Policy Brief No. 5 (2013) | Stranded Migrants
— May 5, 2013Growing numbers of people are migrating internationally, following increasingly complex (and sometimes clandestine) migration routes. This poses unique human rights and policy challenges for governments and intergovernmental agencies. Many migrants fall outside of the traditional classifications of “economic migrant,” “refugee,” and “asylum seeker”—definitions used to categorically determine what (if any) assistance or protection can be provided to them. The phenomenon of “mixed migration” has meant that some people fall into and out of such categories throughout the course of their migrations. Of particular concern to Migrant Forum in Asia (MFA) are those referred to as “stranded migrants”—migrants who become “stuck” in the course of their migration, either in transit or host countries.