Durable Solutions
The three traditional solutions for refugees, voluntary repatriation, local integration, and resettlement, and why they are failing.
The Three Solutions
The international refugee regime envisages three durable solutions. Voluntary repatriation, the return of refugees to their home country when conditions allow, is considered the preferred solution. Local integration, where refugees become permanent residents or citizens of the host country, is the second option. Resettlement, the transfer of refugees from the first country of asylum to a third country that has agreed to admit them, is the last resort for the most vulnerable.
All three are in crisis. Voluntary repatriation has declined sharply because the conflicts driving displacement are protracted: the average refugee situation now lasts over 20 years. Local integration is politically resisted by host countries that view refugee populations as temporary and fear permanent demographic changes. Resettlement capacity is minuscule: fewer than 200,000 refugees were resettled globally in 2023, against a population of over 36 million refugees.
