Forced Migration in the OIC Member Countries:
Policy Framework Adopted by Host Countries
6
INTRODUCTION
International migration has secured a top place in newspaper headlines worldwide and on the
agenda of the highest levels of government over the past year. Images of migrants packed onto
unstable boats on the high seas in search of a new life have refocused global public attention
on the plight of the growing number of families and individuals forced from their homes
because of conflict, political oppression, environmental disasters, and poverty. Many of those
leaving are entitled to some form of protection under international law, whether as refugees
or under other human rights instruments, obligating receiving countries -at a minimum- to
provide them with a safe refuge from harm.
But policy responses to these flows are complicated by the fact that migration -whether forced
or voluntary- does not happen in a vacuum. The global movement of people in fact has deep
effects not only on the communities receiving migrants, but on the towns, regions, and
countries they left -as well as on migrants themselves. Migrants provide labor to employers in
their new homes and consume local goods, creating potential stimulus to the host economy. At
the same time, they are active users of local services such as education and health care,
increasing pressure on these critical public institutions and creating capacity challenges for
host governments and service providers. Well-established migrant communities often send
home financial remittances to family left behind, and if return eventually becomes possible,
forced migrants can be a valuable source of human and financial capital to support the
reconstruction of their home countries.
More often, however, forced migrants in exile are left in situations of poverty and
vulnerability. Especially problematic, the process of migration, and particularly forced
migration, often leaves migrants themselves in extremely risky situations. Without the
protection of their own national government, forced migrants must rely on the generosity of
the host government to provide them with rights to residency, work, education, health care,
and housing. Having used much of their financial resources to reach safety, forced migrants
often find themselves with little money left over to support themselves, yet without the right
to work or reestablish a means to earn an income. Those who do work often do so illegally and
may be subject to exploitation and abuse by unscrupulous employers. These vulnerabilities
can be transmitted to the next generation as the children of forced migrants are compelled
into child labor or denied access to schools and educational opportunities. As forced migration
situations become protracted, host countries may find themselves caring for an increasingly
vulnerable and dependent population.
Migration, particularly forced migration, thus has deep implications for development,
particularly in host countries. Policymakers at both the national and international level have
increasingly come to recognize the relevance of forced migration to development and efforts
to alleviate poverty in the developing world. The UN’s 2030 Sustainable Development Goals,
for example, include a specific reference to the effects of forced migration on development as
well as the potential of well-managed migration to facilitate development. Increasingly,
international development institutions like the World Bank have expanded their involvement
in humanitarian response and have sought to include migration in their development plans for
host countries.
While no country is untouched by migration, the effects of migration and especially forced
migration are in fact highly concentrated. Globally, 86 percent of refugees are hosted by