Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-r6qrq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-26T04:52:50.268Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Repatriation: Under What Conditions Is It the Most Desirable Solution for Refugees? An Agenda for Research1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 May 2014

Barbara E. Harrell-Bond
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

…What excites me…is the presence of refugees amongst us who have arrived here straight from refugee camps. It strikes me as quite extraordinary that we should be hailing this as such an innovation. But innovation it is. I would hope that experts will never again have the effrontery to sit down together to discuss refugees without refugees being present, but I doubt it. Refugee work remains, perhaps, the last bastion of the ultra-paternalistic approach to aid and development. It is hard to think of another area where the blinkered nonsense of the “we know what's best for them” approach survives so unchallenged.

Mark Malloch-Brown, as quoted in Harrell-Bond and Karadawi (1984)

I believe that if you want political action, you must get governments together. Their deliberations will be the springboard for action. In my opinion, it is quite unrealistic to expect them to meet together with individual refugees (or groups representing refugees) and NGOs [non-governmental organizations]. Where the adoption of recommendations for political action is concerned, it does not work like that. Eagles don't consort with sparrows. It's a law of nature.

Anon.

…Thanks for your copy of the [above] letter. Eagles: birds of prey, prone to wander alone, high above the world of everyday events, remote, lofty and unadapted to human civilisation. Sparrows: friendly, sunny, engaged birds, spending time in social intercourse, feet on the ground, contributing to variety of life and human happiness.

Of the three “durable” solutions to refugee situations—voluntary repatriation, integration, and resettlement—the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) proclaims voluntary repatriation to be the most desirable.

Type
Articles
Information
African Studies Review , Volume 32 , Issue 1 , April 1989 , pp. 41 - 70
Copyright
Copyright © African Studies Association 1989

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

1.

I would like to thank the many people who read and commented on this paper at different stages of writing. They include Ahmed Karadawi, Patricia Daley, Professor Art Hansen, Dr. Roger Zetter, Belinda Allen, Stephanie Grant, Professor Gil Loescher, Dr. Maknun Gamaledin-Ashami, and Antony Polaso. I am particularly grateful to Sally Baden, my research assistant, for her bibliographical work.

References

REFERENCES

Khan, Aga, Sadruddin, Prince. 1981. “Study on Human Rights and Massive Exoduses.” UN Economic and Social Council, Commission on Human Rights, 31 December.Google Scholar
Akol, J.O. 1986. “Case Studies of Some Affected Rural Communities in Southern Sudan.” University of Manitoba: Ph.D. Thesis.Google Scholar
Baker, R. (ed.) 1983. The Psychosocial Problems of Refugees. London: British Refugee Council/European Consultation on Refugees and Exiles.Google Scholar
Berman, E.H. 1984. The Influence of the Carnegie, Ford and Rockefeller Foundations on U.S. Foreign Policy 1945-75: The Ideology of Philanthropy. New York: State University of New York.Google Scholar
Billard, A. 1987. “Somalia: Repatriation or Integration: Interview with Guy Prim.” Refugees, November.Google Scholar
Boshyk, Y. 1988. “Ukrainian Refugees and Displaced Persons in Occupied Germany and Austria, 1945-48,” in Bramwell, A. (ed.) 1988. Refugees in the Era of Total War: Twentieth Century Case Studies of Refugees in Europe and the Middle East. Allen Hyman.Google Scholar
Buckoke, A. 1988. “Tidal Wave of Refugees Soon to Hit Dusty Sudan Haven.” London Times. 29 September.Google Scholar
Chambers, R. 1979. “Rural Refugees in Africa: What the Eye Does Not See.” Disasters 3/4: 381–92.Google Scholar
Chambers, R. 1983. Rural Development: Putting the Last First. New York: Longman.Google Scholar
Clark, D.L. and Stein, B. 1984. “Documentary Note: The Relationship Between ICARA II and Refugee Aid and Development.” Washington: Refugee Policy Group: 16 November.Google Scholar
Clay, J.W. and Holcomb, B.K. 1985. “Politics and the Ethiopian Famine 1984-5.” Cultural Survival Occasional Paper No. 20: December.Google Scholar
Coles, G. 1985. “Voluntary Repatriation: A Background Study.” Prepared for the Round Table on Voluntary Repatriation, UNHCR/IIHL, San Remo, 16-19 July 1985.Google Scholar
Colson, E. and Scudder, T. 1982. “From Welfare to Development: A Conceptual Framework for the Analysis of Dislocated People,” pp. 267–88 in Hansen, A. and Oliver-Smith, A. (eds.) Involuntary Migration and Resettlement: The Problems and Responses of Dislocated People. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press.Google Scholar
Crisp, J. 1984. “Voluntary Repatriation Programmes for African Refugees: A Critical Examination.” Refugee Issues, BRC/QEH Working Papers on Refugees, 1/2: December.Google Scholar
Cuny, F.C. and Stein, B.N. 1988. “Prospects for and Promotion of Spontaneous Repatriation,” in Loescher, G. (ed.) 1988. The Question of Refugees in International Relations. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Daley, P. 1987. “Forced Repatriation of Burundi Refugees From Tanzania.” Oxford: Refugee Studies Programme: April.Google Scholar
De Voe, D.M. 1981. “Framing Refugees as Clients.” International Migration Review: Special Issue “Refugees Today” 15/1–2: 88–94.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
De Waal, A. 1987. “The Sanity Factor.” Unpublished: Refugee Studies Programme.Google Scholar
Eisenbruch, M. 1988. “Uprooting and Cultural Bereavement: Loss of Past and Self Among Cambodian Youth Without Families.” Unpublished manuscript: Department of Child and Family Psychiatry, Royal Children's Hospital, Flemington Rd., Parkville, Victoria, 3052, Australia.Google Scholar
Erickson, E.H. 1964. Insight and Responsibility. New York: W.W. Norton and Company.Google Scholar
Francis, R. 1986. “Survival Strategies of Eritrean and Ethiopian Refugees in Deim, Khartoum.” University of Oxford, Geography Department: Unpublished Undergraduate Dissertation: Refugee Studies Programme.Google Scholar
Frelick, B. 1987. “Death in a Boxcar Bound for Ethiopia,” Asian Wall Street Journal. September 3: 8.Google Scholar
Gordenker, L. 1987. Refugees in International Politics. New York: Croom Helm.Google Scholar
Grahl-Madsen, A. 1980. Territorial Asylum. Stockholm: Almqvist and Wishell.Google Scholar
Hansen, A. 1979. “Managing Refugees: Zambia's Response to Angolan Refugees 1966–77.” Disasters 3/4: 375–80.Google Scholar
Hansen, A. 1981. “Refugee Dynamics: Angolans in Zambia 1966–72.” International Migration Review 15/53–4: 175–94.Google Scholar
Harrell-Bond, B.E. 1985. “Humanitarianism in a Straitjacket.” African Affairs, 84/1: January.Google Scholar
Harrell-Bond, B.E., and Dunbar-Ortiz, R. 1987. “Who Protects the Human Rights of Refugees?” Africa Today 34/1–2: 105–25.Google Scholar
Harrell-Bond, B.E., Hussein, K., and Matlou, P. 1988. “Contemporary Refugees in Africa: A Problem of the State.” in Moroney, S. (ed.) 1988. Africa: A Handbook. Facts on File Publications.Google Scholar
Harrell-Bond, B.E., and Kanyeihamba, G. 1986. “Returnees and Refugees.” EEC Mission to Uganda: November.Google Scholar
Harrell-Bond, B.E., and Karadawi, A. 1984. “But Will It Be Just Another Ripple in the Pool?” Disasters 3/4: 254–62.Google Scholar
Hocke, J.P. 1986. “Beyond Humanitarianism: The Need for Political Will to Resolve Today's Refugee Problem,” Inaugural Joyce Pearce Memorial Lecture, Refugee Studies Programme, QEH, Oxford, 29 October.Google Scholar
Holborn, L.W. 1975. Refugees: A Problem of Our Time. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press.Google Scholar
Independent Commission on International Humanitarian Issues. 1985. Famine: A Man-Made Disaster? New York: Vintage.Google Scholar
Jaeger, G. 1985. “Study of Irregular Movements of Asylum Seekers and Refugees.” Geneva: Working Group on Irregular Movements of Asylum Seekers and Refugees.Google Scholar
Jonas, M. 1988. “An Interview with Nuruddin Farah.” Journal of Refugee Studies 1/1.Google Scholar
“Kampala Agrees to Return of Refugees.” 1988. London Times, 17 March.Google Scholar
Kibreab, G. 1983. Reflections of the African Refugee Problem: A Critical Analysis of Some Basic Assumptions.” Uppsala: Scandinavian Institute of African Studies: Research Report 67.Google Scholar
Kostanick, H.L. 1957. Turkish Resettlement of Bulgarian Turks: 1950–53. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Kuhlman, T., el-Din, S., el-Shazali, Ibrahim, and Kok, W. 1987. “Final Report of the Research Project ‘Eritreans in Kassala.’” University of Khartoum/Free University of Amsterdam.Google Scholar
Kursany, I. 1985. “Eritrean Refugees in Kassala Province of Eastern Sudan: An Economic Assessment.” Refugee Issues 2/1: October 1985.Google Scholar
Loescher, G. (ed.) 1988. The Question of Refugees in International Relations. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Moroney, S. (ed.) 1988. Africa: A Handbook. Facts on File Publications.Google Scholar
Neussner, O. 1988. “The Security of Ethiopian Refugees in Djibouti.” Unpublished manuscript: Refugee Studies Programme, Queen Elizabeth House, Oxford University.Google Scholar
Potichnyj, P.J. 1987. ‘“Akeja Wisla’—The Forcible Repatriation of the Ukranian Population in Poland.” Paper prepared for the Conference on Forcible Repatriation After World War II, Oxford University, Oxford, 20-22 March.Google Scholar
Queen Elizabeth House Symposium. 1984. “Giving Refugees a Voice.” Disasters 3/4, London: International Disaster Institute, March.Google Scholar
Ramaga, P. 1985. “The Limits of Refugee Protection Policy in the Sudan, with Particular Reference to Yei River District, Equatoria Region.” Refugee Issues 1/4: July.Google Scholar
Refuge. 1987. Special Issue on “Refugees and War in Africa: The Failure of Development.” 6/4: May.Google Scholar
Refugee Studies Programme. 1987. “The Directory of Current Research on Refugees and Other Forced Migrants.” Oxford: RSP.Google Scholar
Ruiz, H. 1987. When Refugees Won't Go Home: The Dilemma of Chadians in the Sudan. U.S. Committee for Refugees.Google Scholar
Salt, J. 1987. “Contemporary Trends in International Migration Study.” International Migration Review 25/3: September: 241–50.Google Scholar
Schultheis, M.J. 1983. “Refugees: The Structure of a Global Justice Issue.” Washington: Center of Concern, Occasional Paper, July.Google Scholar
Shackenove, J. 1985. “Who is a Refugee?” Ethics 99: January.Google Scholar
Stein, B.N. 1986. “Durable Solutions for Developing Country Refugees.” International Migration Review 20/2: 264–82.Google Scholar
Tandon, Y. 1984. “Ugandan Refugees in Kenya: A Community of Enforced Self-Reliance.” Disasters 3/4: 267–71.Google Scholar
Ulsfax, T. 1986. “An Anatomy of a Relief Operation.” Paper given at RSP Seminar: November 12.Google Scholar
UNHCR. 1986. “Special Programme of Immediate Relief Assistance and Help Towards Reintegration of Ugandan Returnees from Sudan and Zaire.” Geneva.Google Scholar
UNHCR. 1987. “Voluntary Repatriation: Principles and Guidelines for Action.” Inter-Office Memorandum No. 5, 10 February.Google Scholar
Van Krieken, P. 1987. “The Southern Sudan and Repatriation of Refugees: A Legalistic View.” Unpublished manuscript: Refugee Study Programme.Google Scholar
Waldron, S.R. 1987. “Blaming the Refugees.” Refugee Issues 3/3: April.Google Scholar
Wilsher, P. 1983. “Come to Our Repatriation Clinic.” London Sunday Times, 25 September.Google Scholar
Woodford, T. 1988. “U.N. Refugee Magazine is Burnt ‘To Appease the West Germans.’” The Guardian, 3 January.Google Scholar
Zetter, R. 1987. “Rehousing the Greek-Cypriot Refugees from 1974: A Study of Institutional Access and Labelling.” University of Sussex, Ph.D. thesis.Google Scholar
Zucker, N., and Zucker, N. Flink. 1987. The Guarded Gate: The Reality of American Refugee Policy. San Diego, California: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.Google Scholar