Political Crises and International Migration

• In Event: Political Crises and International Migration

Abstract

In the last 15 years, the three largest incidences of forced displacement stemmed from Ukraine (2022, about 9 million people), Venezuela (2015 onwards, over 7 million), and Syria (2011, over 6 million). Each resounded internationally and was a crisis involving refugees – whether legally recognized or not – with most going to neighboring countries and within each region. Several specialized handbooks and much literature cover such international movement. But the blurring of refugee and migration categories, partly from states accepting different definitions of each in law and practice (Hamlin 2021; Hammoud-Gallego & Freier 2023), means there are also great overlaps between humanitarian, migration, and refugee crises. Taking a different perspective, I use ‘political crisis’ as a frame to examine the political causes and effects of the crises involving Ukraine, Venezuela, and Syria, as well as its ripple effect of reactions from other state and regional powers. Political crisis offers a lens through which to analyze the roots and effects of crises in seemingly different cases of international migration flows.

Author

• Victoria Finn, University of Oslo