Koser, Khalid Ali; (1994) Information and repatriation: The case of Mozambican refugees in Malawi. Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).

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Abstract

Repatriation is the end of the refugee cycle. In the context of a growing global refugee crisis, it is often the most favourable durable solution. However, the concept of repatriation is not properly understood. Although there are an increasing number of empirical studies on repatriation, there is a dearth of theoretical reflection. The overall aim of this thesis is to design a model to explain when the refugee cycle comes to an end for different refugees, and thereby to provide a device through which similarities between repatriation movements in a global context can be critically examined. The intellectual thrust of the thesis is that potential repatriates arrive at a decision whether to repatriate or not by comparing conditions in exile with conditions at home. It follows that the receipt and evaluation of information about conditions at home is central to the decision-making process. A refugee cycle is conceived, in which the country of origin and the country of exile are linked by flows of information. Characteristics of these flows of information are articulated in a 'model of a repatriation information system', which was tested amongst Mozambican refugees in Malawi. In this system, information is conveyed between a transmitter in the country of origin and the refugee in exile by an agent. The flows of information have quantitative and qualitative characteristics, and are subjectively evaluated by the individual in arriving at an assessment of conditions at home. This thesis contributes towards the body of literature concerning African refugees generally and more specifically concerning Mozambican refugees, as well as contributing to the incorporation of refugee studies in the discipline of geography. It also has applications beyond these by providing a more generally applicable model of repatriation. The nature of certain findings also pitch the thesis into key debates in the evolving global migration system, including the extent to which there is a distinction between refugees and other sorts of migrants.

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