In which John goes to the airport–not, for once, to fly somewhere, but in hopes of seeing a family of Burmese refugees reunited. Thanks to Saw Kyar Aye and Thet Thet for sharing their story with me and for inviting me to the airport on that fateful day. SOURCES BELOW!
Sponsor our 10k run here: https://www.gofundme.com/100Days10K All proceeds go to Exodus Refugee International, a local nonprofit working with refugees resettled in Indianapolis: https://exodusrefugee.org/
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Forced labor remains a huge problem in Burma, also known as Myanmar, and those conscripted by the army into labor are often beaten and sometimes executed for desertion (or just for being injured): http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2082814,00.html
Refugee resettlement does not increase crime rates in the United States. This study explored the relationship between crime in communities and refugee populations, finding an association (but not causation!!!!) between refugee resettlement and lower crime rates: http://www.renewoureconomy.org/research/is-there-a-link-between-refugees-and-u-s-crime-rates/
In general, immigrant populations commit crimes at a lower rate than native born populations in the United States: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration_and_crime#United_States and also https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-mythical-connection-between-immigrants-and-crime-1436916798
Then there is the question of whether immigration reduces wages. This is VERY HOTLY CONTESTED, so I’m going to try to be careful here. The best/most readable overview I’ve found is here: http://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21688938-europes-new-arrivals-will-probably-dent-public-finances-not-wages-good-or but it focuses on the effect of refugee populations on European economies. Because refugees entering the United States are more thoroughly vetted and also more likely to be highly educated, in the U.S. refugees are less likely to decrease wages–i.e., they almost certainly don’t. More info here: https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/22/us/immigrants-arent-taking-americans-jobs-new-study-finds.html
Then there’s the question of whether a large influx of immigrants affect wages or unemployment. That’s not super relevant to the U.S. right now, because we have relatively few refugee resettlements here, but it’s an interesting side note. The WSJ has a good overview of the cloudiness here: http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2015/06/01/does-immigration-suppress-wages-its-not-so-simple/ The Brookings Institute claims that “on average, immigrant workers increase the opportunities and incomes of Americans.” https://www.brookings.edu/blog/jobs/2012/05/04/what-immigration-means-for-u-s-employment-and-wages/ Other studies have found that large influxes of immigrants do depress wages for some low-skilled workers: https://www.hks.harvard.edu/fs/gborjas/publications/popular/NR2016.pdf And then of course there are studies that show the problem with the studies that show the problem with the other studies. It’s complicated. Some day I’d like to make a video about the incredibly complex relationship between immigration and wages/unemployment/economic growth, but not today.
For those looking to learn more about the current political situation in Myanmar, here’s a more recent, deeply disturbing story about forced labor of the persecuted Rohingya minority in Myanmar: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-myanmar-rohingya-forcedlabour-idUSKCN0PC2L720150702 To be clear, the family I discuss in this video is not Rohingya; most Rohingya are Muslims. Saw Kyar Aye and his family are Christians of Chin ethnicity. But Chin people have frequently been targets of forced labor initiatives.
Huge thank you to Sara Hindi and everyone at Exodus Refugee International for making this video possible. Thanks also to Mark Olsen for his videography and editing genius. Any mistakes are mine alone.
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