The research described in this report had the following objectives: to form an estimate of the number of Salvadorians currently in Nicaragua, who left El Salvador for economic reasons; to estimate the costs borne by Nicaragua from 1981-83 as a country of first asylum; to obtain basic information on Central American immigrants in Nicaragua; to study the influence of unemployment and underemployment as reasons prompting Salvadorians and Guatemalans to leave their countries; to study the effects of the presence of refugees on the employment situation in Nicaragua. The study was confined to 'legalized refugees', i.e. 2,414 individuals who were fully identified and relatively easy to locate. It is estimated that over 15,000 refugees have not legalized their situation in Nicaragua. The report recommends that an in-depth study should be made of the whole migrant population which has found, in Nicaragua, the opportunity to survive and to produce. International assistance should be increased and directed towards the development of the production sectors. Educational programmes also need support. Technical advice should be offered to the Government of Nicaragua, to help channel assistance from the international community more effectively.

A review of the refugee flows and the dislocations of people caused by oppression, persecution and armed conflict since World War II, this book also gives a first-hand account of the humanitarian efforts of governments, voluntary agencies and individuals in responding to these emergencies.

Refugee and Forced Migration Studies has grown from being a concern of a relatively small number of scholars and policy researchers in the 1980s to a global field of interest with thousands of students worldwide studying displacement either from traditional disciplinary perspectives or as a core component of newer programmes across the Humanities and Social and Political Sciences. Today the field encompasses both rigorous academic research which may or may not ultimately inform policy and practice, as well as action-research focused on advocating in favour of refugees' needs and rights. This authoritative Handbook critically evaluates the birth and development of Refugee and Forced Migration Studies, and analyses the key contemporary and future challenges faced by academics and practitioners working with and for forcibly displaced populations around the world. The 52 state-of-the-art chapters, written by leading academics, practitioners, and policymakers working in universities, research centres, think tanks, NGOs and international organizations, provide a comprehensive and cutting-edge overview of the key intellectual, political, social and institutional challenges arising from mass displacement in the world today. The chapters vividly illustrate the vibrant and engaging debates that characterize this rapidly expanding field of research and practice.