Making markets: the historical development of the refugee regime

Human movement from conflict and the desire for different livelihoods have been abiding features of most social orders. Yet, the categorisation of people as refugees and specific international refugee laws and welfare programmes is a recent endeavour. This chapter looks at the key factors driving the international refugee regime’s expansion. It argues that the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has played a central role in this regard, advancing categorisations of displaced persons in refugee terms to ensure its survival and growth over the years. By tracing the historical development of the refugee regime, we can better understand how the control of human movement has become constituted in ways that foster organisational growth and geopolitical legitimacy, under the authority of humanitarianism.