ABSTRACT
The most obvious reason why we should study forced migration is because it has grown dramatically in the post-Cold War period. The global refugee population grew from 2.4 million in 1975 to 10.5 million in 1985 and 14.9 million in 1990. A peak was reached after the end of the Cold War with 18.2 million in 1993. By 2000, the global refugee population had declined to 12.1 million (UNHCR, 1995,2000). However, this includes only officially recognized refugees under the fairly narrow definition of the 1951 UN Refugee Convention, which refers only to people forced to leave their countries due to individual persecution on specific grounds. The fall in refugees after 1995 is due mainly to the 'non-arrival regime' set up by developed countries to prevent refugees entering and making asylum claims. This has led to containment of refugees in their areas of origin, as well as to growth of people-smuggling as the only way for many desperate people to make asylum claims.
