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Forced Migration and Patterns of Mortality and Morbidity

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Demography of Refugee and Forced Migration

Part of the book series: International Studies in Population ((ISIP,volume 13))

Abstract

Mass forced migration as a result of wars, conflicts, and natural disasters often leads to premature death and poor health conditions. The levels, types and trends of elevated mortality and morbidity vary by context, type of complex emergency, characteristics of the forced migrant group, stage of the emergency and the migration flow. We review recent research on forced migration and health outcomes by analyzing and synthesizing the evidence base to identify patterns of mortality and morbidity in different types of forced migration scenarios among various populations and at different times. The review illustrates the application of a demographic perspective within the context of processes of forced migrations and the critical contribution of analyses conducted at the population and community scale for understanding the health and welfare of displaced people and populations.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The concept complex emergency is used in the field of public health and humanitarianism to refer to a particular type of large-scale disaster that affects a large civilian population through war or conflict, genocide or ethnic cleansing, and which leads to population displacement, deterioration of living conditions, and accompanying health problems and increased mortality.

  2. 2.

    Refugees, under international law, are persons who “owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, [are] outside the country of [their] nationality, and [are] unable to, or owing to such fear, [are] unwilling to avail [themselves] of the protection of that country” (UNHCR 1951). Internally displaced persons are those who, for similar reasons are displaced within the borders of their own country.

  3. 3.

    The denominator used to calculate demographic and epidemiological rates is the total population at risk of an event (e.g., death) during a specified period of time (e.g., one year or one month). It can be difficult to have an accurate count of the actual population at risk when deaths are occurring with such rapidity.

  4. 4.

    U5MR is the rate of deaths among children under five, IMR is the rate of deaths among infants under one, and NNMR is the rate of deaths among newborns within the first 28 days of life.

  5. 5.

    MMR is the rate of pregnancy related deaths among the population and the proportional mortality rate is the proportion of deaths attributable to a particular cause among the population.

  6. 6.

    The Brass Method and the Preceding Birth Technique.

  7. 7.

    At least 6–12 months.

  8. 8.

    At least 3–4 years after displacement.

  9. 9.

    The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-IV (1952), published by the American Psychiatric Association, offers a common language and standard criteria for the classification of mental disorders.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, Queens College and CUNY Institute for Demographic Research, City University of New York, New York, NY, USA

    Holly E. Reed

  2. Department of Sociology, The Graduate Center, City University of New York, New York, NY, USA

    Mara Getz Sheftel

  3. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Tehran, Iran

    Arash Behazin

Authors
  1. Holly E. Reed
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  2. Mara Getz Sheftel
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  3. Arash Behazin
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Correspondence to Holly E. Reed .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Australian Population & Migration Research Centre Campus North Terrace, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia

    Graeme Hugo

  2. Department of Demography, University of Tehran and National Institute of Population Research, Tehran, Iran

    Mohammad Jalal Abbasi-Shavazi

  3. Geography and Environmental Studies, Colgate University, Hamilton, New York, USA

    Ellen Percy Kraly

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Reed, H.E., Sheftel, M.G., Behazin, A. (2018). Forced Migration and Patterns of Mortality and Morbidity. In: Hugo, G., Abbasi-Shavazi, M., Kraly, E. (eds) Demography of Refugee and Forced Migration. International Studies in Population, vol 13. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-67147-5_5

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