Liberal Displacement Policies Attract Forced Migrants in the Global South

Abstract

Most forced migrants around the world are displaced within the Global South. We study whether and how de jure policies on forced displacement affect where forced migrants flee in the developing world. Recent evidence from the Global North suggests migrants gravitate toward liberal policy environments. However, existing analyses expect de jure policies to have little effect in the developing world, given strong presumptions that policy enforcement is poor and policy knowledge is low. Using original data on de jure displacement policies for 92 developing countries and interviews with 126 refugees and policy makers, we document a robust association between liberal de jure policies and forced migrant flows. Gravitation toward liberal environments is conditional on factors that facilitate the diffusion of policy knowledge, such as transnational ethnic kin. Policies for free movement, services, and livelihoods are especially attractive. Utility-maximizing models of migrant decision making must take de jure policy provisions into account.

Inclusive Refugee-Hosting in Uganda Improves Local Development and Prevents Public Backlash

“…As several of its neighbors-including South Sudan, Burundi, and the DRC-have experienced war and displacement, Uganda hosts one of the largest refugee populations in the world (see Figure 1). About 65 percent of the country's refugee population is from South Sudan; the remainder come Uganda's liberal refugee and asylum policies-as codified in its 2006 National Refugees Actpartly explain why it attracts so many refugees (Blair, Grossman and Weinstein, 2021b). Based on data collected on refugee and asylum policies in a large sample of 128 developing countries, Blair, Grossman and Weinstein (2021a) ranked Uganda as having the second-most liberal refugee and asylum policies in their sample.…”

Measuring National Refugee Policies: Recent Trends and Implications for Future Development

“…In particular, their cross-country analysis demonstrates that states tend to pursue liberalization of refugee policies when their political elites have co-ethnics who are discriminated against in neighboring countries. In another study using the same data set, Blair, Grossman, and Weinstein (2021b) explore the relationship between refugee policy liberalization and forced migration. They find evidence that liberal de jure refugee policies tend to attract forced migration, especially when information openness is high in origin countries and co-ethnic networks are available in host countries.…”

Costa Rica as a Destination for Migrants in Need of International Protection: IMR Country Report

“…At the same time, they stem from data collected on select MNP populations in only a few cities in Australia, Canada, and the United States and in refugee camps in Bangladesh and Kenya. The vast majority of MNP, however, do not reside in camps or wealthy countries (UNHCR 2021), and MNP resettlement patterns may differ widely as a function of social safety net accessibility, employment and educational opportunities, language barriers, and racial and ethnic discrimination (UNHCR 2018b; Blair, Grossman and Weinstein 2021). Diversifying the study contexts of MNP to be more inclusive of migrants living outside refugee camps and relocating to lower- and middle-income countries like Costa Rica is, therefore, crucial to expanding understandings of the lived realities of millions of MNP worldwide.…”