This thesis builds upon the etiology of forced migration studies. It contributes to the field in three specific ways. First, by using a global database that is not limited to OECD countries; second, by observing the last twenty years, which is also the most migrant intense period in human history; third, by operationalizing human rights violations as an independent variable. I conduct statistical analyses using fixed effects least squares, on a pooled cross-sectional time-series data set, consisting of data from 175 countries for the years 1995–2014. My findings contradict two recent studies that have suggested that the reasons behind forced migration have changed since the end of the Cold War. Rather, the results of this study support the conclusion that threats against personal integrity causes people to leave their homes. International violence on the own nations territory as a threat to the personal integrity, civil violence as a threat to the personal integrity and dissident violence as a threat to the personal integrity all have statistical significant effects on refugee populations. I conclude the thesis by suggesting several areas that should be of great interest for further research.