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Refugee return and state building: is the international community learning?

The return of refugee populations has become a fundamental objective of UN state building. As conflict-ridden nations attempt to rebuild, how should the international community combine refugee resettlement with the promotion of responsible governance? What can Afghanistan’s tortuous history of attempted state formation and refugee repatriation teach us about the difficulties?

Research by the University of Oxford’s Refugee Studies Centre looks at the relationship between refugee repatriation and state building. Examining how lessons learned from previous refugee return and state building initiatives can be applied in Afghanistan, it reminds humanitarian actors that the creation of a functional state and active civil society requires time, patience and resources.

The UN first tried its hand at governance in Cambodia and in recent years has set up interim authorities in Bosnia, Kosovo and East Timor in which a UN Special Representative has assumed total executive and legislative authority. In Afghanistan, by contrast, its mandate is advisory, representing the trend for the UN to separate peacekeeping enforcement (using troops from willing member states) from state building initiatives.

Should refugees who refuse to go home lose their refugee status? The report is concerned that repatriation has now become an end in itself. On the day of East Timor’s independence it was announced that by the end of 2002, the 50 000 refugees remaining in Indonesian West Timor would lose their refugee status. This blurs the line between voluntary and forced repatriation and raises doubts about the status of those Afghans who chose not to return home.

The UNHCR and other humanitarian actors routinely promote community participation and an increased role for non-governmental organisations (NGOs). NGOs have been created externally without ensuring their accountability or sustainability. They come under enormous pressure to put into practice projects that are beyond their capacity to sustain. Little effort is devoted to training or capacity building or even to promote the concept of an NGO in states with no previous idea of civil society.

The report refers to evidence that:

poor repatriation planning and hasty promises to returnees – as occurred in Cambodia – can lead to internal displacement and instability
relief-development planning still lacks institutional co-operation among UN agencies
returnee programmes that neglect rural areas and do nothing to combat urban bias lead to the ongoing vulnerability of returnee communities and have widespread destabilising effects
setting up new state structures takes much longer than initial post-repatriation and reintegration phases.

Experience in Guatemala and Peru shows that the return of displaced people can help promote new notions of civil participation and good governance. Repatriation can have a positive effect if targeted interventions assist returnee settlements in urban areas and villages. The report urges agencies working in post-conflict situations to:

use local knowledge to ensure that information available to planners and returning refugees is accurate
ask themselves whether they are really building capacity through local partnerships or looking for service providers to meet their short-term objectives
commit more resources and time to help civil society organisations to play stabilising roles
recognise the dangers of pressuring states to take back its expelled citizens before there is an enabling environment.

Source(s):
‘Refugee return and state reconstruction: a comparative analysis’, New Issues in Refugee Research, Working Paper 66, Evaluation and Policy Analysis Unit, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), by Sarah Petrin, 2002 Full document.

id21 Research Highlight: 12 June 2003

Further Information:
Evaluation and Policy Analysis Unit (EPAU)
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
Case Postale 2500
CH-1211 Genève 2 Dépôt
Switzerland

Tel: +41 22 739 8111
Contact the contributor: hqep00@unhcr.ch

Contact the contributor: sarahpetrin@hotmail.com

Evaluation and Policy Analysis Unit, UNHCR

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