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15 Int'l Migration Rev. 5 (1981)

handle is hein.journals/imgratv15 and id is 1 raw text is: Foreword Barry N. Stein Silvano M. Tomasi Traditionally viewed as localized, nonrecurring and isolated flows, refu- gees and refugee movements stand singularly undefined and notably undocumented. Today, religious, ethnic and political conflicts, persecu- tion, tyranny and war all combine to leave no region or continent without refugees. The magnitude and number of these movements is unknown. Data vary by source and definition, and journalism is too often deputed as research. Often rejected by both the countries of asylum and by the rest of the international community, refugees have become, internationally, the unwelcomed guests. Initially, an economic burden to their host, refugees are perceived to compete with the natives for scarce resources, and their presence may exacerbate or create racial, ethnic, religious or economic conflicts. Sometimes, too, the host is more sympathetic to the country of origin than to the refugees. Thus, when countries of asylum appeal for international assistance, other states often feel no responsibility to share the burden. Global and unpredictable, but tragic in their persistent appearance, refugee movements have evoked a variety of governmental responses. In the past, open lands and free migration greatly eased the problem of finding refuge. Refugees then were considered immigrants and not a special class or problem. Today, however, refugees often have no place to go. Historically, the response of many states to the problem of unwanted or disliked groups has been extermination, enslavement or expulsion. While these solutions have not changed greatly, the particular answer chosen has shifted over the ages. Although slavery, serfdom and other forms of exploitative relationships have not been completely eradicated, they are generally outlawed and condemned. Similarly, genocide and extermination, while not yet methods of the past are, hopefully, no longer viable options for a modern government. Expulsion, on the other hand, is on the rise. Adding to the frequency of refugee movements is the increasing consciousness of ideological and ethnic differences. Formal ideologies, especially political, religious or nationalistic ones, mark differences among people. Thus, as sovereign states have become increasingly IMR Volume 15 No. 1 5

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