Return to Home: Reintegration and Sustainability of Return to Post-conflict Contexts

Abstract

Return of refugees and their reintegration into the community of origin has become of great importance among policy makers and researchers in the field of migration studies. The outbreak of civil wars and rising number of refugees, especially in recent years, raised concerns about the issue, and therefore, the return of refugees as one of the key solutions to the refugee problem is becoming increasingly important. However, forced migrants and refugees have faced many difficulties and failures in their experiences of returning. This chapter aims to examine the repatriation/return migration and sustainability of return by emphasizing the concept of ‘reintegration’ and its social, economic and demographic dimensions. In addition, findings from a survey conducted in Afghanistan on the return of Afghan refugees from Iran to their country of origin are presented in order to give a better understanding of return to and reintegration processes in post-conflict contexts.