ABSTRACT
The primary objective of international refugee policy is to return refugees to
their country of origin. Return and repatriation relieve Western states from
granting asylum to individuals escaping war. At the same time, return and
repatriation can be used instrumentally to meet broader intervention goals,
such as reversing ethnic cleansing. A number of recent peace agreements
include provisions for refugees and displaced persons to return to their original homes, rather than simply being repatriated, only to face internal dis-
placement. In addition to the DPA, peace settlements in Kosovo,
Guatemala, Mozambique, Cambodia, Ethiopia and Eritrea all recognised
the right to return home. A right to housing and property restitution is
slowly supplanting the age-old idea that displacement from one’s own home
of origin is a permanent condition.1
