Chapter 3 aims to provide a historical overview of refugee movements by concentrating on the post World War II era and period of Cold War instability. The phenomenon of people who escape their home countries in order to seek safety was not new to the 20th Century. However, it was the period directly following the Second World War that produced the largest numbers of forced migrants in history, forcing the international community to examine how best to deal with the situation, leading to the foundation of UNHCR and the signing of the 1951 Geneva Refugee Convention.

This Convention is still the cornerstone of international legal protection afforded to refugees and the UNHCR, with its partner agencies, continues to be the single most important actor in assisting and protecting refugees.

Most students may not be aware that Europe once produced so many millions of refugees. Today, most people associate refugees with the less developed countries of this world, in Africa or certain parts of Asia. It is important that the students examine the origins of the present day refugee protection regime and that they understand that their own continent has produced as many, if not more refugees, than any other part of the world.

Questions

• Why were the people in the article displaced from their homes? Why could they not return?
• Were many people made refugees at the same time? Why?
• Where did these people go?

Many World War II refugees were resettled in third countries such as the USA or Australia. Many Jewish refugees who had suffered persecution in Europe started new lives in Israel, while ethnic Germans who had been living in countries such as Poland or Czechoslovakia were forced to move their homes to Germany. Other refugees were able to return to their own countries of origin as the situation in Europe settled down and peace returned.

The third text focuses on the Vietnam conflict and the mass departure of the South Vietnamese people. The accompanying activity refers to the 'Vietnamese boat people' who fled via the South China Sea. The activity asks students to think of a modern migratory movement that is parllel to this. The most obvious example would be migrants coming from Africa through the Mediterranean Sea.

They may also have some knowledge of African refugee movements, such as during the wars in Liberia, Rwanda or Somalia, conflicts that have received a great deal of media attention.

Some other refugee movements during the last fifty years include:

• The Palestinian refugees in the Middle East
• Conflicts in developing countries during the Cold War, as the battle between Communism and the West played itself out in proxy wars, led to refugee flows in the 1970s and 1980s.
• Ethnic and tribal wars in Africa in the 1980s and 1990s have led to millions of people becoming displaced, though the vast majority of these refugees have remained either in their own countries or have entered into a neighbouring country in the same region.
• Afghanistan’s turbulent history, including conflict with an invading Soviet army, the harsh regime of the Taliban and more recently air strikes from a US-led force, has led millions of people to flee their homes, the vast majority seeking shelter in neighbouring Pakistan and Iran.

Students are asked to think about the items they would bring with them if they had to abandon their homes to escape persecution. Students can do this individually, or in small groups. Be sure that the students discuss their lists and pictures with each other. The entire class could be asked to come together to agree upon a common list of things to take.