The project aims at getting a better understanding of how displacement of persons, either due to conflict or environmental risks, may create or spread conflict and violence. Recent research has been able to demonstrate that conflict related refugees may create security risks in their host countries and lead to the onset of violent conflict. But not all displaced persons leave their home countries nor do all migrate because of persecution. Consequently, we wish to assess based on an intensive data collection on displaced persons whether forced migration in general may contribute to conflict and whether environment-induced migration poses the same risks of conflict as persecution leading to refugee status. To provide such an assessment systematically different datasets are required. First of all information on displaced persons (either as refugees or not) need to be collected. Second, it is also necessary to have information on the settlement patterns of displaced persons. These data will be related to information on conflict and violent events. Based on such disaggregated data a precise assessment of how forced migration (possibliy due to environmental risks) affects conflict.
1This project was co-written with Heidrun Bohnet and will carried out in association with Clionadh Raleigh (Trinity College) and Idean Salehyan (University of North Texas)
2Departement de science politique et relations internationales, Faculte des sciences economiques et sociales; Universite de Geneve; 40 Bd du Pont d'Arve; 1211 Geneve 4; Switzerland; phone ++41 22 379 83 78; email: simon.hug@unige.ch