Forced displacement (also forced migration) is an involuntary or coerced movement of a person or people away from their home or home region. The
UNHCR
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, local integrati ...
defines 'forced displacement' as follows: displaced "as a result of persecution, conflict, generalized violence or human rights violations".
A forcibly displaced person may also be referred to as a "forced migrant", a "displaced person" (DP), or, if displaced within the home country, an "
internally displaced person
An internally displaced person (IDP) is someone who is forced to leave their home but who remains within their country's borders. They are often referred to as refugees, although they do not fall within the legal definitions of a refugee.
...
" (IDP). While some displaced persons may be considered as
refugee
A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution. s, the latter term specifically refers to such displaced persons who are receiving legally-defined protection and are recognized as such by their country of residence and/or international organizations.
![20151030_Syrians_and_Iraq_refugees_arrive_at_Skala_Sykamias_Lesvos_Greece_2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/52/20151030_Syrians_and_Iraq_refugees_arrive_at_Skala_Sykamias_Lesvos_Greece_2.jpg)
Forced displacement has gained attention in international discussions and policy making since the
European migrant crisis
The 2015 European migrant crisis, also known internationally as the Syrian refugee crisis, was a period of significantly increased movement of refugees and migrants into Europe in 2015, when 1.3 million people came to the continent to reques ...
. This has since resulted in a greater consideration of the impacts of forced migration on affected regions outside Europe. Various international, regional, and local organizations are developing and implementing approaches to both prevent and mitigate the impact of forced migration in the previous home regions as well as the receiving or destination regions.
[Cone, Jason, And Marc Bosch Bonacasa. 2018. “Invisible War: Central America’s Forgotten Humanitarian Crisis.” Brown Journal of World Affairs 24 (2): 225–39.] Additionally, some collaboration efforts are made to gather evidence in order to seek prosecution of those involved in causing events of man-made forced migration.
An estimated 100 million people around the world were forcibly displaced by the end of 2022, with the majority coming from the
Global South.
Definitions
Governments,
NGOs
A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in ...
, other
international organization
An international organization or international organisation (see spelling differences), also known as an intergovernmental organization or an international institution, is a stable set of norms and rules meant to govern the behavior of states an ...
s and social scientist have defined forced displacement in a variety of ways. They have generally agreed that it is the forced removal or relocation of a person from their environment and associated connections. It can involve different types of movements, such as flight (from fleeing), evacuation, and
population transfer
Population transfer or resettlement is a type of mass migration, often imposed by state policy or international authority and most frequently on the basis of ethnicity or religion but also due to economic development. Banishment or exile is ...
.
* The
International Organization for Migration
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) is a United Nations agency that provides services and advice concerning migration to governments and migrants, including internally displaced persons, refugees, and migrant workers.
The IOM was ...
defines a forced migrant as any person migrating to "escape persecution, conflict, repression, natural and human-made disasters, ecological degradation, or other situations that endanger their lives, freedom or livelihood".
* According to
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
, forced displacement is "the forced movement of people from their locality or environment and occupational activities," with its leading cause being
armed conflict
War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular ...
.
* According to researcher Alden Speare, even movement under immediate threat to life contains a voluntary element as long as an option exists going into hiding, or attempting to avoid persecution. According to him "migration can be considered to be involuntary only when a person is physically transported from a country and has no opportunity to escape from those transporting him
r her
R, or r, is the eighteenth letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''ar'' (pronounced ), plural ''ars'', or in Irela ...
" This viewpoint has come under scrutiny when considering direct and indirect factors which may leave migrants with little to no choice in their decisions, such as imminent threats to life and livelihood.
Distinctions between the different concepts
* A migrant who fled their home because of economic hardship is an
economic migrant
An economic migrant is someone who emigrates from one region to another, including crossing international borders, seeking an improved standard of living, because the conditions or job opportunities in the migrant's own region are insufficient. Th ...
and strictly speaking not a displaced person.
* If the displaced person was forced out their home because of economically driven projects, such as the
Three Gorges Dam
The Three Gorges Dam is a hydroelectric gravity dam that spans the Yangtze River by the town of Sandouping, in Yiling District, Yichang, Hubei province, central China, downstream of the Three Gorges. The Three Gorges Dam has been the world ...
in China, the situation is referred to as
development-induced displacement Development-induced displacement and resettlement (DIDR) occurs when people are forced to leave their homes in a development-driven form of forced migration. Historically, it has been associated with the construction of dams for hydroelectric power ...
.
* A displaced person who left their home region because of political persecution or violence, but did not cross an international border, commonly falls into the looser category of
internally displaced person
An internally displaced person (IDP) is someone who is forced to leave their home but who remains within their country's borders. They are often referred to as refugees, although they do not fall within the legal definitions of a refugee.
...
(IDP), subject to more tenuous international protection. In 1998, the
UN Commission on Human Rights
The United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) was a functional commission within the overall framework of the United Nations from 1946 until it was replaced by the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2006. It was a subsidiary body of ...
published the
Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement
An internally displaced person (IDP) is someone who is forced to leave their home but who remains within their country's borders. They are often referred to as refugees, although they do not fall within the legal definitions of a refugee.
...
, defining internally displaced people as: "persons or groups of persons who have been forced or obliged to flee or leave their homes or places of habitual residence in particular as a result of or in order to avoid the effects of armed conflict, situations of generalized violence, violations of human rights, or natural or human-made disasters and who have not crossed an internationally recognized State border."
* If the displaced person has crossed an international border and falls under one of the
relevant international legal instruments, they may be able to apply for asylum and can become a
refugee
A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution. if the application is successful. Although often incorrectly used as a synonym for displaced person, the term "refugee" refers specifically to a legally-recognized status that has access to specific legal protections. Loose application of the term "refugee" may cause confusion between the general descriptive class of displaced persons and those who can legally be defined as
refugee
A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution. s.
* Some forced migrants may, due to the country of residence's legal system, be unable to apply for asylum in that country. Thus, they cannot become either
asylum seeker
An asylum seeker is a person who leaves their country of residence, enters another country and applies for asylum (i.e., international protection) in that other country. An asylum seeker is an immigrant who has been forcibly displaced and m ...
s or refugees. As these terms require legal recognition, they cannot be granted if the required frameworks are not present.
* A displaced person crossing an international border without permission from the country they are entering or without subsequently applying for asylum may be considered an
illegal immigrant.
* Forced migrants are always either IDPs or displaced people, as both of these terms do not require a legal framework and the fact that they left their homes is sufficient. The distinction between the terms displaced person and forced migrant is minor, however, the term displaced person has an important historic context (e.g.
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
).
History of the term displaced person
The term displaced person (DP) was first widely used during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, following the subsequent refugee outflows from
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russ ...
. In this context, DP specifically referred to an individual removed from their native country as a
refugee
A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution. ,
prison
A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correc ...
er or a
slave laborer. Most war victims, political refugees, and DPs of the immediate post-Second World War period were Ukrainians, Poles, other
Slavs
Slavs are the largest European ethnolinguistic group. They speak the various Slavic languages, belonging to the larger Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout northern Eurasia, main ...
, and citizens of the Baltic states (Lithuanians, Latvians, and Estonians) who refused to return to Soviet-dominated Eastern Europe.
A.J. Jaffe claimed that the term was originally coined by
Eugene M. Kulischer Eugene M. Kulischer (russian: Евгений Михайлович Кулишер; September 4, 1881 – April 2, 1956) was a Russian-American sociologist; an authority on demography, migration and manpower; and an expert on Russia. He also coined t ...
. The meaning has significantly broadened in the past half-century.
Causes and examples
Bogumil Terminski distinguishes two general categories of displacement:
* Displacement of risk: mostly conflict-induced displacement, deportations and disaster-induced displacement.
* Displacement of adaptation: associated with voluntary migration, development-induced displacement and environmentally-induced displacement.
Natural causes
Forced displacement may directly result from
natural disaster
A natural disaster is "the negative impact following an actual occurrence of natural hazard in the event that it significantly harms a community". A natural disaster can cause loss of life or damage property, and typically leaves some econ ...
s and indirectly from the subsequent impact on
infrastructure
Infrastructure is the set of facilities and systems that serve a country, city, or other area, and encompasses the services and facilities necessary for its economy, households and firms to function. Infrastructure is composed of public and priv ...
, food and water access, and local/regional economies. Displacement may be temporary or permanent, depending on the scope of the disaster and the area's recovery capabilities.
Climate change
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...
is increasing the frequency of major natural disasters, possibly placing a greater number of populations in situations of forced displacement.
Also
crop failure
Harvesting is the process of gathering a ripe crop from the fields. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulse for harvest, typically using a scythe, sickle, or reaper. On smaller farms with minimal mechanization, harvesting is the most labor- ...
s due to
blight
Blight refers to a specific symptom affecting plants in response to infection by a pathogenic organism.
Description
Blight is a rapid and complete chlorosis, browning, then death of plant tissues such as leaves, branches, twigs, or floral org ...
and/or
pests
PESTS was an anonymous American activist group formed in 1986 to critique racism, tokenism, and exclusion in the art world. PESTS produced newsletters, posters, and other print material highlighting examples of discrimination in gallery represent ...
fall within this category by affecting people's access to food. Additionally, the term
environmental refugee
Environmental migrants are people who are forced to leave their home region due to sudden or long-term changes to their local or regional environment. These changes compromise their well-being or livelihood, and include increased drought, desert ...
represents people who are forced to leave their traditional habitat because of environmental factors which negatively impact their livelihood, or even environmental disruption i.e. biological, physical or chemical change in ecosystem.
[Terminski, Bogumil. Environmentally-Induced Displacement: Theoretical Frameworks and Current Challenges, University de Liege, 2012] Migration can also occur as a result of slow-onset
climate change
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...
, such as
desertification
Desertification is a type of land degradation in drylands in which biological productivity is lost due to natural processes or induced by human activities whereby fertile areas become increasingly arid. It is the spread of arid areas caused by ...
or
sea-level rise
Globally, sea levels are rising due to human-caused climate change. Between 1901 and 2018, the globally averaged sea level rose by , or 1–2 mm per year on average.IPCC, 2019Summary for Policymakers InIPCC Special Report on the Ocean and Cryo ...
, of deforestation or
land degradation
Land degradation is a process in which the value of the biophysical environment is affected by a combination of human-induced processes acting upon the land.
It is viewed as any change or disturbance to the land perceived to be deleterious ...
.
Examples of forced displacement caused by natural disasters
*
2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami: Resulting from a 9.1 earthquake off the coast of North Sumatra, the Indian Ocean Tsunami claimed over 227,898 lives, heavily damaging coastlines throughout the Indian Ocean. As a result, over 1.7 million people were displaced, mostly from Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and India.
*
2005 Hurricane Katrina: Striking New Orleans, Louisiana in late August 2005, Hurricane Katrina inflicted approximately US$125 billion in damages, standing as one of the costliest storms in United States history. As a result of the damage inflicted by Katrina, over one million people were internally displaced. One month after the disaster, over 600,000 remained displaced. Immediately following the disaster, New Orleans lost approximately half of its population, with many residents displaced to cities such as Houston, Dallas, Baton Rouge, and Atlanta. According to numerous studies, displacement disproportionally impacted Louisiana's poorer populations, specifically African Americans.
*
2011 East African Drought: Failed rains in Somalia, Kenya, and Ethiopia led to high livestock and crop losses, driving majority pastoralist populations to surrounding areas in search of accessible food and water. In addition to seeking food and water, local populations' migration was motivated by an inability to maintain traditional lifestyles.
According to researchers, although partly influenced by local armed conflict, the East African Drought stands as an example of climate change impacts.
Man-made causes
Man-made displacement describes forced displacement caused by political entities, criminal organizations, conflicts, man-made environmental disasters, development, etc. Although impacts of natural disasters and blights/pests may be exacerbated by human mismanagement, man-made causes refer specifically to those initiated by humans. According to
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
, armed conflict stands as the most common cause behind forced displacement, reinforced by regional studies citing political and armed conflict as the largest attributing factors to migrant outflows from Latin America, Africa, and Asia.
[Salazar, Luz María, and José Antonio Álvarez Lobato. 2018. “Violencia y Desplazamientos Forzados En México.” Revista Cuicuilco 25 (73): 19–37.]
Examples of forced displacement caused by criminal activity
* Displacement in
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
due to
cartel
A cartel is a group of independent market participants who collude with each other in order to improve their profits and dominate the market. Cartels are usually associations in the same sphere of business, and thus an alliance of rivals. Mos ...
violence: Throughout Mexico, drug cartel, paramilitary, and self-defense group violence drives internal and external displacement.
According to a comprehensive, mixed methodology study by Salazar and Álvarez Lobato, families fled their homes as a means of survival, hoping to escape homicide, extortion, and potential kidnapping. Using a collection of available data and existing studies, the total number of displaced persons between 2006 and 2012 was approximately 740 thousands.
*Displacement in
Central America
Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...
due to cartel/gang violence: A major factor behind US immigrant crises in the early 21st century (such as the
2014 immigrant crisis), rampant gang violence in the
Northern Triangle
The Northern Triangle of Central America (NTCA) is a term used in the United States to refer collectively to the three Central American countries of Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. The term is used with respect to the countries' economic ...
, combined with corruption and low economic opportunities, has forced many to flee their country in pursuit of stability and greater opportunity. Homicide rates in countries such as
El Salvador
El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de El Salvador), is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south b ...
and
Honduras
Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...
reached some of the highest in the world, with El Salvador peaking at
103 homicides per 100,000 people.
Contributing factors include extortion, territorial disputes, and forced gang recruitment, resulting in some estimates of approximately 500,000 people displaced annually.
*Displacement in
Colombia
Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
due to conflict and drug-related violence: According to researchers Mojica and Eugenia, Medellín, Colombia around 2013 exemplified crime and violence-induced forced displacement, standing as one of the most popular destinations for
IDPs
An internally displaced person (IDP) is someone who is forced to leave their home but who remains within their country's borders. They are often referred to as refugees, although they do not fall within the legal definitions of a refugee.
A ...
while also producing IDPs of its own. Rural citizens fled from organized criminal violence, with the majority pointing to direct threats as the main driving force, settling in Medellín in pursuit of safety and greater opportunity. Within Medellín, various armed groups battled for territorial control, forcing perceived opponents from their homes and pressuring residents to abandon their livelihoods, among other methods. All in all, criminal violence forced Colombians to abandon their possessions, way of life, and social ties in pursuit of safety.
Examples of forced displacement caused by political conflict
*
1949-1956 Palestinian Exodus
*
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
: Throughout the Vietnam War and in the years proceeding it, many populations were forced out of Vietnam and the surrounding countries as a result of armed conflict and/or persecution by their governments, such as the
Socialist Republic of Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making it ...
. This event is referred to as the
Indochina Refugee Crisis
The Indochina refugee crisis was the large outflow of people from the former French colonies of Indochina, comprising the countries of Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos, after communist governments were established in 1975. Over the next 25 years and ...
, with millions displaced across Asia, Australia, Europe, and North America.
*
Salvadoran Civil War
The Salvadoran Civil War ( es, guerra civil de El Salvador) was a twelve year period of civil war in El Salvador that was fought between the government of El Salvador and the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN), a coalition or ...
: Throughout and after the 12-year conflict between the Salvadoran government and the
FMLN, Salvadorans faced forced displacement as a result of combat, persecution, and deteriorating quality of life/access to socioeconomic opportunities. Overall, one in four Salvadorans were internally and externally displaced (over one million people).
*
Myanmar coup: since the coup d’état of 1 February 2021, the Burmese military’s ascendancy into power has resulted in widespread chaos and violence, aggravated by the refusal of large sections of the public to accept a military regime given the country’s experiences during the second half of the 20th and early years of the 21st century. As a result, many in the public sector have initiated strikes, and the country has seen elevated levels of forced displacement, both internally displaced persons (IDPs) (208,000 since 1 February 2021) and refugees fleeing abroad (an estimated 22,000 since 1 February 2021). The particular political conflict causing the displacement has been flagged as symptomatic of that of a state on the brink of collapse. Two key indicators of this that have been highlighted are firstly, that levels of security have been severely reduced to the point where citizens are no longer protected from violence by the state, and secondly, goods and services are not being reliably supplied to citizens either by the ousted government or by the new military leadership, primarily as a result of the instability created and the strikes triggered. These internal problems are further reflected by the withdrawal of international recognition by both governmental and non-governmental bodies.
Examples of forced displacement caused by man-made environmental disasters
*
2019 Amazon Rainforest Wildfires: Although man-made fires are a normal part of Amazonian agriculture, the 2019 dry season saw an internationally noted increase in their rate of occurrence. The rapidly spreading fires, combined with efforts from agricultural and logging companies, has forced Brazil's indigenous populations off their native lands.
*
Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster
The Chernobyl disaster was a nuclear accident that occurred on 26 April 1986 at the No. 4 reactor in the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, near the city of Pripyat in the north of the Ukrainian SSR in the Soviet Union. It is one of only two nucl ...
: A nuclear meltdown on April 26, 1986 near
Pripyat, Ukraine
Pripyat ( ; russian: При́пять), also known as Prypiat ( uk, При́пʼять, , ), is an abandoned city in northern Ukraine, located near the border with Belarus. Named after the nearby river, Pripyat, it was founded on 4 February 19 ...
contaminated the city and surrounding areas with harmful levels of radiation, forcing the displacement of over 100,000 people.
*
Great Famine of Ireland: Between 1845 and 1849, potato blight exasperated by policy decisions and mismanagement by the U.K. government caused millions of Irish people, largely potato-dependent tenant farmers, to starve or eventually flee the country. Over one million perished from subsequent famine and disease, and another million fled the country, reducing the overall Irish population by at least a quarter.
Other man-made displacement
*
Human trafficking/
smuggling
Smuggling is the illegal transportation of objects, substances, information or people, such as out of a house or buildings, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations.
There are various ...
: Migrants displaced through deception or coercion with purpose of their exploitation fall under this category. Due to its clandestine nature, the data on such type of forced migration are limited. A disparity also exists between the data for male trafficking (such as for labor in agriculture, construction etc.) and female trafficking (such as for sex work or domestic service), with more data available for males. The
International Labour Organization
The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is the first and o ...
considers trafficking an offense against labor protection, denying companies from leveraging migrants as a labor resource. ILO's Multilateral Framework includes principle no. 11, recommending that "Governments should formulate and implement, in consultation with the social partners, measures to prevent abusive practices, migrant smuggling and people trafficking; they should also work towards preventing irregular labor migration."
![Umschlagplatz_in_Warsaw_August_1942](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/68/Umschlagplatz_in_Warsaw_August_1942.jpg)
*
Slavery
Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
: Historically, slavery has led to the displacement of individuals for forced labor, with the
Middle Passage of the 15th through 19th century
Atlantic slave trade
The Atlantic slave trade, transatlantic slave trade, or Euro-American slave trade involved the transportation by slave traders of enslaved African people, mainly to the Americas. The slave trade regularly used the triangular trade route and i ...
standing as a notable example. Of the 20 million Africans captured for the trade, half died in their forced march to the African coast, and another ten to twenty percent died on slave ships carrying them from Africa to the Americas.
*
Ethnic cleansing: The systematic forced removal of ethnic or religious groups from a given territory by a more powerful ethnic group, with the intent of making it ethnically homogeneous. Examples include the Catholic removal of European Protestants (e.g.
Salzburg Protestants
The Salzburg Protestants (german: Salzburger Exulanten) were Protestant refugees who had lived in the Catholic Archbishopric of Salzburg until the 18th century. In a series of persecutions ending in 1731, over 20,000 Protestants were expelled from ...
) during the 16th through 19th centuries during the
counter-Reformation
The Counter-Reformation (), also called the Catholic Reformation () or the Catholic Revival, was the period of Catholic resurgence that was initiated in response to the Protestant Reformation. It began with the Council of Trent (1545–1563) a ...
and the cleansing of Jewish people and other ethnic minorities during the
Holocaust
The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...
. Additionally, critics of the deportation of
indigenous peoples of the North America from their native lands may that as this.
* Suppressing political opposition: For example the
forced settlements in the Soviet Union
Forced settlements in the Soviet Union were the result of population transfers and were performed in a series of operations organized according to social class or nationality of the deported. Resettling of "enemy classes" such as prosperous p ...
and
population transfer in the Soviet Union including
deportation of the Crimean Tatars
The deportation of the Crimean Tatars ( crh, Qırımtatar halqınıñ sürgünligi, Cyrillic: Къырымтатар халкъынынъ сюргюнлиги) or the Sürgünlik ('exile') was the ethnic cleansing and cultural genocide of at ...
,
deportation of the Chechens and Ingush
The deportation of the Chechens and Ingush ( ce, До́хадар, Махках дахар, inh, Мехках дахар), or Ardakhar Genocide ( ce, Ардахар Махках), and also known as Operation Lentil (russian: Чечевица ...
,
deportation of Koreans in the Soviet Union
The deportation of Koreans in the Soviet Union (; ) was the forced transfer of nearly 172,000 Soviet Koreans (Koryo-saram) from the Russian Far East to unpopulated areas of the Kazakh SSR and the Uzbek SSR in 1937 by the NKVD on the orders of ...
,
deportation of the Soviet Greeks
The deportation of the Soviet Greeks was a series of forced transfers of Greeks of the Soviet Union that was ordered by Soviet leader Joseph Stalin. It was carried out in 1942, 1944 and 1949 and affected mostly Pontic Greeks along the Black Sea co ...
, and
deportations of the Ingrian Finns
Deportations of the Ingrian Finns were a series of mass deportations of the Ingrian Finnish population by Soviet authorities. Deportations took place from the late 1920s to the end of World War II. They were part of the Genocide of the Ingrian Fin ...
* Aligning ethnic composition with artificial political border: For example
flight and expulsion of Germans (1944–1950)
During later stages of World War II and post-war period from 1944 to 1950, Germans fled and were expelled to Germany, present-day Germany from Eastern Europe, which led to de-Germanization there. The idea to expel the Germans from the annexed ...
,
Polish population transfers (1944–1946)
The Polish population transfers in 1944–1946 from the eastern half of prewar Poland (also known as the expulsions of Poles from the Kresy macroregion), were the forced migrations of Poles toward the end and in the aftermath of World War II. ...
, and
Operation Vistula
Operation Vistula ( pl, Akcja Wisła; uk, Опера́ція «Ві́сла») was a codename for the 1947 forced resettlement of 150,000 Ukrainians (Boykos and Lemkos) from the south-eastern provinces of post-war Poland, to the Recovered Te ...
*
Colonization
Colonization, or colonisation, constitutes large-scale population movements wherein migrants maintain strong links with their, or their ancestors', former country – by such links, gain advantage over other inhabitants of the territory. When ...
: For example the British governments transportation of
Convicts in Australia
Between 1788 and 1868, about 162,000 convicts were transported from Britain and Ireland to various penal colonies in Australia.
The British Government began transporting convicts overseas to American colonies in the early 18th century. When ...
,
American Colonization Society
The American Colonization Society (ACS), initially the Society for the Colonization of Free People of Color of America until 1837, was an American organization founded in 1816 by Robert Finley to encourage and support the migration of freebor ...
and others' attempt to create a country for
African Americans
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
in
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
as
Liberia
Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...
, Japanese settlers in
Manchukuo
Manchukuo, officially the State of Manchuria prior to 1934 and the Empire of (Great) Manchuria after 1934, was a puppet state of the Empire of Japan in Northeast China, Manchuria from 1932 until 1945. It was founded as a republic in 1932 afte ...
following
Japanese invasion of Manchuria
The Empire of Japan's Kwantung Army invaded Manchuria on 18 September 1931, immediately following the Mukden Incident. At the war's end in February 1932, the Japanese established the puppet state of Manchukuo. Their occupation lasted until the ...
, and the Chinese military settlement of
Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps in
Xinjiang
Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest ...
.
Conditions faced by displaced persons
![Ursula_(detention_center)_180617-H-BP911-641_(41979746295)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/42/Ursula_%28detention_center%29_180617-H-BP911-641_%2841979746295%29.jpg)
Displaced persons face adverse conditions when taking the decision to leave, traveling to a destination, and sometimes upon reaching their destination.
Displaced persons are often forced to place their lives at risk, travel in inhumane conditions, and may be exposed to exploitation and abuse. These risk factors may increase through the involvement of smugglers and human traffickers, who may exploit them for illegal activities such as drug/weapons trafficking, forced labor, or sex work. The states where migrants seek protection may consider them a threat to national security.
[http://www.unhcr.org/46f7c0ee2.pdf , page 16] Displaced persons may also seek the assistance of
human smugglers (such as
coyotes
The coyote (''Canis latrans'') is a species of canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the wolf, and slightly smaller than the closely related eastern wolf and red wolf. It fills much of the same ecological nich ...
in Latin America) throughout their journey.
[“Migrants' Journeys – Increased Hardship and Incremental Human Rights Abuses: Caught in the Middle.” Migrants' journeys – increased hardship and incremental human rights abuses , Caught in the middle. Accessed November 15, 2019. https://www.clingendael.org/pub/2018/caught-in-the-middle/1-migrants-journeys/.] Given the illegal nature of smuggling, smugglers may take use dangerous methods to reach their destination without capture, exposing displaced persons to harm and sometimes resulting in deaths.
[“Migrants' Journeys – Increased Hardship and Incremental Human Rights Abuses: Caught in the Middle.” Migrants' journeys – increased hardship and incremental human rights abuses , Caught in the middle. Accessed November 15, 2019. https://www.clingendael.org/pub/2018/caught-in-the-middle/1-migrants-journeys/.] Examples include abandonment, exposure to exploitation, dangerous transportation conditions, and death from exposure to harsh environments.
In most instances of forced migration across borders, migrants do not possess the required documentation for legal travel. The states where migrants seek protection may consider them a threat to national security.
As a result, displaced persons may face detainment and criminal punishment, as well as physical and psychological trauma. Various studies focusing on migrant health have specifically linked migration to increased likelihood of depression, anxiety, and other psychological troubles.
For example, the United States has faced criticism for its recent policies regarding migrant detention, specifically the detention of children. Critics point to poor detention conditions, unstable contact with parents, and high potential for long-term trauma as reasons for seeking policy changes. Displaced persons risk greater poverty than before displacement, financial vulnerability, and potential social disintegration, in addition to other risks related to human rights, culture, and quality of life.
Forced displacement has varying impacts, dependent on the means through which one was forcibly displaced, their geographic location, their protected status, and their ability to personally recover. Under the most common form of displacement, armed conflict, individuals often lose possession of their assets upon fleeing and possible upon arrival to a new country, where they can also face cultural, social, and economic discontinuity.
Responses to forced displacement
International response
Responses to situations of forced displacement vary across regional and international levels, with each type of forced displacement demonstrating unique characteristics and the need for a considerate approach. At the international level, international organizations (e.g. the
UNHCR
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, local integrati ...
), NGOs (
Doctors without Borders
Doctor or The Doctor may refer to:
Personal titles
* Doctor (title), the holder of an accredited academic degree
* A medical practitioner, including:
** Physician
** Surgeon
** Dentist
** Veterinary physician
** Optometrist
*Other roles
** ...
), and country governments (
USAID
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government that is primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. With a budget of over $27 bi ...
) may work towards directly or indirectly ameliorating these situations.
Means may include establishing internationally recognized protections, providing clinics to migrant camps, and supplying resources to populations.
According to researchers such as Francis Deng, as well as international organizations such as the
UN, an increase in
IDPs
An internally displaced person (IDP) is someone who is forced to leave their home but who remains within their country's borders. They are often referred to as refugees, although they do not fall within the legal definitions of a refugee.
A ...
compounds the difficulty of international responses, posing issues of incomplete information and questions regarding state sovereignty.
State sovereignty especially becomes of concern when discussing protections for IDPs, who are within the borders of a sovereign state, placing reluctance in the international community's ability to respond.
Multiple landmark conventions aim at providing rights and protections to the different categories of forcibly displaced persons, including the
1951 Refugee Convention, the
1967 Protocol, the
Kampala Convention
The Kampala Convention (formally, the African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa) is a treaty of the African Union (AU) that addresses internal displacement caused by armed conflict, nat ...
, and the
1998 Guiding Principles.
Despite internationally cooperation, these frameworks rely on the international system, which states may disregard. finds that nations "very selectively" respond to instances of forced migration and internally displaced persons.
World organizations such as the United Nations and the
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Interna ...
, as well as individual countries, sometimes directly respond to the challenges faced by displaced people, providing humanitarian assistance or
forcibly intervening in the country of conflict. Disputes related to these organizations' neutrality and limited resources has affected the capabilities of international humanitarian action to mitigate mass displacement mass displacement's causes. These broad forms of assistance sometimes do not fully address the multidimensional needs of displaced persons. Regardless, calls for multilateral responses echo across organizations in the face of falling international cooperation. These organizations propose more comprehensive approaches, calling for improved conflict resolution and capacity-building in order to reduce instances of forced displacement.
Local response
Responses at multiple levels and across sectors is vital. A research has for instance highlighted the importance of collaboration between businesses and non-governmental organizations to tackle resettlement and employment issues.
Lived in experiences of displaced persons will vary according to the state and local policies of their country of relocation. Policies reflecting national exclusion of displaced persons may be undone by inclusive urban policies. Sanctuary cities are an example of spaces that regulate their cooperation or participation with immigration law enforcement.
The practice of urban membership upon residence allows displaced persons to have access to city services and benefits, regardless of their legal status. Sanctuary cities have been able to provide migrants with greater mobility and participation in activities limiting the collection of personal information, issuing identification cards to all residents, and providing access to crucial services such as health care.
Access to these services can ease the hardships of displaced people by allowing them to healthily adjust to life after displacement .
Criminal prosecution
Forced displacement has been the subject of several trials in local and international courts. For an offense to classify as a
war crime, the victim must be a "protected person" under
international humanitarian law
International humanitarian law (IHL), also referred to as the laws of armed conflict, is the law that regulates the conduct of war (''jus in bello''). It is a branch of international law that seeks to limit the effects of armed conflict by prot ...
. Originally referring only categories of individuals explicitly protected under one of the four
Geneva Conventions of 1949
The Third Geneva Convention, relative to the treatment of prisoners of war, is one of the four treaties of the Geneva Conventions. The Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War was first adopted in 1929, but significantl ...
, "protected person" now may define a
civilian
Civilians under international humanitarian law are "persons who are not members of the armed forces" and they are not "combatants if they carry arms openly and respect the laws and customs of war". It is slightly different from a non-combatant, b ...
or police force not participating directly in a conflict.
In Article 49, the
Fourth Geneva Convention, adopted on 12 August 1949, specifically forbade forced displacementThe
Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court defines forced displacement as a crime within the jurisdiction of the court:
* Following the end of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, the
Krupp trial was held with a specific charge to the forced displacement of civilian populations for the purpose of forced labor. The US Military Tribunal concluded that "
ere is no international law that permits the deportation or the use of civilians against their will for other than on reasonable requisitions for the need of the army, either within the area of the army or after deportation to rear areas or to the homeland of the occupying power".
* At the
Nuremberg trials
The Nuremberg trials were held by the Allies of World War II, Allies against representatives of the defeated Nazi Germany, for plotting and carrying out invasions of other countries, and other crimes, in World War II.
Between 1939 and 1945 ...
,
Hans Frank
Hans Michael Frank (23 May 1900 – 16 October 1946) was a German politician and lawyer who served as head of the General Government in Nazi-occupied Poland during the Second World War.
Frank was an early member of the German Workers' Party ...
, chief jurist in
occupied Poland
' ( Norwegian: ') is a Norwegian political thriller TV series that premiered on TV2 on 5 October 2015. Based on an original idea by Jo Nesbø, the series is co-created with Karianne Lund and Erik Skjoldbjærg. Season 2 premiered on 10 Octobe ...
, was found guilty, among others for forced displacement of the civilian population.
* Several people were tried and convicted by the
ICTY for connection to forced displacement during the
Yugoslav Wars
The Yugoslav Wars were a series of separate but related#Naimark, Naimark (2003), p. xvii. ethnic conflicts, wars of independence, and Insurgency, insurgencies that took place in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, SFR Yugoslavia from ...
in the 1990s. On 11 April 2018, the Appeals Chamber sentenced
Vojislav Šešelj
Vojislav Šešelj ( sr-Cyrl, Војислав Шешељ, ; born 11 October 1954) is a Serbian politician, founder and president of the far-right Serbian Radical Party (SRS); he was convicted of war crimes by the International Criminal Tribuna ...
10 years in prison under Counts 1, 10, and 11 of the indictment for instigating
deportation
Deportation is the expulsion of a person or group of people from a place or country. The term ''expulsion'' is often used as a synonym for deportation, though expulsion is more often used in the context of international law, while deportation ...
,
persecution
Persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or group by another individual or group. The most common forms are religious persecution, racism, and political persecution, though there is naturally some overlap between these term ...
(forcible displacement), and other inhumane acts (forcible transfer) as
crimes against humanity
Crimes against humanity are widespread or systemic acts committed by or on behalf of a ''de facto'' authority, usually a state, that grossly violate human rights. Unlike war crimes, crimes against humanity do not have to take place within the ...
due to his speech in Hrtkovci on 6 May 1992, in which he called for the
expulsion of Croats from Vojvodina. Other convictions for forced displacement included ex-Bosnian Serb politician
Momčilo Krajišnik
Momčilo Krajišnik (; 20 January 1945 – 15 September 2020) was a Bosnian Serb political leader, who along with Radovan Karadžić co-founded the Bosnian Serb nationalist Serb Democratic Party (SDS). Between 1990 and 1992, he was speaker of ...
, ex-Croatian Serb leader
Milan Martić
Milan Martić ( sr-cyr, Милан Мартић; born 18 November 1954) is a Croatian Serb politician and war criminal who served as the president of the unrecognized Republic of Serbian Krajina between 1994 and 1995, during the Croatian War of In ...
, former Bosnian Croat paramilitary commander
Mladen Naletilić, and Bosnian Serb politician
Radoslav Brđanin
Radoslav Brđanin (9 February 1948 – 7 September 2022) was a Bosnian Serb political leader and a war criminal. In 2004 he was sentenced to 32 years imprisonment by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia for crimes commi ...
.
See also
*
Asylum seeker
An asylum seeker is a person who leaves their country of residence, enters another country and applies for asylum (i.e., international protection) in that other country. An asylum seeker is an immigrant who has been forcibly displaced and m ...
s
*
Climate migrant
Climate migrants are a subset of environmental migrants who were forced to flee "due to sudden or gradual alterations in the natural environment related to at least one of three impacts of climate change: sea-level rise, extreme weather events, ...
*
Development-induced displacement Development-induced displacement and resettlement (DIDR) occurs when people are forced to leave their homes in a development-driven form of forced migration. Historically, it has been associated with the construction of dams for hydroelectric power ...
*
Deportation
Deportation is the expulsion of a person or group of people from a place or country. The term ''expulsion'' is often used as a synonym for deportation, though expulsion is more often used in the context of international law, while deportation ...
*
Population transfer
Population transfer or resettlement is a type of mass migration, often imposed by state policy or international authority and most frequently on the basis of ethnicity or religion but also due to economic development. Banishment or exile is ...
*
Refugee
A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution. s
*
Refugee employment Refugee employment refers to the employment of refugees. Gaining access to legal paid work can be a requirement for asylum status or citizenship in a host country and may be done with or without the assistance of non-governmental organizations. In ...
*
Refugee roulette
Refugee roulette refers to arbitrariness in the process of refugee status determinations or, as it is called in the United States, asylum adjudication. Recent research suggests that at least in the United States and Canada, the outcome of asylum d ...
*
List of diasporas
*
International Association for the Study of Forced Migration
*
Displaced persons camps in post-World War II Europe
Displaced may refer to:
* Forced displacement
Forced displacement (also forced migration) is an involuntary or coerced movement of a person or people away from their home or home region. The UNHCR defines 'forced displacement' as follows: ...
*
Earl G. Harrison
Earl Grant Harrison (April 27, 1899 – July 28, 1955) was an American attorney, academician, and public servant. He worked on behalf of displaced persons in the aftermath of the Second World War, when he brought attention to the plight of Jewish ...
's "Report on DPs in Western Europe in 1945" to U.S. President
Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. A leader of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 34th vice president from January to April 1945 under Franklin ...
*
Kampala Convention
The Kampala Convention (formally, the African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa) is a treaty of the African Union (AU) that addresses internal displacement caused by armed conflict, nat ...
*
Divided family
A divided family can be a close family unit or members of the wider family who are separated from each other by borders of one or more countries and are therefore temporarily or permanently not able to live together. Main reason for the separatio ...
*
Forced displacement in popular culture
*
Indian Removal
Indian removal was the United States government policy of forced displacement of self-governing tribes of Native Americans from their ancestral homelands in the eastern United States to lands west of the Mississippi Riverspecifically, to a de ...
*
Population cleansing Population cleansing is the deliberate removal of a population with certain undesirable characteristics, such as its ethnicity ( ethnic cleansing), its religion ( religious cleansing), its social group (social cleansing), its social class, its ideo ...
References
Further reading
* Betts, Alexander: ''Forced Migration and Global Politics''. Wiley-Blackwell.
*
* Luciuk, Lubomyr Y.: "Ukrainian Displaced Persons, Canada, and the Migration of Memory," University of Toronto Press, 2000. Migration of people from Mirpur(AJK) for construction of Mangla Dam
*
External links
International Network on Displacement and ResettlementPictures of Refugees in Europe– Features by Jean-Michel Clajot, Belgian photographer
Oukloof forced removals in the Western Cape of South Africa– A community web site documenting the known history of the forced removal of the residents of Oukloof in the 1960s
Forced Migration Onlineprovides access to a diverse range of relevant information resources on forced migration, including a searchable digital library consisting of full-text documents.
Back issues of migration journals(Disasters, Forced Migration Review,
International Journal of Refugee Law, International Migration Review and Journal of Refugee Studies)
EurasylumMany relevant documents on asylum and refugee policy, immigration and human trafficking/smuggling internationally
IDP VoicesForced migrants tell their life stories
Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC), Norwegian Refugee CouncilThe leading international body monitoring conflict-induced internal displacement worldwide.
The International Association for the Study of Forced Migrationbrings together academics, practitioners and decision-makers working on forced migration issues.
The International Organization for Migrationis a
non-governmental organization
A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...
with a major role mediating modern migration.
The Journal of Refugee Studiesfrom
Oxford University
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
provides a forum for exploration of the complex problems of forced migration and national, regional and international responses.
Program for the Study of Global Migration Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva.
The Refugee Studies Centre University of Oxford: a leading multidisciplinary centre for research and teaching on the causes and consequences of forced migration.
an introductory guide for those who are new to the subject.
Wits Forced Migration Studies Programme Africa's leading centre for teaching and research on displacement, migration, and social transformation.
Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children
{{DEFAULTSORT:Forced Migration
Human rights abuses
Persecution
Population
Global issues
Refugees by type
Crimes against humanity