Refugees as weapons

"Refugees as weapons" is a term used to describe a hostile government organizing, or threatening to organize, a sudden influx of refugees into another country or political entity with the intent of causing political disturbances in that entity.[1] The responsible country (or sometimes a non-state actor) usually seeks to extract concessions from the targeted country and achieve some political, military, and/or economic objective.[2]

The United States military U.S. Army Center for Army Lessons Learned released a handbook entitled "Commander's Guide to Support Operations Among Weaponized Displaced Persons, Refugees, and Evacuees". The handbook provides a basic overview of considerations and methods of reaction should CBRN warfare be executed using dislocated civilians.[3]

  1. ^ Greenhill, Kelly (21 April 2011). "Using Refugees as Weapons". The New York Times. Retrieved 20 August 2019.
  2. ^ Steger, Nathan D. (2017). THE WEAPONIZATION OF MIGRATION: EXAMINING MIGRATION AS A 21st CENTURY TOOL OF POLITICAL WARFARE (PDF). MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA: NAVAL POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL. p. 6. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 31, 2019. Retrieved 20 August 2019.
  3. ^ Department of the Army, Commander's Guide to Support Operations Among Weaponized Displaced Persons, Refugees, and Evacuees, Center for Army Lessons Learned, 14 no. 10 (August 2014): 3-8