Putting migation and forced migration into perspective
Migrants of all types comprise just 3% of the global population, despite the increasing numbers, the overall percentage has remained stable for the last 40 years, says the International Organization of Migration (IOM) here. Furthermore, irregular migrants comprise only 10% of this 3%.
Human displacement invoves people who were forced to migrate due to war, persecution, and disaster. Migrants and forced migrants are distinct on paper, but in reality "people on the move" present states with a complex mixture of human needs and protection obligations.
Examples of people on the move below. Note people may not neatly fit existing legal categories for protection, or may represent a vulnerability for which there is no legal framework.
people stateless seeking citenship
asylum seekers seeking refuge
unaccompanied minors
low skill economic migrants
trafficked people
high skill economic migrants
people displaced by climate and environment
People have the same immediate needs and the same human rights, but only some engage protection obligations of UN Refugee Convention (1951) or UN Statelessness Convention (1954) Each state may respond differently to each group.
Global Trends 2011 report by UNHCR
The occuaptional therapy response to human displacement
Disaster Preparedness & Response (DPR) is a source of information about how occupational therapists get involved in this field of practice. The key agency in disaster-induced displacement is International Federation Red Cross & Red Crescent Societies (IFRC)
Occupational Opportunities for Refugees & Asylum Seekers (OOFRAS) Inc is a source of information about how occupational therapists get involved in this field of practice. We are a signatory of the Global Compact which means taking measures to which actually help prevent displacement by ethical conduct with people and the environment. The key agency in conflict-induced displacement is United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
We Refugees
Poem by Benjamin Zephaniah
I come from a musical place
Where they shoot me for my song
And my brother has been tortured
By my brother in my my land.
I come from a beautiful place
Where they hate my shade of skin
They don't like the way I pray
And they ban free poetry.
I come from a beautiful place
Where girls cannot go to school
There you are told what to believe
And even young boys must grow beards.
I come from a great old forest
I think it is now a field
And the people I once knew
Are not there now.
We can all be refugees
Nobody is safe,
All it takes is a mad leader
Or no rain to bring forth food,
We can all be refugees
We can all be told to go,
We can be hated by someone
For being someone.
I come from a beautiful place
Where the valley floods each year
And each year the hurricane tells us
That we must keep moving on.
I come from an ancient place
All my family were born there
And I would like to go there
But I really want to live.
I come from a sunny, sandy place
Where tourists go to darken skin
And dealers like to sell guns there
I just can't tell you what's the price.
I am told I have no country now
I am told I am a lie
I am told that modern history books
May forget my name.
We can all be refugees
Sometimes it only takes a day,
Sometimes it only takes a handshake
Or a paper that is signed.
We all came from refugees
Nobody simply just appeared,
Nobody's here without a struggle,
And why should we live in fear
Of the weather or the troubles?
We all came here from somewhere.
