Settlement of Syrian refugees in Detroit

[3WC]

I don't understand why anyone would think that thousands of Syrian refugees living in the well organized, efficient, Zaatari Refugee Camp in Jordon, where they have already started 3500 businesses, would want to relocate to Detroit.

[mwilbert]

I don't understand why anyone would think that thousands of Syrian refugees living in the well organized, efficient, Zaatari Refugee Camp in Jordon, where they have already started 3500 businesses, would want to relocate to Detroit.

Really? Jordan has a per-capita income of about $5000. Even adjusting for purchasing power, it isn't much more than twice that. Poor as Detroit is, it is way richer than Jordan. And dangerous as people around here seem to think Detroit is, it isn't nearly as dangerous as Syria. I believe that there are currently about four million Syrian refugees [[not all in that camp, obviously) My guess is that if you made the offer, you would get hundreds of thousands who would take it.

[Bham1982]

Really? Jordan has a per-capita income of about $5000. Even adjusting for purchasing power, it isn't much more than twice that. Poor as Detroit is, it is way richer than Jordan. And dangerous as people around here seem to think Detroit is, it isn't nearly as dangerous as Syria. I believe that there are currently about four million Syrian refugees [[not all in that camp, obviously) My guess is that if you made the offer, you would get hundreds of thousands who would take it.

I don't think there's any question that Syrian [[or other) refugees would happily move to the U.S. [[or another developed nation). The question is why would they move to the City of Detroit?

There are already lots of Mideast refugees in Metro Detroit and they tend to live around the existing community and existing support networks, in places like Sterling Heights. Just as almost no one without family/friend connections randomly moves to a Detroit hood like Dexter Davison, it would not be realistic to think a refugee would choose such a location. There's plenty of dirt-cheap housing in safe burbs with decent schools and services.

[mwilbert]

I don't think there's any question that Syrian [[or other) refugees would happily move to the U.S. [[or another developed nation). The question is why would they move to the City of Detroit?

There are already lots of Mideast refugees in Metro Detroit and they tend to live around the existing community and existing support networks, in places like Sterling Heights. Just as almost no one without family/friend connections randomly moves to a Detroit hood like Dexter Davison, it would not be realistic to think a refugee would choose such a location. There's plenty of dirt-cheap housing in safe burbs with decent schools and services.

Presumably because that is what the conditions of their visa required? I thought it was a hypothetical--I see little prospect of the US allowing the resettlement of large numbers of Syrian refugees, given that we have allowed less than 400 so far. Also, there isn't "plenty" of dirt-cheap housing available if you moved hundreds of thousands of people to the area--you'd use up everything available pretty quickly.

[Wesley Mouch]

Presumably because that is what the conditions of their visa required? I thought it was a hypothetical--I see little prospect of the US allowing the resettlement of large numbers of Syrian refugees, given that we have allowed less than 400 so far. Also, there isn't "plenty" of dirt-cheap housing available if you moved hundreds of thousands of people to the area--you'd use up everything available pretty quickly.

I see great prospects. There is more energy behind the idea of absorbing refugees than there ever has before. And let's not forget that the US has played a part in creating the problem.

I would guess that the refugees in these camps are much less prosperous than the immigrants who have moved into Detroit' suburbs. An abandoned house in Detroit is likely a lot more appealing than a refugee camp in Jordan.

The US has the resources to absorb some of these refugees. There's no excuse for not helping -- both with immigration and financial support. We are citizens of the world, aren't we?