International Factors in the Formation of Refugee Movements

Abstract

On the basis of detailed case studies by the authors of the principal refugee flows generated in Asia, Africa, and Latin America from approximately 1960 to the present, it was found that international factors often intrude both directly and indirectly on the major types of social conflict that trigger refugee flows, and tend to exacerbate their effects. Refugees are also produced by conflicts that are manifestly international, but which are themselves often related to internal social conflict among the antagonists. Theoretical frameworks for the analysis of the causes of refugee movements must therefore reflect the transnational character of the processes involved. This paper sets forth such a framework and points to the policy implications of the proposed reconceptualization.