Involuntary migrants. An attempt of classification

We discuss here the various facets of a current subject, which has still not received due attention : forced mobility. This question is approached through the movements and displacements of population, which mark the recent history of migrations within the South. The author underlines first of all some of the criteria which give forced mobility a unique place in migratory phenomena; then, the categories of migrants, their significance and their recognition in the eyes of international law and migratory politics are examined. The construction of a typology of forced displacements according to the motives for leaving reveals the scope of this field of study.