Aiding peace … and war: UNHCR, returnee reintegration, and the relief-development debate

This paper seeks to situate UNHCR’s evolving policy with regard to reintegration in
the context of wider debates on relief-development aid linkages, and of broader
changes in international relations in the post-Cold War era. It is based on an analysis
of the UNHCR’s policy approach to the issue of reintegration, as reflected in the
decisions of the Executive Committee, global policy initiatives and guidelines. It is an
analysis of the ideas which shape the organisation’s identity and practice, not an
evaluation of operations.
The paper argues that although UNHCR’s constituency is unique, its analysis of the
challenge of reintegration has conformed with what might be seen as an emerging
orthodoxy: namely that relief aid should serve a developmental role, and that it can
and should play a role in peace-building. These claims have been based on an analysis
of the causes of conflict which focuses largely on internal and economic factors. They
also assume that developmental aid and principles can address these effectively. The
solution to the ‘problem’ of reintegration has therefore been conceptualised as a
problem of aid management. Improving the coordination and funding instruments, and
adopting more developmental methodologies are proposed as the way to improve
reintegration strategies.
The paper questions this approach on a number of grounds. First, it suggests that
despite some modification in terminology, UNHCR’s reintegration strategy continues
to pivot on the concept of ‘post-conflict transition’, premised on a continuum from
war to peace. This envisages a parallel aid transition from relief to development
assistance. The persistence of this terminology is very misleading, since the majority
of refugees return to situations of on-going conflict. There is also the assumption that
a functioning state is in place in the country of origin, which has the legitimacy and
the ability to coordinate and implement developmental policies.