Refugee movement and development – Afghan refugees in Iran

Abstract

The increasing discussion of the relationship between migration and development attention is focused almost entirely on voluntary migration. Little attention is given to the development of consequences and potential of forced migration. Yet, forced migration, especially refugees, makes up a significant proportion of international moves, most of it being south-south in nature. While the raison d’etre of forced migration is fleeing persecution and seeking refuge from it, the migration can have important economic outcomes. This paper addresses this issue by examining the educational and occupational outcomes of Afghan refugees in Iran. There is significant upward mobility among the refugees, especially between the first and second generations. It is argued that this represents potential for facilitating development.