Editing Forced displacement (section)

== Definitions ==
[[Government]]s, [[Non-governmental organization|NGOs]], other [[international organization]]s and social scientists have defined forced displacement in a variety of ways. They have generally agreed that it is the forced removal or relocation of a person from their environment and associated connections. It can involve different types of movements, such as flight (from fleeing), [[Emergency evacuation|evacuation]], and [[population transfer]].

* The [[International Organization for Migration]] defines a forced migrant as any person migrating to "escape persecution, conflict, repression, natural and human-made disasters, ecological degradation, or other situations that endanger their lives, freedom or livelihood".<ref name="forcedmigration.org">{{cite web|url=http://www.forcedmigration.org/about/whatisfm/what-is-forced-migration|title=What is forced migration? – Forced Migration Online|website=www.forcedmigration.org|access-date=2017-01-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170801223932/http://www.forcedmigration.org/about/whatisfm/what-is-forced-migration|archive-date=2017-08-01|url-status=dead}}</ref> 
* According to [[UNESCO]], forced displacement is "the forced movement of people from their locality or environment and occupational activities," with its leading cause being [[armed conflict]].<ref name=":62">{{Cite web|url=http://www.unesco.org/new/en/social-and-human-sciences/themes/international-migration/glossary/displaced-person-displacement/|title=Displaced Person / Displacement {{!}} United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization|website=www.unesco.org|access-date=2019-10-24|archive-date=October 24, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191024020537/http://www.unesco.org/new/en/social-and-human-sciences/themes/international-migration/glossary/displaced-person-displacement/}}</ref>
* According to researcher Alden Speare, even movement under immediate threat to life contains a voluntary element as long as an option exists going into hiding, or attempting to avoid persecution. According to him "migration can be considered to be involuntary only when a person is physically transported from a country and has no opportunity to escape from those transporting him [or her]." This viewpoint has come under scrutiny when considering direct and indirect factors which may leave migrants with little to no choice in their decisions, such as imminent threats to life and livelihood.<ref>{{Citation|last=Martin|first=Susan F.|s2cid=158545246|chapter=Forced Migration and Refugee Policy|date=2017-12-20|pages=271–303|publisher=Springer International Publishing|isbn=9783319671451|doi=10.1007/978-3-319-67147-5_14|title=Demography of Refugee and Forced Migration}}</ref>

=== Distinctions between the different concepts ===
{{further|Refugee law|Refugee}}

* A migrant who fled their home because of economic hardship is an [[economic migrant]], and strictly speaking, not a displaced person.
* If the displaced person was forced out of their home because of economically driven projects, such as the [[Three Gorges Dam]] in China, the situation is referred to as ''[[development-induced displacement]]''.
* A displaced person who left their home region because of political persecution or violence, but did not cross an international border, commonly falls into the looser category of ''[[internally displaced person]]'' (IDP), subject to more tenuous international protection. In 1998, the [[United Nations Commission on Human Rights|UN Commission on Human Rights]] published the [[Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement]], defining internally displaced people as: "persons or groups of persons who have been forced or obliged to flee or leave their homes or places of habitual residence in particular as a result of or in order to avoid the effects of armed conflict, situations of generalized violence, violations of human rights, or natural or human-made disasters and who have not crossed an internationally recognized State border."
* If the displaced person has crossed an international border and falls under one of the [[Refugee law|relevant international legal instruments]], they may be able to apply for asylum and can become a [[refugee]] if the application is successful.<ref>[http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/o_c_ref.htm "U.N. Convention relating to status of Refugees"]. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080309151637/http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/o_c_ref.htm|date=March 9, 2008}}. [[United Nations High Commission on Human Rights]].</ref> Although often incorrectly used as a synonym for ''displaced person'', the term ''[[refugee]]'' refers specifically to a legally-recognized status that has access to specific legal protections. Loose application of the term ''refugee'' may cause confusion between the general descriptive class of displaced persons and those who can legally be defined as refugees.
* Some forced migrants may, due to the country of residence's legal system, be unable to apply for asylum in that country. Thus, even though they meet the [[Refugee Law|international law definition of a refugee]] they are unable to claim [[Right of asylum|asylum]] and become recognised by their host country as refugees.
* A displaced person crossing an international border without permission from the country they are entering or without subsequently applying for asylum may be considered an [[illegal immigrant]].
* Forced migrants are always either IDPs or displaced people, as both of these terms do not require a legal framework and the fact that they left their homes is sufficient. The distinction between the terms ''displaced person'' and ''forced migrant'' is minor; however, the term ''displaced person'' has an important historic context (e.g. [[World War II]]).

==== History of the term ''displaced person'' ====

The term ''displaced person'' (DP) was first widely used during [[World War II]], following the subsequent refugee outflows from [[Eastern Europe]].<ref>Mark Wyman (1998). ''DPs: Europe's Displaced Persons, 1945–1951''. Cornell University Press (reprint). {{ISBN|0-8014-8542-8}}.</ref> In this context, ''DP'' specifically referred to an individual removed from their native country as a [[refugee]], [[prison]]er or a [[unfree labour|slave laborer]]. Most war victims, political refugees, and DPs of the immediate post-[[Second World]] War period were Ukrainians, Poles, other [[Slavs]], and citizens of the Baltic states (Lithuanians, Latvians, and Estonians) who refused to return to Soviet-dominated Eastern Europe.
A. J. Jaffe claimed that the term was originally coined by [[Eugene M. Kulischer]].<ref>A. J. Jaffe (April 1962). [https://www.jstor.org/pss/3348648 "Notes on the Population Theory of Eugene M. Kulischer". In: ''The Milbank Memorial Fund Quarterly'', Vol. 40, No. 2. pp. 187–206.]</ref> The meaning has significantly broadened in the past half-century.