Glossary

Migration: The movement of persons away from their place of usual residence, either across an international border or within a State.

Forced migration: A migratory movement which, although the drivers can be diverse, involves force, compulsion, or coercion.

Climate migration: The movement of a person or groups of persons who, predominantly for reasons of sudden or progressive change in the environment due to climate change, are obliged to leave their habitual place of residence, or choose to do so, either temporarily or permanently, within a State or across an international border.

International migration: The movement of persons away from their place of usual residence and across an international border to a country of which they are not nationals.

Economic migrant: While not a category in international law, the term is sometimes used to refer to any person who is moving or has moved across an international border or within a State, solely or primarily motivated by economic opportunities.

Diaspora: Migrants or descendants of migrants whose identity and sense of belonging, either real or symbolic, have been shaped by their migration experience and background. They maintain links with their homelands, and to each other, based on a shared sense of history, identity, or mutual experiences in the destination country.

Brain waste: In the migration context, the under-employment or unemployment of migrant workers who are unable to find jobs matching their skill level, owing to, for example, the lack of skills recognition, informality of employment relations or discrimination

Brain gain: From the perspective of a country of destination, immigration of skilled workers into the country resulting in the acquisition of human capital. From the perspective of a country of origin, the positive spill-over effects of the emigration of highly skilled workers such as brain circulation, or the motivational effects of migration that spur aspiring migrants to acquire further skills. Brain gain also occurs when migrants return back to their country or communities of origin and bring back with them new skills and knowledge acquired in migration.

Refugee (mandate): A person who qualifies for the protection of the United Nations provided by the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), in accordance with UNHCR’s Statute and, notably, subsequent General Assembly’s resolutions clarifying the scope of UNHCR’s competency, regardless of whether or not he or she is in a country that is a party to the 1951 Convention or the 1967 Protocol – or a relevant regional refugee instrument – or whether or not he or she has been recognized by his or her host country as a refugee under either of these instruments.

Refugee (prima facie): Persons recognized as refugees, by a State or the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, on the basis of objective criteria related to the circumstances in their country of origin, which justify a presumption that they meet the criteria of the applicable refugee definition.

Refugee sur place: Person who was not a refugee when he or she left his or her country of origin, but who becomes a refugee at a later date.

Displaced persons: Persons or groups of persons who have been forced or obliged to flee or to leave their homes or places of habitual residence, either across an international border or within a State, in particular as a result of or in order to avoid the effects of armed conflict, situations of generalized violence, violations of human rights or natural or human-made disasters.

Internally displaced persons: Persons or groups of persons who have been forced or obliged to flee or to leave their homes or places of habitual residence, in particular as a result of or in order to avoid the effects of armed conflict, situations of generalized violence, violations of human rights or natural or human-made disasters, and who have not crossed an internationally recognized State border.

Durable solution (internally displaced persons): For internally displaced persons, a durable solution is achieved when internally displaced persons no longer have any specific assistance and protection needs that are linked to their displacement and can enjoy their human rights without discrimination on account of their displacement.

Cross-border displacement: The movements of persons who have been forced or obliged to leave their homes or places of habitual residence and move across international borders.

Note: The term might be correlated with a need for international protection, including refugee status. It is also often used in the context of disasters and the effects of climate change to refer to situations where people flee their impacts.

Disaster displacement: The movement of persons who have been forced or obliged to leave their homes or places of habitual residence as a result of a disaster or in order to avoid the impact of an immediate and foreseeable natural hazard.

Note: Disaster displacement may take the form of spontaneous flight, an evacuation ordered or enforced by authorities or an involuntary planned relocation process. Such displacement can occur within a country (internal displacement), or across international borders (cross-border disaster displacement).