Developed countries should increase their aid budgets during this global economic downturn to prevent economic asylum seekers from attempting to enter more stable economies, says Deakin University research expert Jonathan Ritchie.
“The collapsing world economy, with its dire consequences especially for developing countries, will see more and more people taking a chance on a better life in rich nations like Australia,” writes Ritchie, in a piece for ABC News Online.
Ritchie fears that commitments like the G20’s Millennium Development Goals, which aimed to halve the number of people living in extreme poverty by 2015, may be swept under the rug because of the global economic crisis.
“From the perspective of the world’s poor, any way of boosting the amount of aid, especially at this critical time, must be worth pursuing,” he believes.
