Many refugees go back home after the end of conflict. Some return voluntarily while others are forced to return. Knowledge about the economic implications of refugee return is essential in order to develop policies that support refugee households and their communities in the post-conflict period. Analysis from the LAMFOR project suggests that Burundian returnees had significantly lower levels of livestock – which is their main form of capital accumulation – than those households that stayed home. Returnee households also reported lower values in subjective measures of economic well-being.
This briefing is based on the article “Return Migration and Economic Outcomes in the Conflict Context” by Sonja Fransen, Isabel Ruiz and Carlos Vargas-Silva.