After Donald Trump won the presidential election in the USA, many politicians and a great deal of public are against the reception of refugees from the Muslim countries.
In the light of the increasing islamophobia, the portal Fusion.net brings a story about the influence of Muslim refugees from BiH who settled in the U.S. city of St. Louis.
Until the mid-nineties of the last century, St. Louis was a city which was experiencing a drastic demographic and economic fall. According to the population census from 1950, St. Louis had 865.766 residents. However, in census from 1990 showed that the number dropped drastically to only 396.685 residents, which was a fall of around 50 percent.
Result of such drastic fall in population was that many neighborhoods and buildings were empty and St Louis was becoming the ghost city more and more every day. Until the Bosnians came.
Tens of thousands of Bosnians immigrated to St. Louis during the aggression on Bosnia and Herzegovina, and majority of them are Muslims.
They mostly settled in the southern part of the city which is today called “little Bosnia” and where around 70.000 Bosnians live, thus making St. Louis the largest “Bosnian city” in the world outside BiH borders.
Economic consequences of the influx of Bosnians in this city were published in the scientific study by the University of St. Louis titled “Economic influence of immigration in St. Louis”.
“Immigration led to the revival of the southern part of the city. Bosnians launched numerous small businesses, opened bakeries, butcher shops, cafes, construction companies and many other businesses, which led to economic and demographic bloom in St. Louis,” this analysis stated.
Muslims from Bosnia saved St. Louis, Fusion writes, and city authorities are highly interested in receiving refugees from Syria whom the majority of U.S. cities do not want to receive. The cause of such attitude of St. Louis lies in the amazing experience that this city had with Bosnians.
(Source: hayat.ba)
