Type of Violence and Reaction to Pull Factors in Forced Migration in Africa

• In Event: Poster Session: Studies in Comparative Political Development

Abstract

Violence is widely regarded as a driver of forced migration. We have much less understanding, however, about the other end of forced migration, the destination. When leaving their home country, which destination refugees choose to go? Unlike economic migration literature interested in both push and pull factors of migration, forced migration literature put more emphasis on when refugees flee (push factors), leaving where refugees go (pull factors), less explained. I argue that the degree to which refugees consider pull factors varies based on type of violence—battles or civilian killing, and perpetrator of violence—government or rebels. While current literature focused on different subtypes of battles, it paid surprisingly less attention to civilian killing. The type and perpetrators of violence shape the scale and targets of violence as well as the terror affected by violence. These difference can affect refugees’ decision making. In the face of large scale violence prevalent in all over the country that directly targets them, refugees will have less time and resources to compare pull factors of different destinations. I hypothesize that refugees are more responsive to economic pull factors (1) in the face of civilian killing compared to battles, and within the category of civilian victimization, (2) when civilian killings are committed more by rebels than government. By constructing dyads of refugee-sending and refugee-receiving countries in Africa, where repressive regimes and weak democracies frequently precipitate forced migration, I examine refugee flows inside African continent. I employ violence data from UCDP GED, which specifies type and perpetrators of violence, and data of economic pull factors, economic growth, GDP per capita, and unemployment rate, from IMF and ILO. This study adds to forced migration literature by brining civilian killing and pull factors into focus, thus elucidating refugees’ decision making. This research also has further implications on humanitarian assistance concerning preparation for refugee inflow.

Author

• Minji Jeong, University of Washington