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Refugee migration differs in several ways from other types of migration. To consider the migration of refugees one must first understand what distinguishes a refugee from an immigrant. There are numerous definitions of “refugee” in existence. The United Nations definition reads as follows:
In this definition, as well as in others, there is evidence of a number of distinctive characteristics that refugees often have. Most consider lack of the home government’s protection to be a common element in refugee migrations. Refugees are usually stateless, without home country, and often without citizenship. In addition, refugee migration is almost entirely a permanent movement. Very few return to their countries of origin; most remain in their receiving nation permanently. Finally, unlike other population movements, refugees often do not exhibit distinctive economic or social characteristics that indicate the search for opportunity or economic freedom. For example, most immigration to Canada prior to the World Wars consisted of lower or middle class individuals looking to improve their economic situation. Refugees who arrived during and after the Wars were often highly skilled, well educated, and had been well-off before the War. They were employed in professional and commercial occupations, and very few were labourers or servants.
The First World War saw a dramatic drop in the levels of immigration to North America. Hostilities in Europe effectively ended trans-Atlantic migration for the duration of the war. When the war ended immigration soon picked up once more, with many seeking to depart the war-torn nations of Eastern and Central Europe. However, anti-foreign sentiment ran high in Canada, and immigration policy was increasingly restrictive. Nonetheless, by the 1920’s labour shortages meant that Eastern and Central Europeans were able to immigrate to Canada with relative ease. This was a short-lived reprieve for those seeking to leave Europe, for when disaster struck in the form of the Great Depression, immigration was dramatically curtailed by the government.  Refugee movements of the Second World War were distinct from previous migrations in a variety of ways. One way in which this migration was distinct from earlier refugee movements was in its scale. Enormous numbers of people were fleeing a vast geographical area that was expanding rapidly, and migrating to areas scattered across the globe. A second difference was that unlike earlier migrations forced by persecution, such as the Puritans’ departure from England in the sixteenth century, the persecution in this case was racial rather than religious. This eliminated even the possibility of compromise for those who wished to remain. It was not practitioners of the Jewish faith who were targeted, but members of the Jewish race. Finally, the most striking distinction of this forced migration was that it became extremely difficult for the refugees to gain admittance to other nations. This unwillingness to accept refugees from Europe was prevalent in North America, with Canada, the United States, and nations of the Caribbean all reluctant to grant admittance.
During the Second World War, the United States, like Canada, treated many immigrants as ‘enemy aliens’. All aliens aged fourteen and up were required to register with the government. Immigrants and resident aliens were fingerprinted, certain activities were outlawed as subversive, and five new items were added to the possible causes for deportation. Japanese Americans were moved off the coast and into internment camps following Pearl Harbour, but few were required to remain there for the entire duration of the war. |
During the 1930s,
Canada employed a highly restrictive immigration policy.
Caused by widespread anti-immigration sentiment and the
economic hardships of the Great Depression, this policy was
used to reject refugees that sought to enter the nation. As
the possibility of Nazi power arose in Germany, and
eventually throughout Europe, many refugees attempted to
immigrate to Canada. However, they were refused by virtue of
a series of increasingly restrictive Immigration Acts that
had been passed earlier. The governments of Canada and the
United States would not consider the creation of a special
class of immigrants to be accepted on humanitarian grounds;
in short, there was no distinction to be made between
refugees and immigrants. In America, anyone entering the
country was classified either as immigrant or
non-immigrant/visitor. Anti-Semitism was widespread in the
western world at this time, and Canada was no exception. It
was especially evident in Quebec, where a surge of
French-Canadian nationalism combined with the heavy
influence of the Roman Catholic Church to increase
protectionist sentiment. Fear of Quebec’s separation further
encouraged the federal government to restrict Jewish
immigration, so as not to play into the hands of
separatists. One of the most shameful incidents of the
Second World War was the plight of over nine hundred Jewish
refugees who sailed aboard the S.S. St. Louis to North
America, were refused admission to ports in Cuba and the
United States, and were forced to return to Europe were
almost certain death awaited the majority of them. In Canada
over forty prominent Torontonians requested that the Prime
Minister, Mackenzie King, grant the refugees asylum, but
their request was refused.
Although
immigration policy in North America had long been anti-Asian
in nature, there were still thousands of Asians living on
the continent. With the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December
8th, 1941 and the entry of Japan into the Second World War,
the lives of Japanese living in Canada and the United States
changed dramatically. Suddenly, the Japanese had ceased to
be citizens in the eyes of North American governments and
were now enemies. The Canadian government immediately
ordered all Japanese fishing boats on the West Coast
impounded, and began the registration of all Japanese
Canadians with the RCMP. By February of 1942 the government
had ordered the expulsion of 22,000 Japanese from a stretch
of the Pacific Coast. Thus began the disenfranchisement and
internment of Canada’s Japanese citizens. Most were forced
into detention camps, the majority of which were located in
the interior of British Colombia, and forced to remain there
until the end of the war.
