Exile

We explain what exile is, the types that exist and its various causes. Also, political exile and exile in the Bible.

What is exile?

Exile or expatriation is the separation, voluntary or forced, of a person from the land to which he belongs generally produced for political, economic or survival reasons. When it comes to a penalty of expulsion applied to a person or group, the term exile is also often used.

On the other hand, one can speak of exile as a place (“those who live in exile”) or even as the community of exiles from a nation. It is also common to use the term “exile” as a synonym for refugee.

Exile occurred throughout history, from ancient times to the present day. In many cases, exile is due to changes in the political power structure that cause the expulsion or execution of the representatives of the overthrown regime. This situation is especially common in cases where dictatorships or repressive regimes are established (such as Francoism in Spain in 1939).

Other common form of exile is that which occurs for economic reasons when many people escape a country or region due to conditions of misery or hunger (such as Cuba during the “special period” of the 1990s).

• See also: Migration

Types of exile

Exile can occur in different ways, for different reasons and under different conditions, so that the following categories can be distinguished:

• External exile. It is the deportation, expulsion or emigration of citizens from their own country, generally due to political reasons, as it is usually due to the actions or threats of the government in power. In some cases, they are received as refugees in other countries.
• Internal exile. It is exile in which the individual does not change country, but rather location within the country itself (for example, for reasons of forced resettlement). It is most frequently applied to cases of artistic silencing, political cancellation or censorship that apply to individuals who continue to live in the country but have ideas contrary to the prevailing political regime.
• Voluntary exile. It is a self-imposed exile, in which the individual chooses to leave their homeland for different reasons, knowing that they will not be able to return.
• Forced exile or banishment. It is the penalty imposed by a government on an individual or group that consists of expelling them from their country. When it involves confinement or forced resettlement in a specific place, it is often called deportation.
• Diaspora. It is the exile of large numbers of people, whether voluntary (such as migrants for economic reasons) or forced (such as those displaced for political or ethnic reasons). It is especially associated with the historical exile of Jewish populations.

Political exile

Exile for political reasons is perhaps the most frequent in history. It occurs in those cases in which one or more people must leave a territory due to a radical or violent change in power the system of government or the dominant ideology, especially when this leads to non-democratic regimes. It can also occur due to failed uprising attempts or other political conflicts.

However, political exile often implies the existence of two points of view. So, It is possible that an exile is politically persecuted a person who is being unjustly accused in his or her country by his or her adversaries in the exercise of power; or it could be a person who really committed crimes in his country and took refuge in another to escape justice, as happened with some dictators and those responsible for crimes against humanity or with officials suspected of cases of corruption.

The task of distinguishing one case from another (and therefore granting or not granting the right to asylum) always corresponds to the host country and depends largely on the agreements signed with the homeland of the exile.

Exile in history

Exile has a long history. For example, in ancient times The worst punishments for Greek citizens were execution or exile (a penalty known as ostracism). In fact, tradition has it that when the Athenian philosopher Socrates (470-399 BC) was put on trial and found guilty, he preferred death by ingesting poison rather than exile.

The exiles were generally princes, rulers and politicians who had fallen into disgrace like the Roman general Scipio Africanus (236-183 BC), who was accused by his opponents of treason and corruption, and opted for voluntary exile. This type of situation also appears in ancient myths and epic texts, such as the case of the king of Thebes, Oedipus, in Greek mythology, or of prince Rama in the Ramayana of the Hindu tradition.

In the Contemporary Age, One of the most famous exiles was that of the French general and emperor Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821). After being defeated militarily in 1814, he abdicated and went into exile on the island of Elba. However, he returned to France in 1815 and regained power for one hundred days. He was defeated at the Battle of Waterloo and permanently exiled to the island of Saint Helena, where he died in 1821.

In the 20th century, an example of exile for political reasons occurred at the end of the Spanish civil war (1936-1939), when thousands of Spaniards persecuted by the Franco regime emigrated to different countries from America and Europe. It also occurred in Cuba after the implementation of communism, to which was added exile for economic reasons, especially during the so-called “special period”, in the 1990s, when many Cubans took to the sea on rafts in the hope of exile. in the United States to escape hunger and poverty.

Exile in the Bible and in the history of the Jewish people

In biblical stories, exile is called the forced departure of the Hebrew people from Jerusalem around the year 586 BC. c since the city was conquered by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II.

The Babylonians They massively expelled many Jews from their lands and took them prisoners to Babylon which in the Bible is interpreted as a divine punishment to the Jewish people who had given themselves over to idolatry and sin. This period is commonly known as the “Babylonian captivity.” Later, when the Persians conquered Babylon (539 BC), King Cyrus allowed the Jews to return to their homeland, ending the exile (537 BC).

However, this was not the only occasion in which Jews suffered forced emigration. Previously, in 722 BC. C., the Assyrians had conquered the kingdom of Samaria in the north and deported many of its inhabitants.

Later, the Romans suppressed a Jewish revolt that began in 66 AD. C., took Jerusalem and destroyed its temple in 70 AD. C., which caused a new exile. This was aggravated after the rebellion led by the Jewish leader Bar Kochba (132-135), which was suppressed by the Romans and included the forced resettlement of many Jews to the far reaches of the Roman Empire and even beyond the eastern border. This exile considerably increased the number of people who made up the so-called Jewish diaspora (the set of Jewish populations dispersed throughout different parts of the world).

Other important migrations took place later, such as the Ashkenazi (Jews settled in central and eastern Europe) and Sephardic (Jews expelled from the Iberian Peninsula) diasporas during the Middle Ages and the Modern Age.

References

• Abbott, G. (2023). Exile and banishment. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/
• Berg, N.E., & Saperstein, R.M. (2024). Exile and the Jews. Literature, History, and Identity. The Jewish Publication Society.
• Rogerson, J. (1993). The Bible. Land, history and culture of sacred texts. Folio.
• UNHCR-UNHCR (sf). Exile and exile, what do they mean? UNHCR-UNHCR. https://eacnur.org/