‘The Fleeing People of South Asia' - Book Announcement

[Anthem Press]

‘The Fleeing People of South Asia: Selections from Refugee Watch’ Edited by Sibaji Pratim Basu
ISBN: 9788190583572; List Price: £60.00 / $100.00.
Available for sale at a discount on www.amazon.co.uk or www.amazon.com.

The history of human civilizations is also the history of human displacements. From ancient times to the contemporary age, every year millions of people flee from their homes and lands in the face of imminent persecution for physical, social and cultural traits, which they cannot control, or exercising their religious or political beliefs. Large-scale 'development' projects as well as natural calamities have also caused large-scale displacements followed by ill-managed rehabilitation regimes. As a result, over one percent of the world’s total population today consists of refugees and internally displaced persons. South Asia is the fourth largest refugee producing region in the world. There is a close link between state formation and forced migration in this region. Ethnic violence, development work, natural calamities and climatic changes also make people, especially the indigenous ones, flee and settle in extremely unbearable new and foreign conditions. Women and children constitute the bulk of the displaced population. ‘Refugee Watch’, in its decade-long 30-volume journey, has sought to capture the agony, tension and struggle of the refugees and internally displaced in South Asia in its different dimensions. The present ‘Selections’ are a sincere attempt to grasp the multi-dimensionality of the journal within two covers. The book is a must-read for all academics and activists engaged with refugee studies and human rights.

Dr Sibaji Pratim Basu teaches Political Science at Sree Chaitanya College, Calcutta University. A regular contributor to academic journals/books as well as popular dailies, periodicals and news channels, he specializes in modern Indian political thought. He also takes keen interest in issues on forced migration in contemporary South Asia. His forthcoming book is ‘The Poet and the Mahatma: Engagement with Nationalism and Internationalism’.