International Migration
International Migration
International Migration and Displacement
International migration and displacement is not only a humanitarian crisis, but also an urgent global security problem. International migration is defined by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) as the movement of people from their usual place of origin across an international border to a country where they are not nationals. In past generations, humans have migrated all across the world either to find better employment opportunities, to be with families, or to live a different lifestyle. However, there are also many who have had to migrate against their will to escape poverty, terrorism, war, climate change, natural disasters, human rights violations, and/or worse.
Despite the efforts that have been made already to deal with the issue, millions of people across the world continue to live without guarantee of safety, security, and shelter. While migration can strengthen and enrich societies, especially over time, abrupt shifts in international migration and displacement can also add strain to national welfare state programs, heighten global humanitarian needs, create opportunities for political dissension, and allow transnational criminal organizations to exploit vulnerable populations among migrants. International migration and displacement is therefore a global security problem that requires effective mechanisms and funding for a global humanitarian response.
Internally Displaced Persons
Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) are people who have been forced or obliged to leave their 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 (Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, 1998). IDPs involuntarily flee their homes; however, they differ from migrants and refugees in that IDPs do not cross any national borders. Additionally, according to the IDMC, around 50.8 million people at the end of 2019 were living in internal displacement. Although the crisis is serious and the numbers are significant, there are still many who are unaware about the situation, which is why many of the organizations listed below are actively advocating for the status of IDPs within international law.
Climate Refugees
According to UN Secretary General António Guterres, climate change has become the leading, key factor that causes displacement more than any other factor. Climate change is a rapidly growing global issue that has had significant negative impacts for migrants and refugees. Climate change serves as a “threat multiplier,” which can increase the risks for food and water insecurity, natural resource competition, extreme weather conditions, and displacement. Those who have been displaced due to the effects of climate change are commonly referred to as “climate refugees”; however, it is more accurate to use the term “persons displaced in the context of disasters and climate change.” Because climate refugees are not guaranteed any protection under international law, it is crucial for both governmental and non-profit organizations to cooperatively provoke policy change in order to give climate refugees the basic, human rights that they deserve.
Push and Pull Factors
As briefly mentioned before, people migrate for various reasons typically due to economic, social, political, or environmental factors. Many of these factors for why people migrate can be categorized into push or pull factors: 1) push factors are the negative aspects that make people want to move to a new area, while 2) pull factors are the positive aspects that attract people to move into a new area. Consequently, most of these factors mirror each other. For example, better employment opportunities in another country would pull a migrant to move in; meanwhile, poor employment opportunities in the migrant’s home country would push them away to move out. Similar parallels can be said for each country’s services, security, violence and crime, war, political stability, wealth, environment, food availability, and quality of life, overall. Recognizing these factors can help us to understand why people choose to migrate, and why we should collectively work together to provide better assistance for those who were “pushed” out of their homes.
Organizations Addressing Issues of International Migration and Displacement
International Organization of Migration (IOM)
The International Organization of Migration (IOM) is the leading inter-governmental organization of migration that creates solutions to migration problems, promotes international cooperation regarding migration issues, and provides humanitarian assistance to all migrants. Their website contains numerous educational resources on migration such as glossaries, databases, reports, press rooms, online bookstores for publications, and The Migration Data Portal. The Migration Data Portal is one of the best resources for providing accurate and comprehensive global data on migration statistics and information.
The World Bank Group
The World Bank Group is a global organization that has established goals to end extreme poverty within the next generation, to push countries to create better living standards for all citizens, and to promote a global “shared prosperity.” International migration has significant implications for poverty growth; therefore, the Word Bank has created a broad agenda to provide evidence-based policy advice, to analyze the remittance costs that migrants send back to their home countries, to strengthen global partnerships, and more. Some of the resources that the World Bank Group has released includes publications, annual remittance data, books, the Africa Migration Project, and multimedia.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
UNHCR is the UN refugee agency that works to provide better futures for refugees, internationally displaced communities, and stateless people. The UNHRC has provided numerous emergency assistance in the past such as clean water, sanitation, healthcare, shelters, transport, etc. to help displaced migrants return home, integrate, or resettle. The website contains more information regarding the UNHCR and what it does, various international emergencies, news, stories, global partners with the UNHCR, and many resources on ways to get involved and help.
The Internal Displacement Monitoring Center (IDMC)
IDMC is the world’s most definite source of data and analysis on internal displacement. The work that the IDMC performs allows policymakers to make decisions about the improvement of the lives of internationally displaced people, or those at-risk of becoming displaced in the future. Their website includes numerous sources of data and analysis, focus areas of different types of displacement, news, and various resources.
The Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM)
PRM is the humanitarian bureau of the U.S. Department of State. PRM aims to provide protection and ease the suffering of displaced migrants by creating humanitarian policies and responses, building global partnerships, offering life-sustaining assistance, and much more. Their website lists key topics of PRM such as humanitarian assistance by region overseas, the U.S. refugee admissions program, and the bureau’s various policy issues.
Climate Refugees
Climate refugees is a non-profit, human rights organization intended to protect the rights of migrants who are displaced, specifically, by climate change. The organization’s project has conducted extensive in-field research on the human rights implications of climate change, which has strengthened their advocacy efforts to protect those who are displaced. More information regarding the issue of climate displacement, news stories, various perspectives, reports, and information of the organization itself can be found through the link.
The Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI)
ESRI is the global market leader in GIS: the world’s most powerful mapping and spatial analytics software. One of Esri’s software features, ArcGIS StoryMaps, has allowed Esri’s Story Maps team to create an immersive, interactive, multimedia case study of climate migration of various locations around the world. The “Climate Migrants” Story Map contains in-depth information of displaced communities in Alaska, Island Nations, Bangladesh, Darfur, Syria, and the U.S. Coast.
The European Union (EU)
The EU is the world’s leading donor of humanitarian aid that helps over 120 million people each year, including displaced migrants. The EU Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations department, specifically, specializes in providing assistance, relief, and protection to anyone around the globe who is affected by either natural or man-made disasters. The website’s topic page on “Forced Displacement” lists descriptions of the issue along with facts, figures, news, field blogs, and more information.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC)
The IFRC is the world’s largest humanitarian network that aims to reduce vulnerabilities, strengthen resilience, and foster a culture of peace around the world. The network primarily focuses on solving issues in disaster response and recovery, development, and social inclusion and peace; however, they also specialize in migration and displacement as well. Their page on “Migration and Displacement” lists the organization’s work for migration and displacement such as their policies, strategies, programmes, virtual volunteer services, learning materials, press releases, reports, and more.
The RAND Corporation
The RAND Corporation is a non-profit research organization that aims to create solutions on various public policy issues in order to benefit the public interest. The Corporation has topic pages regarding migration, forced migration, and migration law with extensive research collections. Various journal articles, reports, essays, briefs, press and more regarding migration can be found on these pages.
The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
The OECD is an international organization that works to create better policies that foster prosperity, equality, opportunity, and well-being for all. The organization’s topic page on “Migration” contains key publications related to migration issues and a wide range of data on migration and integration issues. The OECD’s several databases dedicated to international migration include the OECD International Migration database, a Database on Immigrants in OECD countries (DIOC), and further data on the Indicators of Immigrant Integration.
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch is a non-governmental organization that investigates and reports various cases of human rights violations in order to create policy changes within governments and governmental organizations. The organization focuses on defending numerous human rights topics, including those for refugees and migrants. Their topic page for refugees and migrants includes overview information, educational videos, reports, current events, and much more.
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is another non-governmental organization that advocates for universal human rights, including rights for refugees, asylum-seekers, and migrants. The organization’s page for refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants lists educational information regarding the human rights issues, campaigns, laws, community sponsorship, and much more. The page also features “Related Content” with a search engine that provides excellent content for migration information such as country reports, research, news, etc.
