The Ethnicity of Refugees (ER): A new dataset for understanding flight patterns

Rüegger, Seraina; Bohnet, Heidrun

doi:10.1177/0738894215611865

Cited by 48 publications

(40 citation statements)

References 70 publications

(113 reference statements)

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“…The indicator therefore combines subnational-level data on refugees' country (or countries) of origin from UNHCR with subnational-level data on the locations and local names of ethnic groups. While recent work shows that ethnic refugee groups often flee to countries where kin groups are located (Rüegger & Bohnet, 2018), data on the ethnicity of refugee populations is not currently available at the subnational level. I am thus unable to verify that the refugees have direct ethnic ties to their local hosts.…”

Section: Dependent Variablementioning

confidence: 99%

Camp settlement and communal conflict in sub-Saharan Africa

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2019

Journal of Peace Research

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Are areas that host encamped refugees more likely to experience communal conflict, and under what conditions? Building on insights from the refugee studies literature suggesting that settling refugees in camps can intensify intercommunal tension in host communities, this article investigates the effect of refugee encampment on the occurrence of communal conflict at the subnational level in sub-Saharan Africa. It first tests for a general relationship between the overall presence and population intensity of encamped refugees and communal conflict before assessing whether this relationship is moderated by local-level characteristics, including interethnic linkages and political and economic marginalization within the host region. The basic findings show that communal conflict occurs more frequently in regions where refugees are camp-settled. Tests for interactive effects indicate that refugee camps have a significant marginal effect on conflict only if they are located in areas with politically marginalized host groups. Origin country/host region ethnic ties are shown to exert significant moderating effects. Moreover, results from an extended set of analyses show that the form of refugee settlement matters, as the presence and population intensity of self-settled refugees are related to decreases in the occurrence of communal conflict.

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Section: Dependent Variablementioning

confidence: 99%

Camp settlement and communal conflict in sub-Saharan Africa

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2019

Journal of Peace Research

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“…This is problematic because it is very likely that environmental conflict-induced migration occurs precisely in this region of the world and most migration flows are directed toward neighboring countries (mainly due to almost prohibitively high migration costs for migrating to the industrialized world). Hence, any analysis of sorting behavior is necessarily incomplete (Barrios et al, 2006;Ruyssen and Rayp, 2014;Rüegger and Bohnet, 2018).…”

Section: Migrant Sorting and Environmental Conflictmentioning

confidence: 99%

Where Do Migrants from Countries Ridden by Environmental Conflict Settle? On the Scale, Selection and Sorting of Conflict-Induced Migration

2019

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Environmentally induced conflicts can trigger migration. This paper analyzes the location decisions of migrants, i.e., the 'sorting' of migrants into alternative destinations. We argue that this sorting depends on a variety of factors. The selection of migrants affects preferences over where to settle and depends on the underlying type of environmentally induced conflict. In addition to (transport-related) migration costs, migration governance shapes the sorting pattern of migrants. Immigration policies in destination countries impose further costs to migration or even prevent settlement. At the same time, national immigration policies depend on the 'supply' of migrants that are expected to arrive, as well as on other countries' policies regarding immigration. In addition, coordination failure of destination countries may feed back to the sorting decisions of migrants. The chapter discusses sorting not only from a theoretically but also empirical perspective, thereby highlighting both existing studies on sorting and the empirical challenges to analyzing sorting behavior in the context of migration that is induced by environmental conflict.

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“…Moreover, due to the country-level approach used in most of the extant literature, we know little about the relationship between refugees and different population groups in the host state. Drawing on new quantitative data on the ethnicity of refugees (Rüegger & Bohnet, 2018), this study helps to fill this gap by testing whether refugees alter the ethnic composition in asylum states and, if so, how such a change affects conflict processes. I expect that changing demographics can create concerns about the identity of a country and also can shift the intergroup power balance.…”

Section: Previous Research On Forced Migration and Political Violencementioning

confidence: 99%

Refugees, ethnic power relations, and civil conflict in the country of asylum

Rüegger

2018

Journal of Peace Research

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Many countries that face forced migrant inflows refuse to admit these uprooted people premised on negative externalities such as increased insecurity associated with refugee presence. Also, the academic literature on civil conflict identified refugee movements as a factor contributing to the regional clustering of war. Case-based evidence suggests that refugees can disturb the ethnic setup in the country of asylum and thereby trigger instability. To enhance the yet limited systematic understanding of the role of refugees in violent conflicts, this study examines the linkage between forced migrants, transnational connections, and ethnic civil conflict in the country of asylum with a large-N analysis, 1975–2013, arguing that ethnic power politics in the asylum state are determinant for intrastate conflict onset after a refugee influx. Statistical analysis finds that groups are particularly prone to conflict if they are excluded from governmental power and simultaneously host ethnic kin refugees, because a co-ethnic refugee influx enlarges the demographic and political leverage of the kin group, possibly resulting in clashes with other groups in the country. Hence, refugees alone do not consistently influence armed violence – only in combination with political tensions in the receiving country. Therefore, host governments should pursue inclusionary policies towards their population, to prevent dangerous instability, instead of closing borders or blaming refugees for domestic problems.

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The Ethnicity of Refugees (ER): A new dataset for understanding flight patterns

Cited by 48 publications

References 70 publications

Camp settlement and communal conflict in sub-Saharan Africa

Camp settlement and communal conflict in sub-Saharan Africa

Where Do Migrants from Countries Ridden by Environmental Conflict Settle? On the Scale, Selection and Sorting of Conflict-Induced Migration

Refugees, ethnic power relations, and civil conflict in the country of asylum

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