The Evolution of Return: UNHCR’s Strategic Engagement with Refugee Repatriation

Since its inception, the UNHCR has supported three durable solutions for refugees: local integration, resettlement to third countries, and return to the country of origin. In recent decades, return has increasingly become a contentious practice, jeopardizing states' support for the international refugee regime. This paper traces key moments in the UNHCR’s evolving position on return, examining the factors driving the agency’s engagement and how it has tried to shape norms around return and readmission. Initially, return took place within continents and on a completely voluntary basis, and over time, pushed by states in the Global North, it evolved into a more contentious practice of inter-continental “safe” return. Drawing on a wide array of empirical sources, including archival data, UNHCR policy papers, and expert interviews, the study explores how the agency has navigated its strategic environment and normative demands surrounding return and readmission. Tentative evidence suggests that donor fatigue in the Global North, combined with limited support for resettlement and integration, has been a key driver of the UNHCR's evolving position on return. Rather than actively shaping norms, the UNHCR's agenda has largely been shaped by donor's increasing demand for return. Although UNHCR has justified its involvement as a way to protect individuals granted refugee status, it has primarily helped normalize a new era of return, aligning closely with state interests in both the Global North and South.