Non voluntary return? The politics of refugee return to Afghanistan
Article
Sales, R., Blitz, B. and Marzano, L. 2005. Non voluntary return? The politics of refugee return to Afghanistan. Political Studies. 53 (1), pp. 182-200. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9248.2005.00523.x
Type | Article |
---|---|
Title | Non voluntary return? The politics of refugee return to Afghanistan |
Authors | Sales, R., Blitz, B. and Marzano, L. |
Abstract | The forced removal of 35 Afghan nationals from the UK in April 2003 calls into question the viability of the government's voluntary repatriation schemes and undermines the voluntary nature of return programmes. This article draws on the results of research conducted in 2002 to explore the views of the Afghan community about return. We evaluate three motivations for promoting return programmes: justice-based arguments, where return is the ‘end of the refugee cycle’; human capital explanations, which focus on individual decisions to reverse the effects of brain-drain; and burden-relieving explanations, where return is an alternative to repatriation. Our findings suggest that domestic interest based arguments, rather than those founded on the protection of human rights, are driving the policy-making agenda. Returns are portrayed as a means of relieving the burden on welfare services, and placating an increasingly anti-immigrant public opinion. As well as individuals forcibly removed from Britain, other Afghans are being urged to return by means of financial inducements, and sometimes under the threat of repatriation. In this context, we can discern a new category of ‘non-voluntary’ returns where individual choice has little real meaning. |
Research Group | Forensic Psychology Research group |
Publisher | SAGE Publications |
Political Studies Association | |
Journal | Political Studies |
ISSN | 0032-3217 |
Electronic | 1467-9248 |
Publication dates | |
Online | Mar 2005 |
Mar 2005 | |
Publication process dates | |
Deposited | 27 Oct 2008 |
Output status | Published |
Additional information | Based on research for Refugee Action/IOM in which Sales was principal investigator and Marzano was research assistant. Blitz and Sales shared the bulk of the writing. |
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9248.2005.00523.x |
Scopus EID | 2-s2.0-17044377557 |
Related Output | |
Has metadata | http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-17044377557&partnerID=MN8TOARS |
Language | English |
https://repository.mdx.ac.uk/item/80w3q
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