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140-537: Often the affected population is transferred by force to a distant region, perhaps not suited to their way of life, causing them substantial harm. In addition, the process implies the loss of immovable property and substantial amounts of movable property when rushed. This transfer may be motivated by the more powerful party's desire to make other uses of the land in question or, less often, by security or disastrous environmental or economic conditions that require relocation. The first known population transfers date back to

280-554: A League of Nations mandate ) and the Soviet Union on 18 September 1934, but the Empire of Japan and Germany (under Hitler) withdrew in 1933. This marked the League's largest extent at 58 member states. In December 1920, Argentina quit (being absent from all sessions and votes) without formally withdrawing, on rejection of an Argentine resolution that all sovereign states would be admitted to

420-482: A refugee , prisoner or a slave laborer . Most war victims, political refugees, and DPs of the immediate post-Second World War period were Ukrainians, Poles, other Slavs , and citizens of the Baltic states (Lithuanians, Latvians, and Estonians) who refused to return to Soviet-dominated Eastern Europe. A. J. Jaffe claimed that the term was originally coined by Eugene M. Kulischer . The meaning has significantly broadened in

560-650: A war crime , the civilian victim must be a " protected person " under international humanitarian law . Originally referring only categories of individuals explicitly protected under one of the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 , "protected person" now refers to any category of individuals entitled to protection under specific law of war treaties. In Article 49, the Fourth Geneva Convention , adopted on 12 August 1949, specifically forbade forced displacement Individual or mass forcible transfers, as well as deportations of protected persons from occupied territory to

700-466: A "permanent league of neutral nations" to work for peace and disarmament. Within months, a call was made for an international women's conference to be held in The Hague . Coordinated by Mia Boissevain , Aletta Jacobs and Rosa Manus , the congress, which opened on 28 April 1915 was attended by 1,136 participants from neutral nations, and resulted in the establishment of an organisation which would become

840-561: A League with the reservation that only Congress could take the U.S. into war. Lodge gained a majority of Senators and Wilson refused to allow a compromise. The Senate voted on the ratification on 19 March 1920, and the 49–35 vote fell short of the needed 2/3 majority . The League held its first council meeting in Paris on 16 January 1920, six days after the Versailles Treaty and the Covenant of

980-624: A body. In the midst of the War, Wilson refused. In 1915, a body similar to the Bryce Group was set up in the United States, led by former president William Howard Taft . It was called the League to Enforce Peace . It advocated the use of arbitration in conflict resolution and the imposition of sanctions on aggressive countries. None of these early organisations envisioned a continuously functioning body; with

1120-421: A condition of durable peace, "behind international law, and behind all treaty arrangements for preventing or limiting hostilities, some form of international sanction should be devised which would give pause to the hardiest aggressor." The war had had a profound impact, affecting the social, political and economic systems of Europe and inflicting psychological and physical damage. Several empires collapsed: first

1260-407: A good choice for the nations of the world. Support for Geneva as the selection came from Swiss Federal Councillor Gustave Ador and economist William Rappard. The Palais Wilson on Geneva's western lakeshore, named after Woodrow Wilson, was the League's first permanent home. The covenant had ambiguities, as Carole Fink points out. There was not a good fit between Wilson's "revolutionary conception of

1400-619: A means to settle ethnic conflict, today, forced population transfers are considered violations of international law." No legal distinction is made between one-way and two-way transfers since the rights of each individual are regarded as independent of the experience of others. Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention (adopted in 1949 and now part of customary international law ) prohibits mass movement of protected persons out of or into territory under belligerent military occupation : Individual or mass forcible transfers, as well as deportations of protected persons from occupied territory to

1540-573: A now-foregone belief that population transfer may serve as an option for resolving various types of conflict, within a country or between countries. The agreement of recognized States may provide one criterion for the authorization of the final terms of conflict resolution. However, the cardinal principle of "voluntariness" is seldom satisfied, regardless of the objective of the transfer. For the transfer to comply with human rights standards as developed, prospective transferees must have an option to remain in their homes if they prefer. The same report warned of

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1680-462: A person or people away from their home or home region. The UNHCR defines 'forced displacement' as follows: displaced "as a result of persecution, conflict, generalized violence or human rights violations". A forcibly displaced person may also be referred to as a " forced migrant ", a " displaced person " ( DP ), or, if displaced within the home country, an " internally displaced person " (IDP). While some displaced persons may be considered refugees ,

1820-399: A pressure group within the then-governing Liberal Party . In Dickinson's 1915 pamphlet After the War he wrote of his "League of Peace" as being essentially an organisation for arbitration and conciliation. He felt that the secret diplomacy of the early twentieth century had brought about war, and thus, could write that, "the impossibility of war, I believe, would be increased in proportion as

1960-516: A result of slow-onset climate change , such as desertification or sea-level rise , of deforestation or land degradation . Human-made displacement describes forced displacement caused by political entities, criminal organizations, conflicts, human-made environmental disasters, development, etc. Although impacts of natural disasters and blights/pests may be exacerbated by human mismanagement, human-made causes refer specifically to those initiated by humans. According to UNESCO , armed conflict stands as

2100-515: A series of deportations on a huge scale, which profoundly affected the ethnic map of the Soviet Union . Over 1.5 million people were deported to Siberia and the Central Asian republics. Separatism, resistance to Soviet rule and collaboration with the invading Germans were cited as the main official reasons for the deportations. After World War II, the population of East Prussia was replaced by

2240-497: A solution to current or possible future ethnic conflict, and attitudes can be cultivated by supporters of either plan of action with its supportive propaganda used as a typical political tool by which their goals can be achieved. Two famous transfers connected with the history of France are the banning of the religion of the Jews in 1308 and that of the Huguenots , French Protestants by

2380-511: A variety of ways. They have generally agreed that it is the forced removal or relocation of a person from their environment and associated connections. It can involve different types of movements, such as flight (from fleeing), evacuation, and population transfer . The term displaced person (DP) was first widely used during World War II , following the subsequent refugee outflows from Eastern Europe . In this context, DP specifically referred to an individual removed from their native country as

2520-433: A war crime and a crime against humanity. That opinion was progressively adopted and extended through the remainder of the century. Underlying the change was the trend to assign rights to individuals, thereby limiting the rights of states to make agreements that adversely affect them. There is now little debate about the general legal status of involuntary population transfers: "Where population transfers used to be accepted as

2660-775: A year in September. The special functions of the Assembly included the admission of new members, the periodical election of non-permanent members to the council, the election with the Council of the judges of the Permanent Court, and control of the budget. In practice, the Assembly was the general directing force of League activities. The Council acted as a type of executive body directing the Assembly's business. It began with four permanent members – Great Britain , France , Italy , and Japan – and four non-permanent members that were elected by

2800-571: Is increasing the frequency of major natural disasters, possibly placing a greater number of populations in situations of forced displacement. Also crop failures due to blight and/or pests fall within this category by affecting people's access to food. Additionally, the term environmental refugee represents people who are forced to leave their traditional habitat because of environmental factors which negatively impact their livelihood, or even environmental disruption i.e. biological, physical or chemical change in ecosystem. Migration can also occur as

2940-729: The 1939 New York World's Fair , a semi-official flag and emblem for the League of Nations emerged: two five-pointed stars within a blue pentagon. They symbolised the Earth's five continents and "five races ". A bow at the top displayed the English name ("League of Nations"), while another at the bottom showed the French (" Société des Nations "). The League consisted of 42 founding members in November 1920. Six other states joined in its founding year (by December 1920), and seven more joined by September 1924, bringing

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3080-570: The Axis powers in the 1930s. Its credibility was weakened because the United States never joined. Japan and Germany left in 1933, Italy left in 1937, and Spain left in 1939. The Soviet Union only joined in 1934 and was expelled in 1939 after invading Finland . Furthermore, the League demonstrated an irresolute approach to sanction enforcement for fear it might only spark further conflict, further decreasing its credibility. One example of this hesitancy

3220-579: The Bosnian Muslims had no immediate refuge, they were arguably the hardest hit by the ethnic violence. United Nations tried to create safe areas for Muslim populations of eastern Bosnia but in the Srebrenica massacre and elsewhere, the peacekeeping troops failed to protect the safe areas , resulting in the massacre of thousands of Muslims. The Dayton Accords ended the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina , fixing

3360-841: The British Agricultural Revolution started during the Middle Ages . Similar developments in Scotland have lately been called the Lowland Clearances . The Highland Clearances were forced displacements of the populations of the Scottish Highlands and Scottish Islands in the 18th century. They led to mass emigration to the coast, the Scottish Lowlands and abroad, including to the Thirteen Colonies, Canada and

3500-598: The Edict of Fontainebleau in 1685. Religious warfare over the Protestants led to many seeking refuge in the Low Countries, England and Switzerland. In the early 18th century, some Huguenots emigrated to colonial America . In both cases, the population was not forced out but rather their religion was declared illegal and so many left the country. According to Ivan Sertima, Louis XV ordered all blacks to be deported from France but

3640-644: The First World War . The main organisation ceased operations on 18 April 1946 when many of its components were relocated into the new United Nations . As the template for modern global governance, the League profoundly shaped the modern world. The League's primary goals were stated in its eponymous Covenant . They included preventing wars through collective security and disarmament and settling international disputes through negotiation and arbitration . Its other concerns included labour conditions, just treatment of native inhabitants, human and drug trafficking ,

3780-554: The Fourteen Points of January 1918), as well as the work of the Phillimore Commission. The outcome of House's work and Wilson's own first draft proposed the termination of "unethical" state behaviour, including forms of espionage and dishonesty. Methods of compulsion against recalcitrant states would include severe measures, such as "blockading and closing the frontiers of that power to commerce or intercourse with any part of

3920-542: The Greco-Turkish War of 1919–1922, the League of Nations defined those to be mutually expelled as the "Muslim inhabitants of Greece" to Turkey and moving "the Christian Orthodox inhabitants of Turkey" to Greece. The plan met with fierce opposition in both countries and was condemned vigorously by a large number of countries. Undeterred, Fridtjof Nansen worked with both Greece and Turkey to gain their acceptance of

4060-728: The Middle Assyrian Empire in the 13th century BCE , with forced resettlement being particularly prevalent during the Neo-Assyrian Empire . The single largest population transfer in history was the Partition of India in 1947 that involved up to 12 million people in Punjab Province with a total of up to 20 million people across British India , with the second largest being the flight and expulsion of Germans after World War II , which involved more than 12 million people. Before

4200-721: The Pontic Greeks were involved, a total of roughly 189,916. The total number of Muslims involved was 354,647. The population transfer prevented further attacks on minorities in the respective states, and Nansen was awarded a Nobel Prize for Peace . As a result of the transfers, the Muslim minority in Greece and the Greek minority in Turkey were much reduced. Cyprus and the Dodecanese were not included in

4340-562: The Revival Process . During the Yugoslav wars in the 1990s, the breakup of Yugoslavia caused large population transfers, mostly involuntary. As it was a conflict fueled by ethnic nationalism , people of minority ethnicities generally fled towards regions that their ethnicity was the majority. The phenomenon of " ethnic cleansing " was first seen in Croatia but soon spread to Bosnia . Since

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4480-499: The Rockefeller Foundation . It made major grants designed to build up the technical expertise of the League staff. Ludovic Tournès argues that by the 1930s the foundations had changed the League from a "Parliament of Nations" to a modern think tank that used specialised expertise to provide an in-depth impartial analysis of international issues. The official languages of the League of Nations were French and English. During

4620-697: The Russian Empire in February 1917, followed by the German Empire , Austro-Hungarian Empire and Ottoman Empire . Anti-war sentiment rose across the world; the First World War was described as " the war to end all wars ", and its possible causes were vigorously investigated. The causes identified included arms races, alliances, militaristic nationalism, secret diplomacy, and the freedom of sovereign states to enter into war for their own benefit. One proposed remedy

4760-567: The Soviet prisoners of war who were liberated by the Allies, and it was extended to all Eastern European refugees . Outlining the plan to force refugees to return to the Soviet Union , the codicil was kept secret from the American and British people for over 50 years. Forced displacement Forced displacement (also forced migration or forced relocation ) is an involuntary or coerced movement of

4900-628: The Three Gorges Dam . The earliest known examples of population transfers took place in the context of war and empire. As part of Sennacherib 's campaign against King Hezekiah of Jerusalem (701 BCE) "200,150 people great and small, male and female" were transferred to other lands in the Neo-Assyrian Empire . Similar population transfers occurred under the Achaemenid and Byzantine Empires . Population transfers are considered incompatible with

5040-514: The Treaty of Versailles , signed on 28 June 1919. French women's rights advocates invited international feminists to participate in a parallel conference to the Paris Conference in hopes that they could gain permission to participate in the official conference. The Inter-Allied Women's Conference asked to be allowed to submit suggestions to the peace negotiations and commissions and were granted

5180-541: The UN , an increase in IDPs compounds the difficulty of international responses, posing issues of incomplete information and questions regarding state sovereignty. State sovereignty especially becomes of concern when discussing protections for IDPs, who are within the borders of a sovereign state, placing reluctance in the international community's ability to respond. Multiple landmark conventions aim at providing rights and protections to

5320-607: The United Nations (UN) replaced it in 1946 and inherited several agencies and organisations founded by the League. Current scholarly consensus views that, even though the League failed to achieve its main goal of world peace , it did manage to build new roads towards expanding the rule of law across the globe; strengthened the concept of collective security , gave a voice to smaller nations; fostered economic stabilisation and financial stability , especially in Central Europe in

5460-602: The United Nations on August 2, 1975. The Government of the Republic of Cyprus would lift any restrictions in the voluntary movement of Turkish Cypriots to the Turkish-occupied areas of the island, and in exchange, the Turkish Cypriot side would allow all Greek Cypriots who remained in the occupied areas to stay there and to be given every help to live a normal life. Around 150,000 people (amounting to more than one-quarter of

5600-515: The Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF). At the close of the conference, two delegations of women were dispatched to meet European heads of state over the next several months. They secured agreement from reluctant foreign ministers, who overall felt that such a body would be ineffective, but agreed to participate in or not impede creation of a neutral mediating body, if other nations agreed and if President Woodrow Wilson would initiate

5740-578: The Zürich Peace Conference held between 17 and 19 May 1919, the women of the WILPF condemned the terms of the Treaty of Versailles for both its punitive measures, as well as its failure to provide for condemnation of violence and exclusion of women from civil and political participation. Upon reading the Rules of Procedure for the League of Nations, Catherine Marshall , a British suffragist, discovered that

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5880-524: The formerly-German territories east of the Oder-Neisse line , where German citizens were transferred to Germany. Germans were expelled from areas annexed by the Soviet Union and Poland as well as territories of Czechoslovakia , Hungary , Romania and Yugoslavia . From 1944 until 1948, between 13.5 and 16.5 million Germans were expelled, evacuated or fled from Central and Eastern Europe. The Statistisches Bundesamt (federal statistics office) estimates

6020-468: The 1920s; helped to raise awareness of problems like epidemics , slavery , child labour , colonial tyranny, refugee crises and general working conditions through its numerous commissions and committees; and paved the way for new forms of statehood, as the mandate system put the colonial powers under international observation. Professor David Kennedy portrays the League as a unique moment when international affairs were "institutionalised", as opposed to

6160-399: The Assembly for a three-year term. The first non-permanent members were Belgium , Brazil , Greece , and Spain . The composition of the Council was changed several times. The number of non-permanent members was first increased to six on 22 September 1922 and to nine on 8 September 1926. Werner Dankwort of Germany pushed for his country to join the League; joining in 1926, Germany became

6300-673: The Caribbean. Historically, expulsions of Jews and of Romani people reflect the power of state control that has been applied as a tool, in the form of expulsion edicts, laws, mandates etc., against them for centuries. After the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact divided Poland during World War II , Germans deported Poles and Jews from Polish territories annexed by Nazi Germany , and the Soviet Union deported Poles from areas of Eastern Poland, Kresy to Siberia and Kazakhstan. From 1940, Adolf Hitler tried to get Germans to resettle from

6440-487: The Council of the League took place on 16 January 1920, and the first meeting of the Assembly of the League took place on 15 November 1920. In 1919, U.S. president Woodrow Wilson won the Nobel Peace Prize for his role as the leading architect of the League. The diplomatic philosophy behind the League represented a fundamental shift from the preceding hundred years. The League lacked its own armed force and depended on

6580-614: The Council take action aiming at the international organisation of intellectual work, which it did by adopting a report presented by the Fifth Committee of the Second Assembly and inviting a committee on intellectual co-operation to meet in Geneva in August 1922. The French philosopher Henri Bergson became the first chairman of the committee. The work of the committee included: an inquiry into

6720-765: The Crown supported a series of population transfers into Ireland to enlarge the loyal Protestant population of Ireland. Known as the plantations , they had migrants come chiefly from Scotland and the northern border counties of England. In the late eighteenth century, the Scots-Irish constituted the largest group of immigrants from the British Isles to enter the Thirteen Colonies before the American Revolutionary War . The enclosures that depopulated rural England in

6860-493: The Former Yugoslavia has indicted and sometimes convicted a number of politicians and military commanders indicted for forced deportations in that region. Ethnic cleansing encompasses "deportation or forcible transfer of population" and the force involved may involve other crimes, including crimes against humanity. Nationalist agitation can harden public support, one way or the other, for or against population transfer as

7000-584: The Greco-Turkish population transfer of 1923 because they were under direct British and Italian control respectively. For the fate of Cyprus , see below. The Dodecanese became part of Greece in 1947. In 1939, Hitler and Mussolini agreed to give the German-speaking population of South Tyrol a choice (the South Tyrol Option Agreement ): they could emigrate to neighbouring Germany (including

7140-644: The IPU by 1914. Its foundational aims were to encourage governments to solve international disputes by peaceful means. Annual conferences were established to help governments refine the process of international arbitration. Its structure was designed as a council headed by a president, which would later be reflected in the structure of the League. At the start of the First World War, the first schemes for an international organisation to prevent future wars began to gain considerable public support, particularly in Great Britain and

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7280-444: The Jewish population. However, increasing foreign resistance brought the plan to a virtual halt. Later on, Jews were transferred to ghettoes and eventually to death camps . Use of forced labor in Nazi Germany during World War II occurred on a large scale. Jews who had signed over properties in Germany and Austria during Nazism, although coerced to do so, found it nearly impossible to be reimbursed after World War II, partly because of

7420-460: The League accused Italian soldiers of targeting International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement medical tents, Benito Mussolini responded that "the League is very well when sparrows shout, but no good at all when eagles fall out." At its greatest extent from 28 September 1934 to 23 February 1935, it had 58 members. After some notable successes and some early failures in the 1920s, the League ultimately proved incapable of preventing aggression by

7560-400: The League as a solid replacement for a corrupt alliance system, a guardian of international order, and protector of small states," versus Lloyd George's desire for a "cheap, self-enforcing, peace, such as had been maintained by the old and more fluid Concert of Europe." Furthermore, the League, according to Carole Fink, was, "deliberately excluded from such great-power prerogatives as freedom of

7700-426: The League of Nations came into force. On 1 November 1920, the headquarters of the League was moved from London to Geneva , where the first General Assembly was held on 15 November 1920. Geneva made sense as an ideal city for the League, since Switzerland had been a neutral country for centuries and was already the headquarters for the International Red Cross. Its strong democracy and location in central Europe made it

7840-542: The League of Nations, Afghanistan abolished slavery in 1923, Iraq in 1924, Nepal in 1926, Transjordan and Persia in 1929, Bahrain in 1937, and Ethiopia in 1942. Led by Fridtjof Nansen , the Commission for Refugees was established on 27 June 1921 to look after the interests of refugees, including overseeing their repatriation and, when necessary, resettlement. At the end of the First World War, there were two to three million ex-prisoners of war from various nations dispersed throughout Russia; within two years of

7980-408: The League of Nations, the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), was formed by the peace activists William Randal Cremer and Frédéric Passy in 1889 (and still exists as an international body focused on the world's various elected legislative bodies). The IPU was founded with an international scope, with a third of the members of parliaments (in the 24 countries that had parliaments) serving as members of

8120-409: The League on the grounds that "Ethiopia had not reached a state of civilisation and internal security sufficient to warrant her admission." The League also succeeded in reducing the death rate of workers constructing the Tanganyika railway from 55 to 4 per cent. Records were kept to control slavery, prostitution, and the trafficking of women and children . Partly as a result of pressure brought by

8260-481: The League's size to 55. Costa Rica withdrew in December 1924, making it the member to have most quickly withdrawn, and Brazil became the first founding member to withdraw in June 1926. Germany (under the Weimar Republic ) was admitted to the League of Nations through a resolution passed on 8 September 1926. The League's size remained at 54 for the next five years. Through the first half of the 1930s, six more states joined, including Iraq in 1932 (newly independent from

8400-413: The League. It resumed its participation in September 1933. The League's membership declined through the second half of the 1930s as it weakened. Between 1935 and the start of World War II in Europe in September 1939, only Egypt joined (becoming the last state to join), 11 members left, and 3 members ceased to exist or fell under military occupation (Ethiopia, Austria, and Czechoslovakia). The Soviet Union

8540-512: The League. The British were particularly active in setting up junior branches for secondary students. The League of Nations was relatively more universal and inclusive in its membership and structure than previous international organisations, but the organisation enshrined racial hierarchy by curtailing the right to self-determination and prevented decolonisation. At the Paris Peace Conference in 1919, Wilson, Cecil and Smuts all put forward their draft proposals. After lengthy negotiations between

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8680-418: The League: representation had been accorded not only to governments but also to representatives of employers' and workers' organisations. Albert Thomas was its first director. The ILO successfully restricted the addition of lead to paint, and convinced several countries to adopt an eight-hour work day and forty-eight-hour working week. It also campaigned to end child labour, increase the rights of women in

8820-415: The Paris-based Office international d'hygiène publique (OIHP) founded in 1907 after the International Sanitary Conferences , was discharging most of the practical health-related questions, and its relations with the League's Health Committee were often conflictual. The Health Committee's purpose was to conduct inquiries, oversee the operation of the League's health work, and prepare work to be presented to

8960-409: The Permanent Court of International Justice and several other agencies and commissions created to deal with pressing international problems. These included the Disarmament Commission, the International Labour Organization (ILO) , the Mandates Commission, the International Commission on Intellectual Cooperation (precursor to UNESCO ), the Permanent Central Opium Board , the Commission for Refugees,

9100-455: The Secretariat was responsible for preparing the agenda for the Council and the Assembly and publishing reports of the meetings and other routine matters, effectively acting as the League's civil service. In 1931 the staff numbered 707. The Assembly consisted of representatives of all members of the League, with each state allowed up to three representatives and one vote. It met in Geneva and, after its initial sessions in 1920, it convened once

9240-424: The Slavery Commission, and the Economic and Financial Organization . Three of these institutions were transferred to the United Nations after the Second World War: the International Labour Organization, the Permanent Court of International Justice (as the International Court of Justice ), and the Health Organisation (restructured as the World Health Organization ). The Permanent Court of International Justice

9380-433: The Soviet one, mainly by Russians . Many Tartari Muslims were transferred to Northern Crimea, now Ukraine, while Southern Crimea and Yalta were populated with Russians. At the conclusion of the Yalta Conference , the Allies made numerous promises, one of them was their promise to return all Soviet citizens who found themselves in the Allied zone to the Soviet Union ( Operation Keelhaul ). That policy immediately affected

9520-484: The Spanish Muslims went to North Africa and to areas of Ottoman Empire control. In September 1940, with the return of Southern Dobruja by Romania to Bulgaria under the Treaty of Craiova , a population exchange was carried out. 103,711 Romanians, Aromanians and Megleno-Romanians were compelled to move north of the border, while 62,278 Bulgarians living in Northern Dobruja were forced to move into Bulgaria. Around 360,000 Bulgarian Turks fled Bulgaria during

9660-496: The United Nations and the World Bank , as well as individual countries, sometimes directly respond to the challenges faced by displaced people, providing humanitarian assistance or forcibly intervening in the country of conflict. Disputes related to these organizations' neutrality and limited resources has affected the capabilities of international humanitarian action to mitigate mass displacement mass displacement's causes. These broad forms of assistance sometimes do not fully address

9800-550: The United States has faced criticism for its recent policies regarding migrant detention, specifically the detention of children. Critics point to poor detention conditions, unstable contact with parents, and high potential for long-term trauma as reasons for seeking policy changes. Displaced persons risk greater poverty than before displacement, financial vulnerability, and potential social disintegration, in addition to other risks related to human rights, culture, and quality of life. Forced displacement has varying impacts, dependent on

9940-412: The United States. Goldsworthy Lowes Dickinson , a British political scientist, coined the term "League of Nations" in 1914 and drafted a scheme for its organisation. Together with Lord Bryce , he played a leading role in the founding of the group of internationalist pacifists known as the Bryce Group , later the League of Nations Union . The group became steadily more influential among the public and as

10080-619: The ability of governments to make the "personal decision to leave" argument. The Germans abducted about 12 million people from almost twenty European countries; about two thirds of whom came from Eastern Europe . After World War II, when the Curzon line , which had been proposed in 1919 by the Western Allies as Poland's eastern border, was implemented, members of all ethnic groups were transferred to their respective new territories ( Poles to Poland, Ukrainians to Soviet Ukraine). The same applied to

10220-495: The area in which they are lawfully present, without grounds permitted under international law. League of Nations The League of Nations ( LN or LoN ; French : Société des Nations [sɔsjete de nɑsjɔ̃] , SdN ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace . It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ended

10360-655: The areas in which they were the minority (the Baltics, South-Eastern and Eastern Europe) to the Warthegau , the region around Poznań , German Posen . He expelled the Poles and Jews who formed there the majority of the population. Before the war, the Germans were 16% of the population in the area. The Nazis initially tried to press Jews to emigrate and in Austria succeeded in driving out most of

10500-534: The arms trade, global health, prisoners of war, and protection of minorities in Europe. The Covenant of the League of Nations was signed on 28 June 1919 as Part I of the Treaty of Versailles , and it became effective with the rest of the Treaty on 10 January 1920. Australia was granted the right to participate as an autonomous member nation, marking the start of Australian independence on the global stage. The first meeting of

10640-494: The borders between the two warring parties roughly to those established by the autumn of 1995. One immediate result of the population transfer after the peace deal was a sharp decline in ethnic violence in the region. A massive and systematic deportation of Serbia 's Albanians took place during the Kosovo War of 1999, with around 800,000 Albanians (out of a population of about 1.5 million) forced to flee Kosovo . Albanians became

10780-409: The collection of personal information, issuing identification cards to all residents, and providing access to crucial services such as health care. Access to these services can ease the hardships of displaced people by allowing them to healthily adjust to life after displacement . Forced displacement has been the subject of several trials in local and international courts. For an offense to classify as

10920-555: The commission's foundation, it had helped 425,000 of them return home. It established camps in Turkey in 1922 to aid the country with an ongoing refugee crisis, helping to prevent the spread of cholera , smallpox and dysentery as well as feeding the refugees in the camps. It also established the Nansen passport as a means of identification for stateless people . The Committee for the Study of

11060-560: The commission's results were later incorporated into the Covenant of the League of Nations . The French authorities also drafted a much more far-reaching proposal in June 1918; they advocated annual meetings of a council to settle all disputes, as well as an "international army" to enforce its decisions. American President Woodrow Wilson instructed Edward M. House to draft a US plan which reflected Wilson's own idealistic views (first articulated in

11200-516: The conditions of intellectual life, assistance to countries where intellectual life was endangered, creation of national committees for intellectual cooperation, cooperation with international intellectual organisations, protection of intellectual property, inter-university co-operation, co-ordination of bibliographical work and international interchange of publications, and international co-operation in archaeological research. The Slavery Commission sought to eradicate slavery and slave trading across

11340-492: The council or the Assembly. The Court was open to all the nations of the world under certain broad conditions. The International Labour Organization was created in 1919 on the basis of Part XIII of the Treaty of Versailles. The ILO, although having the same members as the League and being subject to the budget control of the Assembly, was an autonomous organisation with its own Governing Body, its own General Conference and its own Secretariat. Its constitution differed from that of

11480-436: The council. This body focused on ending leprosy , malaria , and yellow fever , the latter two by starting an international campaign to exterminate mosquitoes. The Health Organisation also worked successfully with the government of the Soviet Union to prevent typhus epidemics, including organising a large education campaign. Linked with health, but also commercial concerns, was the topic of narcotics control. Introduced by

11620-587: The course of the diplomatic efforts surrounding World War I , both sides had to clarify their long-term war aims. By 1916 in Britain, fighting on the side of the Allies , and in the neutral United States, long-range thinkers had begun to design a unified international organisation to prevent future wars. Historian Peter Yearwood argues that when the new coalition government of David Lloyd George took power in December 1916, there

11760-537: The creation of a mandate system for captured colonies of the Central Powers during the war. Cecil focused on the administrative side and proposed annual council meetings and quadrennial meetings for the Assembly of all members. He also argued for a large and permanent secretariat to carry out the League's administrative duties. According to historian Patricia Clavin, Cecil and the British continued their leadership of

11900-469: The delegates, the Hurst – Miller draft was finally produced as a basis for the Covenant . After more negotiation and compromise, the delegates finally approved of the proposal to create the League of Nations ( French : Société des Nations , German : Völkerbund ) on 25 January 1919. The final Covenant of the League of Nations was drafted by a special commission, and the League was established by Part I of

12040-478: The development of a rules-based global order into the 1920s and 1930s, with a primary focus on the League of Nations. The British goal was to systematise and normalise the economic and social relations between states, markets, and civil society. They gave priority to business and banking issues, but also considered the needs of ordinary women, children and the family as well. They moved beyond high-level intellectual discussions, and set up local organisations to support

12180-535: The different categories of forcibly displaced persons, including the 1951 Refugee Convention , the 1967 Protocol , the Kampala Convention , and the 1998 Guiding Principles . Despite internationally cooperation, these frameworks rely on the international system, which states may disregard. In a 2012 study, Young Hoon Song found that nations "very selectively" responded to instances of forced migration and internally displaced persons. World organizations such as

12320-467: The difficulty of ensuring true voluntariness: "some historical transfers did not call for forced or compulsory transfers, but included options for the affected populations. Nonetheless, the conditions attending the relevant treaties created strong moral, psychological and economic pressures to move." The final report of the Sub-Commission (1997) invoked numerous legal conventions and treaties to support

12460-563: The exception of the Fabian Society in England, they maintained a legalistic approach that would limit the international body to a court of justice. The Fabians were the first to argue for a "council" of states, necessarily the Great Powers , who would adjudicate world affairs, and for the creation of a permanent secretariat to enhance international co-operation across a range of activities. In

12600-431: The fifth permanent member of the Council. Later, after Germany and Japan both left the League, the number of non-permanent seats was increased from nine to eleven, and the Soviet Union was made a permanent member giving the council a total of fifteen members. The Council met, on average, five times a year and in extraordinary sessions when required. In total, 107 sessions were held between 1920 and 1939. The League oversaw

12740-441: The first Geneva Conventions establishing laws dealing with humanitarian relief during wartime, and the international Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 governing rules of war and the peaceful settlement of international disputes. Theodore Roosevelt at the acceptance for his Nobel Prize in 1910, said: "it would be a masterstroke if those great powers honestly bent on peace would form a League of Peace." One small forerunner of

12880-603: The forcible deportation of Ukrainians (including thousands of children ) to Russia during the Russian invasion of Ukraine , the last major population transfer in Europe was the deportation of 800,000 ethnic Albanians during the Kosovo War in 1999. Moreover, some of the largest population transfers in Europe have been attributed to the ethnic policies of the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin . Population transfers can also be imposed to further economic development , for instance China relocated 1.3 million residents in order to construct

13020-400: The guidelines were completely undemocratic and they were modified based on her suggestion. The League would be made up of a Assembly (representing all member states), a Council (with membership limited to major powers), and a permanent Secretariat. Member states were expected to "respect and preserve as against external aggression" the territorial integrity of other members and to disarm "to

13160-584: The hope that each state would declare itself a free state that respects its citizens and welcomes foreign visitors as fellow rational beings, thus promoting peaceful society worldwide. International co-operation to promote collective security originated in the Concert of Europe that developed after the Napoleonic Wars in the 19th century in an attempt to maintain the status quo between European states and so avoid war. By 1910, international law developed, with

13300-585: The impact of forced migration in the home regions as well as the receiving or destination regions. Additionally, some collaboration efforts are made to gather evidence in order to seek prosecution of those involved in causing events of human-made forced migration. An estimated 100 million people around the world were forcibly displaced by the end of 2022, with the majority coming from the Global South . Governments, NGOs , other international organizations and social scientists have defined forced displacement in

13440-758: The importance of collaboration between businesses and non-governmental organizations to tackle resettlement and employment issues. Lived in experiences of displaced persons will vary according to the state and local policies of their country of relocation. Policies reflecting national exclusion of displaced persons may be undone by inclusive urban policies. Sanctuary cities are an example of spaces that regulate their cooperation or participation with immigration law enforcement. The practice of urban membership upon residence allows displaced persons to have access to city services and benefits, regardless of their legal status. Sanctuary cities have been able to provide migrants with greater mobility and participation in activities limiting

13580-857: The involvement of smugglers and human traffickers, who may exploit them for illegal activities such as drug/weapons trafficking, forced labor, or sex work. The states where migrants seek protection may consider them a threat to national security. Displaced persons may also seek the assistance of human smugglers (such as coyotes in Latin America) throughout their journey. Given the illegal nature of smuggling, smugglers may take use dangerous methods to reach their destination without capture, exposing displaced persons to harm and sometimes resulting in deaths. Examples include abandonment, exposure to exploitation, dangerous transportation conditions, and death from exposure to harsh environments. In most instances of forced migration across borders, migrants do not possess

13720-523: The issues of foreign policy should be known to and controlled by public opinion." The 'Proposals' of the Bryce Group were circulated widely, both in England and the US, where they had a profound influence on the nascent international movement. In January 1915, a peace conference directed by Jane Addams was held in the neutral United States. The delegates adopted a platform calling for creation of international bodies with administrative and legislative powers to develop

13860-597: The late 19th century, and moved to the Pacific, most notably to New Caledonia. After the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland and Act of Settlement in 1652, most indigenous Irish Catholic land holders had their lands confiscated and were banned from living in planted towns. An unknown number, possibly as high as 100,000 Irish were removed to the colonies in the West Indies and North America as indentured servants . In addition,

14000-627: The latter term specifically refers to such displaced persons who are receiving legally-defined protection and are recognized as such by their country of residence and/or international organizations. Forced displacement has gained attention in international discussions and policy making since the European migrant crisis . This has since resulted in a greater consideration of the impacts of forced migration on affected regions outside Europe. Various international, regional, and local organizations are developing and implementing approaches to both prevent and mitigate

14140-744: The loss of life at 2.1 million Poland and Soviet Ukraine conducted population exchanges. Poles residing east of the new Poland-Soviet border were deported to Poland (2,100,000 persons), and Ukrainians that resided west of the New border were deported to Soviet Ukraine. Population transfer to Soviet Ukraine occurred from September 1944 to May 1946 (450,000 persons). Some Ukrainians (200,000 persons) left southeast Poland more or less voluntarily (between 1944 and 1945). The second event occurred in 1947 under Operation Vistula . Nearly 20 million people in Europe fled their homes or were expelled, transferred or exchanged during

14280-530: The lowest point consistent with domestic safety." All states were required to submit complaints for arbitration or judicial inquiry before going to war. The Council would create a Permanent Court of International Justice to make judgements on the disputes. Despite Wilson's efforts to establish and promote the League, for which he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in October 1919, the United States never joined. Senate Republicans led by Henry Cabot Lodge wanted

14420-534: The majority in Kosovo at the wars end, around 200,000 Serbs and Roma fled Kosovo. When Kosovo proclaimed independence in 2008, the bulk of its population was Albanian. A number of commanders and politicians, notably Serbia and Yugoslav President Slobodan Milošević , were put on trial by the UN's International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia for a variety of war crimes , including deportations and genocide. Following

14560-558: The means through which one was forcibly displaced, their geographic location, their protected status, and their ability to personally recover. Under the most common form of displacement, armed conflict, individuals often lose possession of their assets upon fleeing and possible upon arrival to a new country, where they can also face cultural, social, and economic discontinuity. Responses to situations of forced displacement vary across regional and international levels, with each type of forced displacement demonstrating unique characteristics and

14700-602: The most common cause behind forced displacement, reinforced by regional studies citing political and armed conflict as the largest attributing factors to migrant outflows from Latin America, Africa, and Asia. Displaced persons face adverse conditions when taking the decision to leave, traveling to a destination, and sometimes upon reaching their destination. Displaced persons are often forced to place their lives at risk, travel in inhumane conditions, and may be exposed to exploitation and abuse. These risk factors may increase through

14840-448: The multidimensional needs of displaced persons. Regardless, calls for multilateral responses echo across organizations in the face of falling international cooperation. These organizations propose more comprehensive approaches, calling for improved conflict resolution and capacity-building in order to reduce instances of forced displacement. Responses at multiple levels and across sectors is vital. A research has for instance highlighted

14980-433: The native ethnic population into the mainstream culture over time. According to the political scientist Norman Finkelstein , population transfer was considered as an acceptable solution to the problems of ethnic conflict until around World War II and even for a time afterward. Transfer was considered a drastic but "often necessary" means to end an ethnic conflict or ethnic civil war . The feasibility of population transfer

15120-542: The need for a considerate approach. At the international level, international organizations (e.g. the UNHCR ), NGOs ( Doctors without Borders ), and country governments ( USAID ) may work towards directly or indirectly ameliorating these situations. Means may include establishing internationally recognized protections, providing clinics to migrant camps, and supplying resources to populations. According to researchers such as Francis Deng, as well as international organizations such as

15260-416: The past half-century. Bogumil Terminski distinguishes two general categories of displacement: Forced displacement may directly result from natural disasters and indirectly from the subsequent impact on infrastructure , food and water access, and local/regional economies. Displacement may be temporary or permanent, depending on the scope of the disaster and the area's recovery capabilities. Climate change

15400-562: The position that population transfers contravene international law unless they have the consent of both the moved population and the host population. Moreover, that consent must be given free of direct or indirect negative pressure. "Deportation or forcible transfer of population" is defined as a crime against humanity by the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (Article 7). The International Criminal Tribunal for

15540-413: The pre-First World War methods of law and politics. The concept of a peaceful community of nations had been proposed as early as 1795, when Immanuel Kant 's Perpetual Peace: A Philosophical Sketch outlined the idea of a league of nations to control conflict and promote peace between states. Kant argued for the establishment of a peaceful world community, not in a sense of a global government, but in

15680-671: The process of sorting out ethnic groups between 1944 and 1951. In 1492 the Jewish population of Spain was expelled through the Alhambra Decree . Some of the Jews went to North Africa; others east into Poland, France and Italy, and other Mediterranean countries. In 1609, was the Expulsion of the Moriscos , the final transfer of 300,000 Muslims out of Spain, after more than a century of Catholic trials, segregation, and religious restrictions. Most of

15820-550: The proposed population exchange. About 1.5 million Christians and half a million Muslims were moved from one side of the international border to the other. When the exchange was to take effect (1 May 1923), most of the prewar Orthodox Greek population of Aegean Turkey had already fled due to persecution and the Greek Genocide , and so only the Orthodox Christians of central Anatolia (both Greek and Turkish-speaking ), and

15960-601: The recently- annexed Austria ) or stay in Italy and accept to be assimilated. Because of the outbreak of World War II, the agreement was only partially consummated. After the Turkish invasion of Cyprus and subsequent division of the island , there was an agreement between the Greek representative on one side and the Turkish Cypriot representative on the other side under the auspices of

16100-433: The required documentation for legal travel. The states where migrants seek protection may consider them a threat to national security. As a result, displaced persons may face detainment and criminal punishment, as well as physical and psychological trauma. Various studies focusing on migrant health have specifically linked migration to increased likelihood of depression, anxiety, and other psychological troubles. For example,

16240-551: The result of bilateral treaties and had the support of international bodies such as the League of Nations . The expulsion of Germans after World War II from Central and Eastern Europe after World War II was sanctioned by the Allies in Article 13 of the Potsdam communiqué, but research has shown that both the British and the American delegations at Potsdam strongly objected to the size of the population transfer that had already taken place and

16380-509: The right to sit on commissions dealing specifically with women and children. Though they asked for enfranchisement and full legal protection under the law equal with men, those rights were ignored. Women won the right to serve in all capacities, including as staff or delegates in the League of Nations organisation. They also won a declaration that member nations should prevent trafficking of women and children and should equally support humane conditions for children, women and men labourers. At

16520-537: The seas and naval disarmament, the Monroe Doctrine and the internal affairs of the French and British empires, and inter-Allied debts and German reparations, not to mention the Allied intervention and the settlement of borders with Soviet Russia." Although the United States never joined, unofficial observers became more and more involved, especially in the 1930s. American philanthropies became heavily involved, especially

16660-537: The seat of the League at Geneva, comprised a body of experts in various spheres under the direction of the general secretary . Its principal sections were Political, Financial and Economics, Transit, Minorities and Administration (administering the Saar and Danzig ), Mandates, Disarmament, Health, Social (Opium and Traffic in Women and Children), Intellectual Cooperation and International Bureaux, Legal, and Information. The staff of

16800-565: The second International Opium Convention , the Permanent Central Opium Board had to supervise the statistical reports on trade in opium , morphine, cocaine and heroin. The board also established a system of import certificates and export authorisations for the legal international trade in narcotics . The League of Nations had devoted serious attention to the question of international intellectual cooperation since its creation. The First Assembly in December 1920 recommended that

16940-436: The so-called "exchange" has usually been forced by the stronger or richer participant. Such exchanges have taken place several times in the 20th century: Ethnic dilution is the practice of enacting immigration policies to relocate parts of an ethnically and/or culturally dominant population into a region populated by an ethnic minority or otherwise culturally different or non-mainstream group to dilute and eventually to transform

17080-466: The territory of the Occupying Power or to that of any other country, occupied or not, are prohibited, regardless of their motive. The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court defines forced displacement as a crime within the jurisdiction of the court: "Deportation or forcible transfer of population" means forced displacement of the people concerned by expulsion or other coercive acts from

17220-480: The territory of the Occupying Power or to that of any other country, occupied or not, are prohibited, regardless of their motive.... The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies. An interim report of the United Nations Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities (1993) says: Historical cases reflect

17360-448: The total population of Cyprus, and to one-third of its Greek Cypriot population ) were displaced from the northern part of the island, where Greek Cypriots had constituted 80% of the population. Over the course of the next year, roughly 60,000 Turkish Cypriots , amounting to half the Turkish Cypriot population, were displaced from the south to the north. Shortly before, during and immediately after World War II , Joseph Stalin conducted

17500-518: The values of post-Enlightenment European societies, but this was usually limited to the home territory of the colonial power itself and population transfers continued in European colonies during the 20th century. Population exchange is the transfer of two populations in opposite directions at about the same time. In theory at least, the exchange is non-forcible, but the reality of the effects of these exchanges has always been unequal, and at least one half of

17640-517: The victorious Allied Powers of World War I (Britain, France, Italy and Japan were the initial permanent members of the Council) to enforce its resolutions, keep to its economic sanctions, or provide an army when needed. The Great Powers were often reluctant to do so. Sanctions could hurt League members, so they were reluctant to comply with them. During the Second Italo-Ethiopian War , when

17780-701: The workplace, and make shipowners liable for accidents involving seamen. After the demise of the League, the ILO became an agency of the United Nations in 1946. The League's Health Organisation had three bodies: the Health Bureau, containing permanent officials of the League; the General Advisory Council or Conference, an executive section consisting of medical experts; and the Health Committee. In practice,

17920-456: The world and to use any force that may be necessary..." The two principal drafters and architects of the covenant of the League of Nations were the British politician Lord Robert Cecil and the South African statesman Jan Smuts . Smuts's proposals included the creation of a council of the great powers as permanent members and a non-permanent selection of the minor states. He also proposed

18060-406: The world, and fought forced prostitution. Its main success was through pressing the governments who administered mandated countries to end slavery in those countries. The League secured a commitment from Ethiopia to end slavery as a condition of membership in 1923, and worked with Liberia to abolish forced labour and intertribal slavery. The United Kingdom had not supported Ethiopian membership of

18200-639: Was accelerating in the summer of 1945. The principal drafter of the provision, Geoffrey Harrison , explained that the article was intended not to approve the expulsions but to find a way to transfer the competence to the Control Council in Berlin to regulate the flow. The tide started to turn when the Charter of the Nuremberg Trials of German Nazi leaders declared forced deportation of civilian populations to be both

18340-409: Was allocated by the Assembly (the League was supported financially by its member states). The relations between the assembly and the council and the competencies of each were for the most part not explicitly defined. Each body could deal with any matter within the sphere of competence of the league or affecting peace in the world. Particular questions or tasks might be referred to either. Unanimity

18480-640: Was expelled on 14 December 1939 for invading Finland , as one of the last acts of the League before it ceased functioning. The main constitutional organs of the League were the Assembly, the council, and the Permanent Secretariat. It also had two essential wings: the Permanent Court of International Justice and the International Labour Organization . In addition, there were several auxiliary agencies and bodies. Each organ's budget

18620-579: Was hugely increased by the creation of railroad networks from the mid-19th century. George Orwell , in his 1946 essay " Politics and the English Language " (written during the World War II evacuation and expulsions in Europe), observed: The view of international law on population transfer underwent considerable evolution during the 20th century. Prior to World War II , many major population transfers were

18760-474: Was led by Walter Phillimore (and became known as the Phillimore Committee), but also included Eyre Crowe , William Tyrrell , and Cecil Hurst . The recommendations of the so-called Phillimore Commission included the establishment of a "Conference of Allied States" that would arbitrate disputes and impose sanctions on offending states. The proposals were approved by the British government, and much of

18900-407: Was provided for by the Covenant, but not established by it. The Council and the Assembly established its constitution. Its judges were elected by the Council and the Assembly, and its budget was provided by the latter. The Court was to hear and decide any international dispute which the parties concerned submitted to it. It might also give an advisory opinion on any dispute or question referred to it by

19040-469: Was required for the decisions of both the assembly and the council, except in matters of procedure and some other specific cases such as the admission of new members. This requirement was a reflection of the league's belief in the sovereignty of its component nations; the league sought a solution by consent, not by dictation. In case of a dispute, the consent of the parties to the dispute was not required for unanimity. The Permanent Secretariat, established at

19180-538: Was the Abyssinia Crisis , in which Italy's sanctions were only limited from the outset (coal and oil were not restricted), and later altogether abandoned despite Italy being declared the aggressors in the conflict. The onset of the Second World War in 1939 showed that the League had failed its primary purpose: to prevent another world war. It was largely inactive until its abolition. The League lasted for 26 years;

19320-432: Was the creation of an international organisation whose aim was to prevent future war through disarmament, open diplomacy, international co-operation, restrictions on the right to wage war, and penalties that made war unattractive. In London Balfour commissioned the first official report into the matter in early 1918, under the initiative of Lord Robert Cecil . The British committee was finally appointed in February 1918. It

19460-460: Was unsuccessful. At the time, they were mostly free people of color from the Caribbean and Louisiana colonies, usually descendants of French colonial men and African women. Some fathers sent their mixed-race sons to France to be educated or gave them property to be settled there. Others entered the military, as did Thomas-Alexandre Dumas , the father of Alexandre Dumas . Some Algerians were also forcefully removed from their native land by France in

19600-481: Was widespread discussion among intellectuals and diplomats of the desirability of establishing such an organisation. When Lloyd George was challenged by Wilson to state his position with an eye on the postwar situation, he endorsed such an organisation. Wilson himself included in his Fourteen Points in January 1918 a "league of nations to ensure peace and justice." British foreign secretary, Arthur Balfour , argued that, as

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