ABSTRACT
Voluntary repatriation, the most highly regarded solution to the problem of external population displacement by receiving countries and the international community, potentially involves refugees who find themselves in first-asylum situations as well as those who have been resettled in the North. This chapter examines the “inherent, stubborn structural barrios” to homeland return confronted by refugees living in neighboring as well as distant countries of asylum along with the pre-conditions needed to induce return migration. Continuation of the post-revolution regime constitutes the most serious obstacle to refugee repatriation. Homeland regime change has a greater chance of resulting in the mass repatriation of refugees who remain in neighboring countries of first asylum than it does among those who have secured third-country resettlement. The resourcefulness of the successful refugee, along with his/her proven ability to survive and often prosper in the extremely different cultural context of the West, augurs well for the prospect of readaptation in the homeland.
