Demography of Refugee and Forced Migration

Refugee and other forced migrations have increased substantially in scale, complexity and diversity in recent decades. These changes have meant that traditional approaches to management and solution of refugee and other forced migration situations and protection of refugees have become less appropriate. Demography has an important contribution to make in this space. While other disciplines (especially anthropology, law, political science and international relations) have made major contributions to refugee and forced migration studies, demography has hitherto not contributed very strongly to this topic. This scientific panel seeks to, on the one hand, specify what is involved in a demographic approach to research into forced migration and, on the other, identify findings of demographic research which can contribute toward better policy making in this important area.

To achieve this objective the panel will organize meetings in which scholars will present current research and discuss how demography can contribute toward developing relevant policy and programme recommendations for providing protection for forced migrants, the solution of refugee and other forced migrant problems and maximising the benefits of such migration to origin and destination areas. The goal is also to produce a book which seeks to provide a definitive picture of the demography of forced migration.