The 17th Doha Forum discussed, at a session entitled "The Impact of Refugees on the Hosting Countries", the positive and negative effects of refugees, as well as the security, political, social and economic dimensions in this regard.
Discussion during the session, focused on the Syrian refugees in the neighboring countries and the Bangladeshi refugees to India, reviewing the burdens borne by these countries in order to host and protect refugees and provide them with the necessities of living in spite of their own need for assistance.
In this regard, participants discussed effects of refugees on labor markets in the hosting countries, as well as their competition to citizens and migrants from other countries, though some of the participants pointed out that most of the refugees' employment is limited to private sector in the hosting countries.
Participants also called on Western countries to open their borders for refugees and work to protect them and provide humanitarian assistance to them, calling on the international community to work harder to find political solutions to conflicts in their countries of origin in order to reduce the influx of refugees.
During the session, Maritime Commander of the Italian Coast Guard Captain Sergio Belliardo gave a detailed explanation on the process of receiving and assisting refugees and migrants, whether they remained in Italy or were distributed to other European countries after checking their identity papers and the conditions of their refuge.
A number of speakers at the session praised the State of Qatar's support of the refugees issues, through the programs of the United Nations and the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees.
They asserted that Qatar is a small country, but it is great in its efforts towards refugees issues and humanitarian assistance.They also stressed the need to treat the refugees in a humanitarian manner without burdening them with the problems and crises of the hosting countries. 

Source: QNA