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Key Terms I: Migrants and Refugees
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Displacement and Forced Migration
In this course, Dr Jen Bagelman (Newcastle University) explores displacement and forced migration. In the first two modules, we consider some key terms associated with different types of migration, including migrant, refugee, asylum seeker, internally displaced person (IDP), and climate refugee. The third module then looks at the major refugee countries of origin, the main countries they go to, and the reasons some nations host more displaced people than others. In the fourth module, we think about causes of displacement, emphasising the importance of moving beyond abstract, large-scale drivers and considering personal experience when seeking to understand why people migrate. We conclude with a final module on the main actors involved in responding to situations of forced migration at the international, national and local levels.
Key Terms I: Migrants and Refugees
In this module, we think about two important terms in scholarship on forced migration – migrant and refugee. We focus on: (i) what a migrant is and the distinction between voluntary and forced migration; (ii) the scale of forced migration in the contemporary world; (iii) the formation and functions of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR); (iv) the 1951 Refugee Convention’s definition of the refugee, including its core principle of non-refoulement – that refugees should not be returned to a country in which their life or freedom would be threatened.
welcome. Hi, My name is Doctor Jen
00:00:05Beelman and I teach at Newcastle University, where I'm a human geographer
00:00:08and my area of expertise and the area I'm really passionate about
00:00:13is migration. Um, I've been doing work in this area for a while
00:00:18in a in a variety of ways. At the heart of my work is this belief in migrant justice
00:00:22and I I suppose we could define that as
00:00:29working towards making our communities welcome to all,
00:00:32regardless of their citizenship status.
00:00:35And we'll unpack that a little bit in today's session.
00:00:38I've worked, um in Canada, where I grew up and in the UK on sanctuary movements,
00:00:41which is a concept I'm going to introduce today.
00:00:47I've also worked in Dadaab,
00:00:49which is one of the world's largest refugee camps in Kenya bordering Somalia
00:00:52and and here I was working with women who are seeking maternity care, um,
00:00:57in the camps and working with international organisations to think
00:01:03about how to support refugees in that camp environment.
00:01:07So to begin, uh,
00:01:11I want to start with a a really important
00:01:12concept that many of you probably are familiar with.
00:01:15And that's
00:01:17the migrant.
00:01:18A migrant is a really a broad concept, I suppose,
00:01:19Um, anyone who's on the move and this could be a human or it could be a non human.
00:01:23So birds are migratory, right? They cross borders all the time.
00:01:28Um, I'm myself a migrant. I moved from Canada
00:01:32to take up a job in the UK.
00:01:36And and that migration experience can be, um,
00:01:39motivated for many reasons.
00:01:44Uh,
00:01:47you know, I think that for myself, there was an economic kind of reason for that move.
00:01:47I wanted to live in the UK and and work in the UK.
00:01:53I also wanted to have an experience of travelling
00:01:57so that that was my motivation for migration.
00:02:00And, um,
00:02:04to do that, you have to apply for a visa,
00:02:06and there's an entire process that goes along with that.
00:02:08But
00:02:11in in large part, um,
00:02:12it's a it's a It's a privileged sort of position to be in to make that choice.
00:02:14And what we want to talk about today is a is a particular form of migration,
00:02:19a particular kind of migrant,
00:02:23but perhaps,
00:02:25um, 11 who is moving in a different, um,
00:02:27sort of environment and and in in in a different
00:02:32set of conditions that have compelled someone to move.
00:02:35Um,
00:02:38and this is where the concept of displacement or forced migration comes into play.
00:02:40So this is someone who's, um, perhaps moving because
00:02:45they haven't.
00:02:49They're sort of moving involuntarily or not with the huge amount of choice.
00:02:51Although there's always agency involved for for anyone who's on the move, but
00:02:54that the decision is in some ways taken from them because of conditions we're
00:03:00gonna speak about in a moment that you might already have in mind,
00:03:04like war.
00:03:07You know, this is not a you've not woken up and decided, Oh, you know,
00:03:09I'd actually quite like to work in the UK.
00:03:12It's that,
00:03:14you know, your country that you call home is
00:03:15is under threat and you're no longer safe there.
00:03:18And so this is what we refer to as forced migration or displacement.
00:03:21And there are approximately 103 million people around the world in this position.
00:03:26People who have been forced to leave their homes
00:03:32leave their livelihoods right?
00:03:35Maybe they've been working as a lecturer like myself at a university.
00:03:38They've had to leave that position behind and seek refuge,
00:03:42seek safety somewhere else and often crossing a state border
00:03:45to be a refugee.
00:03:50Um, a a key concept of political aspect of being a refugee is that you do, in fact,
00:03:52cross the state border to seek safety elsewhere.
00:03:57And this figure of 103 million, you should always ask,
00:04:01where is this figure coming from?
00:04:04Where is this number coming from?
00:04:05And these are estimates.
00:04:07I must say all of the numbers shared here are estimates,
00:04:09and they're changing all the time.
00:04:12But this figure comes from the UN H c R,
00:04:14which is a really important international agency
00:04:17involved in assisting and governing refugee displacement worldwide.
00:04:20And this is an agency that emerged
00:04:27in 1951
00:04:30during
00:04:32an much earlier flow and,
00:04:34we might say of displacement Europeans who were forced to leave their homes
00:04:36and displaced during the conflict of World war two largely Jewish refugees.
00:04:41Um,
00:04:46it's interesting to note that the UN H c R.
00:04:47Which, uh,
00:04:50we'll talk a little bit more about today in the lecture this international
00:04:51agency that's
00:04:55involved with governing and helping assisting refugees,
00:04:57they were set up in 1951 for only three years that was their mandate.
00:05:01They were going to sort of solve the refugee problem
00:05:05that emerged from World War Two when people were forced to flee.
00:05:08Of course, they're still around today,
00:05:12and we know that the numbers of refugees are only going up.
00:05:14So this although we think of the refugee crisis, we hear this in the news.
00:05:18It's not new,
00:05:22and it's not singular.
00:05:23There are many communities fleeing their homes for different reasons.
00:05:25And just to put that number in perspective, right. 103 million people,
00:05:32the UN, H c r.
00:05:37They they calculate that every two seconds
00:05:39another person is displaced around the world.
00:05:43So every two seconds,
00:05:47um, and I'm not great at maths. But I did do the calculation before
00:05:49and that
00:05:52to think about it in the terms of this 45 minute lecture.
00:05:54If we're here for 45 minutes together,
00:05:57that's 1350 people that will be displaced
00:05:59in the length of this lecture.
00:06:02So this is a colossal global challenge that's facing us now.
00:06:04The refugee, um, as a as a concept is really important to recognise that
00:06:09this is a legal term
00:06:14and it actually refers specifically to someone who has a quote well founded,
00:06:16fear of being persecuted
00:06:22for reasons of race, religion, nationality,
00:06:24um, membership of a particular political or social group.
00:06:28And a person who is leaving their home has to prove they have
00:06:32to have evidence to document that that that fear is well founded.
00:06:37And the organisation that I mentioned the UN h c R. Is is a key role in
00:06:43in, uh, determining
00:06:49whether that case fits that legal determination.
00:06:51Um,
00:06:55now
00:06:57a concept I want to introduce here that's really
00:06:58important in relationship to this definition of the refugee
00:07:01is, um, non
00:07:06refuel.
00:07:07And this is relating to this international convention relating to refugees
00:07:08I mentioned a moment ago in 1951.
00:07:14This is when the term refugee was born.
00:07:17And this is when a convention emerged among a number of states, of which the UK was
00:07:20a signature on.
00:07:26And they agreed, we need to have a legal framework to define refugees,
00:07:28but also to protect them.
00:07:32And one of the core principles of this document, this convention
00:07:341951 convention is non refuel,
00:07:38and that is
00:07:41that,
00:07:42um,
00:07:43a refugee should not be returned to a country where
00:07:43they face serious threats to their life or freedom.
00:07:46And this is considered a customary international law.
00:07:51We are now in a situation where we've
00:07:55mentioned there's 100 and three million people displaced,
00:07:5733 million of which are refugees.
00:08:00Um, so this is this is a really, um a huge challenge today,
00:08:03and, uh, at least, um according to the UN H c r.
00:08:08Most of these refugees, more than half are below the age of 18.
00:08:11
Cite this Lecture
APA style
Bagelman, J. (2023, June 19). Displacement and Forced Migration - Key Terms I: Migrants and Refugees [Video]. MASSOLIT. https://massolit.io/courses/displacement-and-forced-migration/causes-of-displacement-and-forced-migration
MLA style
Bagelman, J. "Displacement and Forced Migration – Key Terms I: Migrants and Refugees." MASSOLIT, uploaded by MASSOLIT, 19 Jun 2023, https://massolit.io/courses/displacement-and-forced-migration/causes-of-displacement-and-forced-migration