FORCED DISPLACEMENT IN INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL LAW

Forced displacement is one of the most pressing phenomena of our time. According to UNHCR data, the number of forcibly displaced persons worldwide increased from 18.2 million to 117.3 million between 1993 and 2024 – more than six times higher in thirty years. Despite the scale and severity of the phenomenon, forced displacement has rarely been examined as a specific and coherent object of analysis within international criminal law. Existing legal scholarship has either approached the subject from a wider human rights perspective or tended to focus on specific political, historical or geographical contexts, rather than on displacement as a category of international crimes. This thesis represents a modest attempt to begin filling that gap by examining the constitutive elements of forced displacement within international criminal law and analysing the conceptual and structural tensions that emerge when contemporary configurations of displacement are confronted with existing legal categories. The thesis addresses two central questions: what are the exact constitutive elements of the provisions governing forced displacement under the Rome Statute, and to what extent is the existing framework capable of capturing the diverse forms of displacement in contemporary contexts? The central argument is that international criminal law contains conceptual resources capable of addressing a wider spectrum of displacement practices than is commonly recognised. Prevailing doctrinal interpretations have often narrowed the scope of these crimes by associating them primarily with sudden episodes of mass expulsion and by insufficiently engaging with the structural power relations that shape displacement contexts. The thesis argues that the constitutive elements of crimes of displacement can only be adequately assessed when situated within the historical and political context in which displacement occurs, and in light of the power asymmetries that structure both the imposition of movement and the capacity to resist it. The study proceeds in three parts. Part One reconstructs the historical genealogy of displacement crimes, tracing the gradual crystallisation of the prohibition against forced removal through a series of conventional instruments and judicial developments, culminating in its codification under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court – the legal framework that represents the primary reference for the prosecution of displacement crimes today. Part Two turns to the normative analysis of displacement and examines their constitutive elements. The analysis covers the elements common across crimes of displacement – including the relevance of the cross-border element, the forced character of the conduct, the lawful exceptions, the required mens rea, and the possible qualification as continuing or continuous offences – as well as the elements that differentiate them, with special consideration given to Article 8(2)(b)(viii) of the Rome Statute. Part Three centres around what the thesis terms ‘complex systems of displacement’ – configurations in which the movement or containment of populations forms part of broader political projects. Three types of systems are identified – settler colonialism, ethnic cleansing, and pre-entry removal as part of contemporary migration governance – each illustrated through a dedicated case study drawn from the Mediterranean region: the Moroccan occupation of Western Sahara, the policies of ethnic cleansing enforced by Israel in Gaza (and more broadly Palestine), and the Italian system of interceptions at sea in the Central Mediterranean. The thesis adopts a critical legal methodology, combining historical, doctrinal and normative analysis, and drawing on insights developed within Third World Approaches to International Law (‘TWAIL’) scholarship. It proceeds from the conviction that rigorous doctrinal engagement and critical theoretical analysis are not mutually exclusive but mutually reinforcing: close attention to legal texts, jurisprudence and doctrinal debates gains analytical depth when situated within the historical, political and structural contexts that shape the production and interpretation of legal norms. This dual commitment informs the thesis's central ambition – to advance interpretations of displacement crimes that are both doctrinally grounded and responsive to the interests of communities most affected by forced displacement. By reconstructing the historical genealogy of displacement crimes, analysing their doctrinal elements, and examining their operation within complex systems of displacement, the thesis seeks to demonstrate both the interpretive possibilities and the structural limits of the current legal framework – and to contribute to a more coherent and responsive understanding of crimes of displacement within international criminal law.