The Refugee Crisis is one of the worlds most intractable problems. 60 Million People have fled their homes, a third of them also fleeing their own country. But my guest today says the problem is fixable and we can do it easily. Hes The Economist professor sir paul collier. The solution, he argues, is to give refugeesjobs and in doing so, he suggests everyone will benefit. But if the answer is so simple, why hasnt it been done before . Paul collier, welcome to hardtalk. Thanks for inviting me on. Now, you have said of the syrian Refugee Crisis that it is entirely manageable, it is fixable, we can do it easily, and yet we are talking about millions of desperate people on the move why do you say it is so fixable . Because it is. The reason weve got a mess is two things. One is weve got an International System which is hopelessly broken. Weve got a system built in 1950 that is completely unfit for 21st century problems. And weve never changed it. So weve got a broken system which was then
any deal coming through. it will be interesting to see what ends up in the package. we have a few details starting to trickle in. as you mentioned, one of the biggest hangups and lessen the democratic side with these requirements for aid programmes, federal programmes, like medicaid assistance or food assistance, and some of these details trickling in. at least it says that there may be no changes to medicaid and that is a big thing for democrats. it would be unlikely that president biden would agree to any deal that didn t include that. and as well, you know, joe biden had promised a run on student debt relief something that the republicans were looking to take away in these debt negotiations. it looks like that student debt relief will remain in place. but these are just will remain in place. but these arejust preliminary will remain in place. but these are just preliminary frameworks and those details, as kevin mccarthy told us, are still to be worked out. we will bring you those de
meaningful presence in the country, and what assessment has been made of aid programmes? does he acknowledge the impact made of cuts by his government to the bilateral aid sudan receives, even before the current crisis began? 15 million in sudan were reliant on humanitarian assistance. sadly these figures are only going to increase. what conversations is he having with partners to secure the safety of humanitarian workers, their premises and assets, so life saving aid can continue? as the un secretary general antonio gutierrez one, the power struggle is not only putting sudan s future at risk, but also lighting a fuse that could detonate across borders, causing immense suffering for years, yet official development assistance to the region are set to face further cuts this year even as sudanese nationals are already fleeing across borders in their tens of thousands. so can the minister please set out whether the government plans to allocate additional humanitarian support to address thi
that s all the sport for now. you can find more on all those stories on the bbc sport website. there is one match continuing until the very, very end, although it is only 130 over there. thank you, see you in a while. in afghanistan, the death toll of an unprecedented cold wave has risen to 78 as temperatures in many parts of the country drop to 30 degrees centigrade. snowstorms have forced the closure of many key highways and roads, hampering the delivery of aid. it comes as a un delegation led by deputy secretary general, amina mohammed, has ended a four day visit meeting with senior taliban officials in kabul to discuss aid programmes and the participation of women. my colleague yalda hakim is in kabul. we can talk to her now. good to see you. what came out of this trip by
rights. the united nations says it is sending a top official to afghanistan to try to convince the taliban to reverse its ban on women working for aid agencies. the un says that its locally based officials have begun meeting with ministries in afghanistan to discuss the impact on aid programmes. the un humanitarian coordinator for afghanistan says the taliban s decision is already harming urgent aid programmes and that the country s humanitarian needs were probably the worst he d seen in 30 years. let me make it very clear that united nations and humanitarian partners are very committed to the delivery of life saving services to the people of afghanistan. it is probably the most difficult circumstances which i have seen in my 30 year career, in regard to the