Forced Migration

Today, one out of every 110 people worldwide is displaced. While we may not be able to directly stem the root causes of violence in many parts of the world, we can support people on-the-ground working tirelessly to help displaced persons regain dignity, safety, and opportunity in their lives.

When we refer to displaced persons or forced/involuntary migration, this includes people displaced within their country’s borders, refugees or asylum seekers in foreign countries, and stateless persons. People can be displaced by human conflict such as wars or genocide, or natural conflict such as cyclones, tsunamis or rising waters due to climate change (check out this documentary on Climate Refugees if you’re keen to learn more).

Forced migration or involuntary migration is a massive challenge facing the world’s global economy and response systems; it tests the cultural, political, and economic structures in place to manage an influx of people.

The modern refugee today is different from the type of refugee international organizations were typically founded to manage, in that they often exist in a limbo state of seeking asylum or displacement for long periods of time. If 25,000 or more people are displaced for over 5 years, this is called a protracted refugee situation – and is increasingly the norm.

The politics of migration evoke extreme emotions because of the complexity of the issue and the stress a massive influx of people puts on existing systems in host countries, host cities, or organizations running refugee camps.

Our understanding is that the modern displaced person’s main objective is to return home and to return to a sense of normalcy including security and opportunity and as humans with a sense of compassion and belonging to a global community, it is without question that we lend support to our brothers and sisters around the world.

Our solutions page provides many suggestions to support innovative solutions to the biggest humanitarian crises of our time.

Click here or here for additional resources and to learn more.