Forced Migration: Local Conflicts and International Dilemmas

Abstract

Current patterns and trends in forced migration are increasingly a result of ethnic conflict, inequitable access to natural resources, declining living conditions, and chronic and pervasive human rights abuses. As a result of these overlapping causal factors and an international trend towards tighter immigration and asylum policies, many of those who have been forcibly uprooted, particularly those who remain within their country, are without adequate protection and assistance. This paper argues that legalistic distinctions between “economic migrants” and “political refugees” impedes multilateral efforts to prevent an increase in all types of forced migration. Such efforts must focus on underlying conditions that prompt political and socieoeconomic instability.

Key Words:

• immigration
• migration
• refugees
• Third World