The big idea: Forced migration is when people move because they have no real choice -- they are driven from home by danger or disaster.
Forced migration
- People have no real choice
- The line matters: they are pushed out, not pulled
Voluntary migration
- People move by choice
- e.g. for a better job
Two kinds of forced migrant
- Forced across a border — they become refugees.
- Moved within their own country — they become internally displaced.
Key terms
- Forced migration -- movement people are compelled to make by threat to life or livelihood.
- Refugee -- a forced migrant who has crossed an international border to seek safety.
- Internally displaced person (IDP) -- forced to flee but still inside their own country.
- Push factor -- a negative condition (war, drought) that drives people to leave.
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The four main types of cause
- Political -- armed conflict, civil war, persecution of a group, or oppressive government.
- Environmental -- drought, flooding, sea-level rise, earthquakes or desertification destroy land and homes.
- Social -- ethnic or religious persecution, or threats to a particular community.
- Economic / developmental -- a dam or mine project that floods or seizes land and evicts residents.
Explain = give the mechanism: In an Explain answer, name the cause and say how it forces the move:
- conflict -> homes destroyed and lives at risk -> people flee for safety. - drought -> crops fail and water runs out -> people leave to survive.
Explain how armed conflict and persecution can each force people to migrate.
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Named examples (use real places): Three real cases, each with a different cause of displacement.
| Place | What happened | Cause |
|---|---|---|
| Syria (from 2011) | Civil war forced over 6 million people abroad as refugees and displaced millions more inside the country | Political / conflict |
| Lake Chad basin, Sahel | Shrinking water and desertification, alongside conflict, have displaced over 2 million people | Environmental + political |
| Three Gorges Dam, China | Reservoir flooding relocated more than 1 million residents | Developmental |
Effects of forced migration
- Environmental -- large refugee camps strip nearby land for fuelwood and pollute water sources.
- Political -- a sudden influx can strain a host country and raise tensions or instability.
- Social -- families are split, schooling is disrupted, and host communities may face pressure on services.
- On the source area -- it loses working-age people and skills (a 'brain drain' from the home region).
Who suffers most when displaced
- Women — higher risk of violence and trafficking in insecure camps; little maternity care; often left with only low-paid informal work.
- Children — schooling interrupted; separation from parents puts them at risk of trafficking or recruitment; malnutrition harms growth.
- Elderly people — limited mobility makes reaching aid hard; long-term illnesses go untreated; loss of family networks leads to isolation.
Consequences in the destination area
- Disease outbreaks — overcrowding, shared toilets and missed vaccinations let cholera and measles spread.
- Informal settlements grow — arrivals have no income and formal housing cannot keep up, so shelters spread on unused or unsafe land.
- Pressure on services and the environment — water, schools and clinics are stretched; trees are cut for fuel and shelter.
Name and locate a specific forced migration and explain one of its environmental consequences.
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How this is tested: The data stimulus here is a bar chart of refugees resettled in one country, year by year -- the kind of infographic used to show a displacement crisis.
A stacked bar chart of internal displacement by cause: the figure type of the May 2026 Paper 2.
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The skills tested
- Estimate — read a value off a bar.
- To what extent — judge whether the figure gives a misleading picture of the real scale.
Read the axis units first. Which year is the tallest bar (the peak), and which is the lowest?
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Using the bar chart, estimate the number of refugees resettled in the peak year.
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Refugees resettled in a country, by year (thousands)
| Year | Refugees resettled (thousands) |
|---|---|
| 2012 | 58 |
| 2014 | 70 |
| 2016 | 85 |
| 2018 | 23 |
| 2020 | 12 |
IB-style question -- read the infographic
Using the table above: (a) estimate the number of refugees resettled in 2016 [1]; (b) work out the increase in refugees resettled between 2012 and 2016 [1].
How to answer each part
- (a) Estimate 2016. Read the 2016 row -> about 85 thousand refugees.
- (b) Work out the increase. Subtract: 85 - 58 = 27 thousand more resettled in 2016 than in 2012. Always quote the units.
Final answer
(a) about 85 thousand; (b) an increase of about 27 thousand (85 - 58).
Evaluate how far an infographic of refugees resettled in one country gives a misleading picture of the true scale of a displacement crisis.
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