Forced Migration and Health Justice

Abstract Much has been written about migration and health. Absent until now, has been a book that directly addresses forced migration, health, ethics, and justice. Forced Migration and Health Justice focuses on migrants who had to flee, either by force or because remaining in their original home became impossible. Organized to map migrant journeys, the first three parts—“Forced to Flee,” “Detention and Encampment,” and “‘Host’ Countries”—follow routes of forcible displacement, analyzing cultural norms, policies, and institutional structures thwarting health justice for forced migrants. This collection is inspired by Iris Marion Young’s account of structural injustice, centering the barriers present in people’s home countries, in transit, in ostensibly humanitarian settings, and in destination countries. We see this as a potent analytical framework for understanding how social and institutional norms, economic and environmental policies, stereotypes, legal practices, and more function as an apparatus making flourishing lives nearly impossible for forced migrants. The book’s final section, “Responsibilities for Justice,” offers arguments for responsibilities of governments, international organizations, health professionals, and civil society. Also included is an appendix containing compacts and conventions related to migrant health. This book will appeal to wide audiences: advanced undergraduates and graduates in health sciences and ethics, the humanities, social sciences; health scholars seeking a high-level introduction to health, migration, and justice; non-academics with related interests; and other professionals working with migrants in public health sectors and in international law or health policy. Indeed, this book will be useful and motivating for everyone concerned with migration, displacement, and their myriad injustices.