ABSTRACT
The second part of the Bender/Winer volume is sub-titled ‘Landscapes of Movement and Exile’. The themes of movement, and more especially of exile, impart a special relevance to this part of the work. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that there are currently around 50 million people worldwide who have been forced to flee their homes, whether as refugees or as internally displaced persons. The estimated number of ‘people of concern’ to whom the UNHCR administers direct aid stands at 21.5 million, up from 17 million in 1991. The scale and extent of forced mass population movements over the past decade or two far exceeds any other point in our history – barring isolated and spectacular cases. Not only have people been forced to leave home, but they have also returned. Major repatriations since 1990 alone include returns to Afghanistan. Mozambique, Iraq, Eritrea, Somalia, Tajikistan, Myanmar, Cambodia, Rwanda, Angola, Mali, Togo and Liberia.
