The Demography Of Forced Migration

Because forced migration situations are often physically dangerous and politically complicated, estimates of these populations are often difficult to make. Estimates of forced migration vary, but it is probable that there are about 23 million refugees and more than 30 million internally displaced people.In order to assist specific groups of forced migrants and also to better understand the general plight of forced migrants, good demographic data are needed. However, collecting data on forced migration presents tremendous challenges for normal data collection processes and standards.To explore a range of issues about internally displaced persons and refugees, the Committee on Population of the National Research Council organized a Workshop on the Demography of Forced Migration in Washington, D.C., in November 1997. The purpose of the workshop was to investigate the ways in which population and other social scientists can produce more useful demographic information about forced migrant populations and how they differ. This report summarizes the background papers prepared for the meeting, the presentations, and the general discussion.

This authoritative and comprehensive edited volume presents current research on how demography can contribute to generating scientific knowledge and evidence concerning refugees and forced migration, developing evidence based policy recommendations on protection for forced migrants and reception of refugees, and revealing the determinants and consequences of migration for origin and destination regions and communities. Refugee and other forced migrations have increased substantially in scale, complexity and diversity in recent decades. These changes challenge traditional approaches in response to refugee and other forced migration situations, and protection of refugees. Demography has an important contribution to make in this analytic space. While other disciplines (especially anthropology, law, geography, political science and international relations) have made major contributions to refugee and forced migration studies, demography has been less present with most research focusing on issues of refugee mortality and morbidity. This book specifies the range of topics for which a demographic approach is highly appropriate, and identifies findings of demographic research which can contribute to ever more effective policy making in this important arena of human welfare and international policy.

In 2018, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees estimated 70.8 million people could be considered forced migrants, which is nearly double their estimation just one decade ago. This includes internally displaced persons, refugees, asylum seekers, and stateless people. This drastic increase in forced migrants exacerbates the already urgent need for a systematic policy-related review of the available data and analyses on forced migration and refugee movements. To explore the causes and impacts of forced migration and population displacement, the National Academies convened a two-day workshop on May 21-22, 2019. The workshop discussed new approaches in social demographic theory, methodology, data collection and analysis, and practice as well as applications to the community of researchers and practitioners who are concerned with better understanding and assisting forced migrant populations. This workshop brought together stakeholders and experts in demography, public health, and policy analysis to review and address some of the domestic implications of international migration and refugee flows for the United States. This publication summarizes the presentations and discussions from the workshop.

In recent years the number of complex humanitarian emergencies around the world has been steadily increasing. War and political, ethnic, racial, and religious strife continually force people to migrate against their will. These forced migrants create a stream of new challenges for relief workers and policy makers. A better understanding of the characteristics of refugee populations and of the population dynamics of these situations is vital. Improved research and insights can enhance disaster management, refugee camp administration, and repatriation or resettlement programs. Forced Migration and Mortality examines mortality patterns in complex human- itarian emergencies, reviewing the state of knowledge, as well as how patterns may change in the new century. It contains four case studies of mortality in recent emergencies: Rwanda, North Korea, Kosovo, and Cambodia. Because refugees and internally displaced persons are likely to continue to be a significant humanitarian concern for many years, research in this field is critical. This is the first book to comprehensively explore forced migration and mortality and it provides useful material for researchers, policy makers, and relief workers.

The Roundtable on the Demography of Forced Migration was established by the Committee on Population of the National Research Council in 1999. The roundtable is composed of experts from academia, government, philanthropy, and international organizations. The roundtable's purpose is to serve as an interdisciplinary, nonpartisan focal point for taking stock of what is known about demographic patterns in refugee situations, to apply this knowledge base to assist both policy makers and relief workers, and to stimulate new directions for innovation and scientific inquiry in this growing field of study. The roundtable meets yearly and has also organized a series of workshops (held concurrently with roundtable meetings) on some of the specific aspects of the demography of refugee and refugee-like situations, including mortality patterns, demographic assessment techniques, and research ethics in complex humanitarian emergencies. This report to the Roundtable on the Demography of Forced Migration is a summary of one such workshop, which was held on September 20-21, 2000, under the aupices of the Committee on Population. The purpose of this meeting was to address a basic problem faced by all humanitarian relief agencies in an emergency: how to count the numbers of displaced persons and assess their general well-being. Workshop participants examined different methods for estimating refugee populations and their mortality rates, whether mortality was due to disease and malnutrition or human rights abuses. Demographic Assessment Techniques in Complex Humanitarian Emergencies: Summary of a Workshop explores the applicability of various methods in different types of emergency settings, how to improve existing methodologies and develop new ones, and the difficulties encountered by personnel in the field, including security, logistics, and access to a population.

Fertility and reproductive health issues more broadly have tended to be of low priority in humanitarian crises. Public attention is drawn by information concerning the magnitude of refugee flows, of death tolls, and of numbers of injuries. Reproductive health has been regarded as a longer term issue that could safely be put on the back burner during the crisis phase of an emergency, when issues of providing adequate food, clean water, and shelter, plus treating acute infectious diseases of crowding, take priority. This report reviews what evidence there is concerning the effects of humanitarian crisis on fertility, with a view to identifying common patterns that may exist across settings and be of value in guiding responses to future crises.

This book presents effective long-term solutions for displacement and migration against the background of the current debates. It offers insights on practical suggestions for dealing with displacement and migration due to violence, examines ideas for the management of global migration movements and looks into the integration of refugees and migrants. Throughout the chapters, experts from science, politics and practice shed light on the causes of global migration and the consequences of migration on a political, economic and social level. The focus of the discussion is not the avoidance of migratory movements, but above all the use of positive effects in countries of origin, transit and destination. The book is a must-read for researchers, policy-makers and politicians, interested in international cooperation and in a better understanding of causes, consequences and solutions of displacement and forced migration.

In Africa many of the refugee flows in recent years have had a strong ethnic dimension; interethnic conflict or conflict between politically powerful groups with minority populations is often an important aspect of who is forced to flee. In most cases the origins of conflict occur in a multiethnic environment, and repatriation (if it happens) occurs in that multiethnic context, with implications for subsequent relationships between the groups in terms of political, economic, and numeric power. As the primary source of recruitment to a population, fertility is an essential component of postconflict restructuring. The disruption of fertility during the disorder of forced migration can itself be seen as part of the disintegration of society and identity; the impact of conflict and flight on reproduction may be an important indicator of the degree of crisis faced by the population. Postcrisis fertility and changes from the reproductive regime prior to the forced migration indicate not only how the population has responded to the multiplicity of changes and traumas, but also its ability to adapt and manipulate its new sociopolitical position. This report focuses on the specific experience of a single persecuted population whose sociopolitical history, along with their underlying marital and fertility regimes, will inevitably condition responses to conflict.