As xenophobia appears on the rise, with 3 million Syrian refugees under “temporary protection” in Turkey, the headline of this story could raise many eyebrows. But let’s emphasize immediately that a large number of the refugees in Turkey are there to stay. A 2015 report by the Ankara-based Center for Middle Eastern Strategic Studies (ORSAM) shows 78% of the Syrians in Turkey would opt to stay if possible. Yet there has not been much discussion about how to minimize the social and economic impact of this humanitarian crisis.

Scientific studies show that in the long term, migrants generally have a very limited impact on employment in their host country, and one recent study argues that migrants actually have a positive impact on economic growth. Migrants may be adding to social polarization and divisions, but the environment of cultural diversity they create stimulates growth. According to calculations based on international data for 1960-2010, an increase of 10 percentage points in cultural diversity leads to a rise of 2.1 percentage points in gross domestic product (GDP) growth per capita. In developing countries, the increase reaches 2.8 percentage points.

A study that analyzes innovation and patents in the United States from 1880 to 1940 shows that though migrants represented only 2% of the population, they accounted for almost 20% of patent receivers. Today, this figure has reached 30%.

Studies indicate Syrian refugees in Turkey have had a positive impact on growth, but a negative impact on employment. Though refugees do not tend to spend much, their huge numbers still mean increased demand, which is estimated to have boosted Turkey’s GDP between 0.5% and 1.7% in 2015. Also, because the refugees maintain networks, exports from Turkey’s southeastern provinces to Syria have notably increased. According to data from the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB), the number of companies set up in Turkey with at least one Syrian partner reached nearly 6,000 at the end of 2016.