation. This generates notions such as; people with less are inferior, have little to provide and are a contamination to society. These incorrect thoughts make civilians and governments reluctant to host refugees.

The privileges of developing countries are slight and people recently forced to live as refugees come from such places. 13.5 million refugees this year come from Syria and have 80% less money than what a family in New Zealand have. Further beliefs stem from this place of origin. Refugees get thought of as subordinate which diminishes their chances of acceptance into countries. Countries that turn refugees away are missing out on attributes that they can offer.

Refugees can be contributors to the economy which should encourage countries to increase their refugee quota. Placement into low-skill required jobs such as retail or factory processing can occur and should they not have any strongly beneficial attributes, then the increase in population is positive economic growth and desired by all governments. Refugees provide an economic benefit as they provide and fulfil jobs. This pays back into the economy through consumerism. The fact that refugees are self-motivated, with a drive to relocate themselves counters the belief that they are reliant on the country that they move to.

Addition to a country’s culture also comes with the accommodation of refugees. Foreigners bring with them a completely different lifestyle structured around different cultures. Culture diversification is never a bad thing when all are given room to be expressed without fear of discrimination. People can learn from these new traditions and ways of living to enhance their own lives. This is evident in cuisine. The majority of people enjoy meals that have had cultural influence from all parts of the world. Refugees help to spread this influence and thus bring more positives in their bid for new lives.

The Green Party are striving to do the right thing in dealing with refugees positively. They provide many solutions to this imminent problem. One of these is the community sponsorship project. This involves the funding of the accommodation of refugees. Communities and church groups sponsor refugees to live until they are able to do so off of their own means. This allows an additional 1000 refugees to live in New Zealand.

The accommodation and acceptance of refugees is just and righteous and dispels pre-conceived ideas around them. Learning to walk in the shoes of others and accept people for who they are not what they look like or have experienced is the first step to a healthier world and can be achieved by welcoming refugees