Refugee Return: Understanding the Dynamics of Refugee Repatriation and Alternative Solutions

Speaker: Stephanie Schwartz, Assistant professor, Department of political science and international relations, University of Southern California.

With the number of refugees nearly doubling in the past decade, policymakers have fixated on this so-called “migration crisis.” But if there is a crisis today, it is one of refugee return. Despite human rights prohibitions against returning refugees to a country where their life or liberty is in danger, governments across the world are finding ever more creative ways to send asylum seekers back. Even among international humanitarian organizations, voluntary return is considered the preferred solution. But what actually happens when refugees return? This panel will examine new research on the dynamics of refugee repatriation, and discuss how policymakers can use these findings to develop alternative solutions to forced migration situations.