Transitions, state building and the ‘residual’ refugee problem

East Timor and Cambodian repatriation experience

Bibliographic Data

ID8081783
AuthorsChristopher Mcdowell (King's College London, corresponding author), Marita Eastmond (0000-0001-6693-0006, University of Gothenburg)
Year2002
Volume8
Issue1
Pages7-29
Publication date2002-07-01
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAustralian Journal of Human Rights (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1323-238X • E-ISSN: 2573-573X
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/1323238x.2002.11911070
OpenAlexW620262173
LanguageEN
Citations received7
References cited2

Observing recent returns of Afghan refugees from Iran, Ruud Lubbers the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, stated to journalists that he was now 'High Commissioner for Returnees'. Since the mid-1980s refugee repatriation has been a cornerstone in the international management of forced migration emergencies. This article considers and compares two major repatriation operations, of Cambodian refugees from Thailand in the early 1990s, and of East Timorese from West Timor in the past two years. A key element of these operations was the role of the UN in assuming some or all of the sovereign powers of the two States emerging out of conflict. The authors examine the implications of the UN's dual responsibility to act both as the architect and executive of state building, while at the same time having primary responsibility for the protection and reintegration of refugees. The article finds that what are effectively politically-driven repatriation strategies often fail to protect refugee rights, and limit the likelihood of successful reintegration and livelihood re-establishment on return 'home

Development economics · Economics · Political science · Refugee · Repatriation · Residual · State (computer science · Asian Geopolitics and Ethnography · Cambodian History and Society · Computer Science · Law · Peacebuilding and International Security

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