The Center for Global Development (CGD) calculates that it will cost some $30 billion to host Ukrainian refugees in the first year alone. “Accepting refugees is not just the right thing to do, but the smart thing. We know that in the long-term, granted the right to work, refugees can benefit their host economies. But in the short run, there are major start-up costs to integrating refugees. Ukraine’s neighbors are providing a huge humanitarian benefit to Ukraine and to the world, and they shouldn’t have to bear those costs alone”, said Helen Dempster, Assistant Program Director for Migration, Displacement, and Humanitarian Policy at CGD.
