George Soros is investing $500 million in businesses, companies and other initiatives founded by migrants and refugees.
The billionaire investor and prominent Democratic supporter made the pledge in a Wall Street Journal op-ed posted early Tuesday morning.
“Our collective failure to develop and implement effective policies to handle the increased flow has contributed greatly to human misery and political instability — both in countries people are fleeing and in the countries that host them, willingly or not,” Soros wrote. “Migrants are often forced into lives of idle despair, while host countries fail to reap the proven benefit that greater integration could bring.”
Soros acknowledged that though governments must have a role in aiding migrants and refugees, “harnessing the power of the private sector is also critical.”
The announcement by Soros comes as President Obama is set to lead a special summit on Tuesday at the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York City on the need to take in more Syrian refugees.
“I have decided to earmark $500 million for investments that specifically address the needs of migrants, refugees and host communities,” Soros wrote, adding that he will invest in “startups, established companies, social-impact initiatives and businesses founded by migrants and refugees themselves.”
His main concern, the 86-year-old wrote, remains to help migrants and refugees arriving in Europe, though he will be looking for “good investment ideas that will benefit migrants all over the world.”
It “seems especially promising as a way to provide solutions to the particular problems that dislocated people often face,” he said. “Advances in this sector can help people gain access more efficiently to government, legal, financial and health services. Private businesses are already investing billions of dollars to develop such services for non-migrant communities.”
Soros said he will work closely with organizations such as the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the International Rescue Committee to create principles to guide his investments.
His goal “is to harness, for public good, the innovations that only the private sector can provide. I hope my commitment will inspire other investors to pursue the same mission.”
The United Nations Refugee Processing Center reports that more than 65.3 million people were displaced globally in 2015, up from nearly 60 million in 2014 — which is being called the worst refugee crisis since World War II. Nearly 5 million of those are from war-torn Syria.
The Obama administration has admitted 10,000 Syrian refugees already this year, and will increase those commitments in the final months of his administration with the goal of accepting 110,000 Syrian refugees by next October.
