Repatriation

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) assists people who volunteer to return when safe to do so, 532 000 people in were repatriated in 2011 according to Global Trends 2011 pg 62, after a downward trend since 2004.

The physical, social, and occupational context is not the same as when people fled so the challenge of occupational adaptation is acute and complex, with livelihoods being key. Repatriation for this reason is often called the forgotten phase.

Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan, Myanmar, Sri Lanka are priorities for UNHCR, listed here pg 46, in 2012 - 2013.

Repatriation in the media

Returning Burundi refugees struggle back home highlights some of the challenges; refugee family homes are now occupies with other families, farmers no longer have any land, and livelihoods depend on subsistance farming with few other economic opportunities.