At the turn of the century, UNHCR and its partners were struggling to cope with the massive population displacements unleashed by the ethnic conflicts that followed the end of the Cold War. No longer restricted to the care and protection of refugees who had crossed international borders, they were now much more widely engaged in the dangerous and uncertain task of trying to assist and protect displaced people within their countries of origin – usually in situations of continuing violence and political upheaval. Whether in the Balkans, Iraq, or Rwanda, this trend was accelerated by the greater willingness of powerful states to intervene in areas of strategic importance to them, or where gross human rights violations were taking place. The increasingly restrictive policies of potential asylum states also spurred the change.

These developments compelled UNHCR and its allied agencies to reassess their priorities and capacities. They renewed their efforts to seek durable solutions to displacement crises through better links between humanitarian relief and longer-term development and peace-building efforts. With the majority of new forcibly uprooted populations remaining within their countries of origin, more attention was focused on assisting and protecting the internally displaced.

There has been progress on many fronts: several violent conflicts have ended and large groups of refugees have returned home. But the dynamics of forced displacement remain complicated. Many protracted situations appear intractable. Hundreds of thousands of people continue to be uprooted by war and human rights abuses every year, and usually move within or between the poorest and least stable countries in the world. These people often find themselves in states that lack the capacity, willingness or resources to provide them even a minimal degree of assistance and protection. The efforts of humanitarian agencies to step into the breach are often impeded by dangerous political and security conditions.

This chapter highlights the main trends in forced displacement today. While the focus is on refugees and internally displaced persons uprooted by conflict and human rights abuse, forced displacement does not take place in isolation from other population flows. Millions of people are compelled to move within or out of their countries by a myriad of factors. Some are driven by poverty, fleeing to survive; others are drawn to real or perceived opportunities to better their lives away from home. This chapter also examines the plight of other displaced populations, including victims of trafficking; those involved in 'mixed migration'; and those displaced by natural disasters, environmental degradation and development projects.

Introduction

Main trends