Forced Migration at a Global Stage - How is Globalization shaping the patterns of forced migration today?

University of East London]

ESSAY

Forced Migration at a Global Stage -

How is Globalization shaping the patterns of forced migration today?

Michael Verspohl

CONTENTS

1. Introduction 2

2. Globalization 3

3. Migration 4
3.1 Forced Migration 4
3.2 Refugees 4
3.3 Internally displaced people 5
3.3.1 Exceptional status „internally displaced“ 5

4. Forced migration and globalization 6
4.1 Global conflict situation 6
4.2 Forced migration caused by environmental problems 6

5. Résumé 8

References 9

1. Introduction

"Globalization poses new challenges in all domains of international life, and the world of forced migration is no exception. In the coming decade′s states, international agencies and NGOs face multiple challenges in relation to the problem of human displacement. How effectively they surmount these hurdles will determine the viability of international refugee protection in the years to come."(The State of the World′s Refugees 2006: p. 177)

Forced migration is millenniums old phenomenon. Over and over again people, groups or even whole societies from her home areas were expelled. The reasons for this are varied up to today. Nevertheless, always it was a superior power which could force under threat of power or the actual application of the same the emigration. With the stronger and stronger growing interlinking of social, political and economical spheres the worldwide migration streams realize themselves before a totally new situation which can be seen as a challenge, as well as a chance.

This essay will examine after a detailed definition of the terms "migration", "forced migration" and "globalization" the influence, of condensing, global processes on forced migration. To differences becomes here in the special measure between the Refugee for the purposes of the United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (GRP) and internally displaced people.

Besides, the influence of globalization on forced migration will be explained on the basis of two examples. First, the today′s global conflict situation and its changes in the "post-communistic", "globalized" time age will be examined in the post communist age in view of the shift of forced migration. Secondly the consequences of anthropogenic environmental problems and its affects on forced migration streams. In the final part become Aside from a short comprising analysis, the conclusion mentions methods of resolution concerning the improvement of the position from forced migrants.

2. Globalization

In the field of political science the term globalization was first used not before the 1970th. Since then it is an expression for the increasing inter- and transnational interconnection between political, economical and social spheres. Therefore the definition of Globalization as such is correspondingly diverse and till now the scientific community hasn′t agreed on an extensive and integrative Theory (cf. Held 1999). Wide agreement exists in the view that globalization is not a new phenomena, but rather a result of the division of labour, which takes place already since thousands of years. Since the end of the Second World War and the fall of the Soviet Union, globalization has shown an unparalleled dynamic. Especially the founding of the International Monetary Fund, the international custom and commercial agreement and the World Trade Organization contributed in the reduction of international handicaps to trade (cf. Angenendt 2000: p.32ff.). Other central points of the post war globalization are the fusion of the economic markets by the liberalisation, commercial policy, deregulation and integration of the good markets and finance markets, the internationalisation of the traffic of capital, goods, services and passengers, the internationalisation of science and research and cross national environmental issues.

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