Migration, Refugees, and Diaspora: The South Asian Focus

Abstract: Population mobility has been an important theme in understanding cross-cultural exchanges and developments in world history. Today, many observers see migration as one of the most acute and intractable problems facing the societies and countries of Asia - they point to the violence and coercion behind the creation of a footloose humanity, and to the ethical dilemmas of hospitality, exclusion, discrimination and boundary-making that migration presents. Migration studies have long moved beyond macro 'push and pull' factors to consider globalization, transnationalism, diasporas, identity issues, theories of home, locality, and cosmopolitanism, the politics of remittance economies, the social effects of single headed families and much more. A new dimension to this population movement came with exodus of refugees across nation state borders and overseas in the post-world war period.  The impact of migration from Asia is also felt in the rest of the world through the Asian diaspora living in many western countries that have emerged as a transmitter of culture and information. Few realize that the refugees constitute a large section of the Asian diaspora in the western countries including the United States. This paper will examine how the Refugees from South Asia (Indian, Pakistani, Burmese, Bhutanese, Tibetan, Sri Lankan) are transnational agents of a very different historical narrative as told in the history books. With the world getting smaller, with globalization and transnationalism, the key to understanding World History is to focus on population movements and their impact on the world. The study of migration and its related issues in South Asia creates a deeper understanding of the global trends and causes of migration, asylum and immigration policies, strengths and vulnerabilities of migrants and transnational communities in world history.