“Migrants are often forced into lives of idle despair, while host countries fail to reap the proven benefit that greater integration could bring" George Soros writes. | AP George Soros to give $500 million to migrant, refugee businesses

George Soros is pumping $500 million into migrant- and refugee-founded businesses and other initiatives, the billionaire investor announced Tuesday, noting that his hope is other investors will follow suit.

“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 in a Wall Street Journal op-ed published online Tuesday. “Migrants are often forced into lives of idle despair, while host countries fail to reap the proven benefit that greater integration could bring.”


While acknowledging that governments should play a key role “by creating and sustaining adequate physical and social infrastructure,” Soros pointed to “power of the private sector” as a critical need, too.

In response to the Obama administration’s recently announced call to action for U.S. companies to play a larger role in the refugee crisis, Soros wrote, “I have decided to earmark $500 million for investments that specifically address the needs of migrants, refugees and host communities.”

“I will invest in startups, established companies, social-impact initiatives and businesses founded by migrants and refugees themselves,” he continued. “Although my main concern is to help migrants and refugees arriving in Europe, I will be looking for good investment ideas that will benefit migrants all over the world.”

Soros said his nonprofit-owned investments will complement his foundation’s philanthropic contributions and cover various sectors, including emerging digital technology.

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.”

Investments, he added, “are intended to be successful—because I want to show how private capital can play a constructive role helping migrants.”

Adding that he plans to work with organizations like the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the International Rescue Committee to create principles that will guide his investments, Soros said 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.”

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