Deportation is the expulsion of a person or group of people by a state from its sovereign territory. The actual definition changes depending on the place and context, and it also changes over time.Jean-Marie Henckaerts in his book Mass Expulsion in Modern International Law and Practice wrote: As far as deportation is concerned, there is no general feature that clearly sets it apart from expulsion. Both term basically indicate the same phenomenon. ... The only difference seems to be one of preferential use, expulsion being more an international term while deportation is more used in municipal law. ... One study [discusses this distinction] but immediately adds that in modern practice both terms have become interchangeable. See A person who has been deported or is under sentence of deportation is called a deportee.
Definition Definitions of deportation vary: some include "transfer beyond State borders" (distinguishing it from forcible transfer), others consider it "the actual implementation of [an expulsion] order in cases where the person concerned does not follow it voluntarily". Others differentiate removal of legal immigrants (expulsion) from illegal immigrants (deportation).
Deportation in the most general sense, in accordance with International Organization for Migration, treats expulsion and deportation as synonyms in the context of migration, adding:
"The terminology used at the domestic or international level on expulsion and deportation is not uniform but there is a clear tendency to use the term expulsion to refer to the legal order to leave the territory of a State, and removal or deportation to refer to the actual implementation of such order in cases where the person concerned does not follow it voluntarily."W. Kälin, "Aliens, Expulsion and Deportation" in R. Wolfrum (ed) Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law (2014).
According to the European Court of Human Rights, collective expulsion is any measure compelling non-nationals, as a group, to leave a country, except where such a measure is taken on the basis of a reasonable and objective examination of the particular case of each individual non-national of the group. Mass expulsion may also occur when members of an ethnic group are sent out of a state regardless of nationality. Collective expulsion, or expulsion en masse, is prohibited by several instruments of international law.
History Antiquity Expulsions occurred in ancient history. They were well-recorded particularly in ancient Mesopotamia. The kingdoms of Israel and Judah faced several forced expulsions, including deportations by the Neo-Assyrian Empire following the fall of Israel and during Sennacherib's campaign in the 8th century BC. Later, the Neo-Babylonian Empire deported much of the Judean population upon conquering Judah in 597 BC and 587 BC.
Deportation in the Achaemenid Empire Deportation was practiced as a policy toward rebellious people in Achaemenid Empire. The precise legal status of the deportees is unclear; but ill-treatment is not recorded. Instances include:A. Shapur Shahbazi, Erich Kettenhofen, John R. Perry, VII/3, pp. 297–312, available online at (accessed on 30 December 2012). + Deportations in the Achaemenid Empire Deported people Deported to Deporter 6,000 Egyptians (including the king Amyrtaeus and many artisans) Susa Cambyses II Barcaeans A village in Bactria Darius I Paeonians of Thrace Sardes, Asia Minor (later returned) Darius I Milesians Ampé, on the mouth of Tigris near the Persian Gulf Darius I Carians and Sitacemians Babylonia Eretrians Ardericca in Susiana Darius I Beotians Tigris region Sidonian prisoners of war Susa and Babylon Artaxerxes III Jews who supported the Sidonian revolt Hyrcania Artaxerxes III
Deportation in the Parthian Empire Unlike in the Achaemenid and Sassanian periods, records of deportation are rare during the Arsacid Parthian period. One notable example was the deportation of the Mards in Charax, near Ray by Phraates I. The 10,000 Roman prisoners of war after the Battle of Carrhae appear to have been deported to Merv near the eastern border in 53 BC, who are said to married to local people. It is hypothesized that some of them founded the Chinese city of Liqian after becoming soldiers for the Xiongnu tribe, but this is doubted.
Hyrcanus II, the Jewish king of Jerusalem, was settled among the Jews of Babylon in Parthia after being taken as captive by the Parthian-Jewish forces in 40 BC.
Roman POWs in the Antony's Parthian War may have suffered deportation.
Deportation in the Sasanian empire
Deportation was widely used by the Sasanians, especially during the wars with the Romans.
During Shapur I's reign, the Romans (including Valerian) who were defeated at the Battle of Edessa were deported to Persis. Other destinations were Parthia, Khuzestan, and Asorestan. There were cities which were founded and were populated by Romans prisoners of war, including Shadh-Shapur (Dayr Mikhraq) in Meshan, Bishapur in Persis, Wuzurg-Shapur (Ukbara; Marw-Ḥābūr), and Gundeshapur. Agricultural land were also given to the deportees. These deportations initiated the spread Christianity in the Sassanian empire. In Rēw-Ardashīr (Rishahr; Yarānshahr), Persis, there was a church for the Romans and another one for Carmanians. Their hypothesized decisive role in the spread of Christianity in Persia and their major contribution to Persian economy has been recently criticized by Mosig-Walburg (2010). In the mid-3rd century, Greek-speaking deportees from north-western Syria were settled in Kashkar, Mesopotamia.
After the Arab incursion into Persia during Shapur II's reign, he scattered the defeated Arab tribes by deporting them to other regions. Some were deported to Bahrain and Kirman, possibly to both populate these unattractive regions (due to their climate) and bringing the tribes under control.
In 395 AD 18,000 Roman populations of Sophene, Armenia, Mesopotamia, Syria, and Cappadocia were captured and deported by the "Huns". the prisoners were freed by the Persians as they reached Persia, and were settled in Slōk (Wēh Ardashīr) and Kōkbā (Kōkhē). The author of the text Liber Calipharum has praised the king Yazdegerd I (399–420) for his treatment of the deportees, who also allowed some to return.
Major deportations occurred during the Anastasian War, including Kavad I's deportation of the populations of Theodosiopolis and Amida to Arrajan (Weh-az-Amid Kavad).
Major deportations occurred during the campaigns of Khosrau I from the Roman cities of Sura, Beroea, Antioch, Apamea, Callinicum, and Batnai in Osrhoene, to Wēh-Antiyōk-Khosrow (also known as Rūmagān; in Arabic: al-Rūmiyya). The city was founded near Ctesiphon especially for them, and Khosrow reportedly "did everything in his power to make the residents want to stay". The number of the deportees is recorded to be 292,000 in another source.
Middle Ages
The Medieval European age was marked with several large religious deportations, including that of Christians, Jews and Muslims. For instance, the Almoravid deported Christians from Spain to Morocco, with mass deportations taking place in 1109, 1126, 1130 and 1138.
Modern deportation With the beginning of the Age of Discovery, deporting individuals to an overseas colony also became common practice. As early as the 16th century, degredados formed a substantial portion of early colonists in Portuguese empire.Russell-Wood (1998: p. 106–107) From 1717 onward Britain deported around 40,000 British religious objectors and "criminals" to America before the practice ceased in 1776.Daniels, Coming to America: A History of Immigration and Ethnicity in American Life, 2002 Jailers sold the "criminals" to shipping contractors, who then sold them to plantation owners. The "criminals" worked for the plantation owner for the duration of their sentence. After Britain lost control of the area which became the United States, Australia became the destination for "criminals" deported to British colonies. Britain transported more than 160,000 British "criminals" to the Australian colonies between 1787 and 1855.McCaffray and Melancon, p. 171.
Meanwhile, in Japan during Sakoku, all Portuguese and Spanish people were expelled from the country.
In the 18th century the Tipu Sultan, of Mysore, deported tens of thousands of civilians, from lands he had annexed, to serve as slave labour in other parts of his empire, for example the: Captivity of Mangalorean Catholics at Seringapatam.
In the late 19th century the United States of America began designating "desired" and "undesired" immigrants, leading to the birth of illegal immigration and subsequent deportation of immigrants when found in irregular situations. Starting with the Chinese Exclusion Act, the US government has since deported more than 55 million immigrants, the majority of whom came from Latin-American countries.
At the beginning of the 20th century the control of immigration began becoming common practice, with the Immigration Restriction Act 1901 in Australia, the Aliens Act 1905 in the United KingdomDavid Rosenberg, 'Immigration' on the Channel 4 website and the Continuous journey regulation of 1908 in Canada, elevating the deportation of "illegal" immigrants to a global scale.
In the meantime, deportation of "regular residents" also increased.
United States
In the 1930s, during the Great Depression, more stringent enforcement of immigration laws were ordered by the executive branch of the U.S. government, which led to increased deportation and repatriation to Mexico. In the 1930s, during the Great Depression, between 355,000 and 2 million Mexicans and Mexican Americans were deported or repatriated to Mexico, an estimated 40 to 60% of whom were U.S. citizens – overwhelmingly children. At least 82,000 Mexicans were formally deported between 1929 and 1935 by the government. Voluntary repatriations were more common than deportations.McKay, "The Federal Deportation Campaign in Texas: Mexican Deportation from the Lower Rio Grande Valley During the Great Depression", Borderlands Journal, Fall 1981; Balderrama and Rodriguez, Decade of Betrayal: Mexican Repatriation in the 1930s, 1995; Valenciana, "Unconstitutional Deportation of Mexican Americans During the 1930s: A Family History and Oral History", Multicultural Education, Spring 2006.