1.

Explain the reasons that global refugee movements have increased so significantly in the last
50 years. In addition to this explanation, answer two of the following questions: What are
the major debates on the refugee movements? In your opinion, what are the most urgent
issues facing the global refugee crisis and how should they be resolved?

There have been numerous causes for the rise of global refugee movements since the end of
the Second World War. The entirety of these factors has determined the geographic and
ethnographic nature of refugee and migratory trends and movements which, despite their enormous
complexity and heated debate surrounding the topic, have enormous repercussions on both national
and international policies. With that assertion in mind, one must also consider that there is
significant difference between the causes for refugee movements, and the trends of those
movements. Generally, the precipitating event is one that disrupts the normal functioning of the
system and thus destroys the capacity of a population to survive under the prevailing conditions1 .
Historically, the roots for the current refugee patterns and their causes are most likely to be
found in the colonial domination by the western states and the hegemonic reach of superpowers
such as the United States and the Soviet Union during the course of the Cold War. With regards to
the effects of colonialism, one can notice that in a remarkable number of cases the ethnic tensions
existing between a population were the result of Western manipulation and interference. Such was,
for example, the case in the the 1994 Rwandan genocide, itself a continuation of an ethnic
competition initiated by the Belgian colonial powers, which favoured the Tutsi minority group
because of their more "European" appearance. Ethnic nationalism and aspirations for independence
as a reactionary force to the western colonial domination and aggressive hegemonic stance, lead to
'wars of national liberation' and revolutions which, in turn, give rise to reactive population
movements across borders2.
Pertaining to the effects of cultural and economic hegemony on recent migratory
movements, one could utilize numerous countries from the former Soviet Bloc as examples. With
the deterioration of the structure supporting the Soviet Union and the consequential economic
collapse that followed, a large number of politically unstable and brutally repressive regimes arose,
often inspired by the former Soviet domination, which in turn gave rise to enormous refugee
mobilization.
An enormous amount of studies have been conducted in the past two decades, as this
phenomenon is a relatively recent one, in order to determine the main normative causes for refugee
movements. Surkhe, in her 1983 publication, notes that “protracted warfare, international wars and
certain kinds of ethnic tension tend to produce major outflows, whereas conflicts such as elite
rivalry, coups d'etat, and governmental suppression of critics lead to a trickle of a few, highly
politicized individuals”3. Furthermore, extreme inequalities of wealth and resources or gaps of
standards of living between different countries, and regions of the world are some of the most
impelling factors increasing the possibility and size of reactive migratory movements. When
combined with the political instability usually associated with such inequalities, the conditions
under which reactive migratory movements, and those of refugees in particular, are much more
likely to happen.
There is also an unpredictable aspect, which is already critical and will become even more
pivotal in the decades to come, which is that of environmental migrants. With the depletion and
destruction of the delicate environmental balance, changing and severe climate conditions now
account disasters which destroy food supplies or housing, threatening the life, health and livelihood
of local residents and a major determinant for the movement of refugees. Such can only be expected
to increase unless drastic environmental protection action is taken. By necessity, mostly related to
trade and communication, large cities have developed near bodies of water which, with their rising
level, might force the relocation of enormous communities of people who will become refugees.

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 There are a number of conflicting theories as to how to accommodate the increasing amount
of refugees in politically and economically stable countries, as there are a number of models which
attempt to particularize the dynamics of such trends. In his study “The Refugee in Flight: Kinetic
Models and Forms of Displacement”, Kunz endeavours to remedy to a sterile conception of the
refugee by introducing the concept of “kinetic models” of flight and displacement. In such models,
he distinguishes between anticipatory and acute refugee movements which are, respectively,
proactive and reactive in nature. Furthermore, Kunz identifies eleven “classes” or typologies of
refugees based on their driving factors for becoming so from both a personal, state-based as well as
societal perspective. In this analysis, Kunz emphasises that “the borderline between political
refugees and those dissatisfied economically can be blurred when displacement occurs in reaction to
events”4.
Alternative to the “kinetic” model, a “systems” approach has also been utilized to analyze
migratory and refugee trends. By applying such theory, one traces direct links between sending and
receiving countries and areas within a regional or global system in order to examine the factors
giving rise to migration, and the impact of these movements and factors both on the migrant as well
as the receiving society. Through this approach, it has been noted that despite global inequalities,
violence and state terrorism constituting powerful “push” factors, massive migratory and refugee
trends do not automatically occur. This is because of the restrictive measures imposed by the
potential receiving countries wishing to exercise control over their borders. Systems theory places
the focus on the existing systems which either facilitate or constrain the ability for people to seek
refuge. Systems theory also identifies three “sociological types” of refugees: “the activists who are
dissenters and rebels forced to flee the regimes to which they are opposed; the targeted refugees
who are singled out for violent treatment because of their membership of a particular group; and
victims who are accidentally caught in a violent situation.”5
In essence, whilst in kinetic models the emphasis is placed upon individual or societal
motivational factors which lead one to seek refuge, the systems theory tends to be more focused on
the social structural determinants which affect the individual and induce a propensity to migrate.

It is interesting to see that there are two philosophies as to how to deal with refugee
movements and that they generally are employed complementarity to the type of refugee involved.
Within societies and states there seems to be a trend of proactive policy towards the reactive
refugee, and reactive policies towards the proactive migrant. This leads to the diverging theories as
to how to address the issue of refugees. Such divergence is not self-defeating in the field of
sociology, on the contrary! It further emphasizes the complex societal interaction between political,
economic, environmental, social and bio-psychological factors in determining the propensity for
individuals or masses to migrate and seek refuge. Precisely due to such difference the inadequacy
of the current definition of “refugee” is demonstrated. In the present day, the term singles out a
single element is a complex casual chain “such as having a 'genuine fear of persecution', because
such fear is often only one factor in a much more complicated relation between predisposing
factors, structural constraints, precipitating events and enabling circumstances”6.
Mass migration is expected to become a major force for societal change as well as a
potential source of disastrous conflicts. As a sentient specie we must be aware of the post-modern
societal and historical context we find ourselves in and should ask for an institutionalization of
universal values of respect for human rights including the right to asylum. It is essential that the
scope of the word “refugee” be extended to a wider, and more specific, range of people including all
those in peril from natural or unnatural causes.

4 The Refugee in Flight: Kinetic Models and Forms of Displacement

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