Debates on immigration in political philosophy often regard refugees as a distinct class of migrants who deserve special treatment. In recent years there have been calls to expand the special provisions we think refugees deserve to include the broader category of forced migrants. In so doing, additional driving factors beyond political persecution have been incorporated. However, the term ‘forced migration’ is in the centre of some political and scholarly disputes revolving around the question of its definition. In this paper I argue that ‘forced migration’ is a normative term and not merely a descriptive one. I use List and Valentini’s (Valentini 2011; List and Valentini 2012/13) conception of ‘freedom as independence’ to define different types of migration based on the extent and source of the restriction of agents’ freedoms. I then show how this new understating of forced migration is tied to different positions regarding global justice and immigration.
