Social Conflict, Migration and Forced Labour: Contemporary and Emerging Issues

A special issue of Social Sciences (ISSN 2076-0760). This special issue belongs to the section "Work, Employment and the Labor Market".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 May 2025 | Viewed by 1096

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Helena Kennedy Centre for International Justice, Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield S10 2BP, UK
Interests: conflict; displacement; forced labour; migration; climate change; trafficking; human rights

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The confluence of conflict, climate change and global migration is exacerbating conditions in which vulnerability to forced labour can flourish. Approximately 281 million people (4% of the global population) were recorded as migrants in 2023 (United Nations, 2023), including an estimated total of 35.3 million refugees and 5.4 million asylum seekers (UNHCR, 2023). Simultaneously, 71.1 million people remained displaced from their homes, with 62.5 million people being displaced due to conflict and violence (IDMC, 2023). In addition to conflict and violence, natural disasters are presenting a growing risk, with 60.9 million people displaced within their home country (IDMC, 2023). 

Forced labour is a direct consequence of these global insecurities and the social and market forces that face asylum seekers, refugees and other displaced people. Displaced populations are often restricted to access to poor-quality employment in unregulated employment sectors (ILO, 2020). A range of factors such as domestic and international laws, local and regional policies, and restrictions around the right to work mean than often traumatised populations move directly into highly vulnerable working circumstances with the potential to exacerbate rather than alleviate these vulnerabilities.

This Special Edition will interrogate global changes in conflict and migration and their implications for patterns of forced labour. The SI is open to articles addressing forced labour from a global perspective as well as at the micro level of their impact upon individual communities. Articles are sought that address both the causes and consequences of forced labour, as are case studies that shed light on specific jurisdictions and communities. 

References

  1. United Nations (2023) International Migrant Stock. https://www.migrationdataportal.org/sites/g/files/tmzbdl251/files/2023-06/Key_Global_Migration_Figures_June_2023.pdf.
  2. UNHCR (2023) Global Trends: Forced Displacement in 2022. Global Trends 2022 report (unhcr.org) https://www.unhcr.org/sites/default/files/2023-06/global-trends-report-2022.pdf.
  3. Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (2023) (internal-displacement.org) https://www.internal-displacement.org/sites/default/files/publications/documents/IDMC_GRID_2023_Global_Report_on_Internal_Displacement_LR.pdf.
  4. International Labour Organisation (2020) Employment and decent work in refugee and other forced displacement contexts. Compendium Final (ilo.org) https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_protect/---protrav/---migrant/documents/publication/wcms_763174.pdf.

Dr. Craig Paterson
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • conflict
  • displacement
  • forced labour
  • migration
  • climate change
  • trafficking
  • human rights

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Review

25 pages, 511 KiB  
Review
Afghan and Arab Refugee International Medical Graduate Brain Waste: A Scoping Review
by Ahmad Fahim Pirzada, Zaina Chaban, Andrea Michelle Guggenbickler, Seyedeh Ala Mokhtabad Amrei, Arliette Ariel Sulikhanyan, Laila Afzal, Rashim Hakim and Patrick Marius Koga
Soc. Sci. 2025, 14(3), 147; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci14030147 - 27 Feb 2025
Viewed by 522
Abstract
The forced migration of tens of thousands of refugee doctors exacerbates a phenomenon referred to as “brain waste”. Based on the Arksey and O’Malley model, this scoping review conducted in SCOPUS, ProQuest, CINAHL, and ERIC via EBSCO examines three decades of peer-reviewed literature [...] Read more.
The forced migration of tens of thousands of refugee doctors exacerbates a phenomenon referred to as “brain waste”. Based on the Arksey and O’Malley model, this scoping review conducted in SCOPUS, ProQuest, CINAHL, and ERIC via EBSCO examines three decades of peer-reviewed literature (1990–2022) on resettled Afghan and Arab refugee International Medical Graduates (rIMGs) attempting, most often unsuccessfully, relicensing/professional reentry in the USA, Canada, the EU, Australia, and New Zealand. The search identified 760 unique citations, of which only 16 met the inclusion/exclusion criteria. Included publications explored (1) systemic and personal barriers to rIMG professional reentry and (2) existing supporting reentry programs and policy recommendations. The findings point to inconsistencies in evaluating medical education credentials and to racial profiling, inequities, and discrimination in residency interviews. The support provided by some programs was perceived as inadequate, confusing, biased, and gendered. The rIMG personal barriers identified included refugees’ unique limitations and life adversities. The review grasps a collection of isolated support programs with widely varying learning performance, unclear buy-in from residency program directors, and weak policy impacts. This analysis highlights the need for legislated and standardized rIMG reentry support programs to reduce physician shortages, health disparities, and, ultimately, IMG brain waste. Full article
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