Voluntary Repatriation of the Indochinese Refugees

Voluntary repatriation of refugees has been traditionally considered not only one of the three possible durable solutions, together with resettlement in a third country and local integration, but, actually, the best of those three solutions.Paradoxically, when looking at the Indochinese refugees, it appears that it has been the least applied solution, and also the most controversial.Since 1975, with some exceptions, resettlement in a third country has been the overall solution.A staggering 1,100,000 Indochinese refugees left for a third country in the past 14 years.This is certainly a major accomplishment and a true sign of international solidarity in the face of a human tragedy of such dimensions.Resettlement on a comparable scale could not, however, go on indefinitely.The cost of resettling a single refugee amounts to several thousands of dollars in the initial phase, and there are additional costs afterwards: it is not only a matter of transportation and initial "start-up" costs, but the costs may go on for several years.If we take a conservative estimate of US $5,000 per person, multiplied by the 1,100,000 mentioned above, we reach a figure in the order of several billion dollars.Furthermore, the Indochinese refugees problem is but one of the refugee situations presently existing.Of course, not all require that such a large number of persons to be resettled, and, in most cases Refuge, Vol. 9, No. 3 (