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MoRR Policy Review Workshop

13-14 December 2011

Presentation by Susanne Schmeidl (TLO )

Nassim Majidi (Samuel Hall )

Returnee Reintegration:

Knowledge Gaps

Summing Up

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Knowledge gaps“The nature of reality is this: It is hidden, and

it is hidden, and it is hidden.” – Rumi

What does reintegration mean in Afghanistan today?

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KNOWLEDGE GAPS

“What people say, what people do, and what they say they do are entirely different things.” – Margaret Mead

WHERE returnees really are? Returnee monitoring – rural and urban

WHO returnees really are? Going beyond a policy category: timing of return

WHAT has been their return experience? Changing social environments

WHAT returnees are currently doing? Multiple push, pull, coping strategies

HOW do they perceive their reintegration process? Subjective indicators

HOW do they see their future? What are the scenarios?

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Practical Gaps / Research Needs

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Practical Gaps and Research Needs

1. Profiling of Key Returnee Areas: Trying to Unpack Trends of Return Migration and Displacement

Secondary displacement

New trends of internal displacement (IDP trends)

Trends of anticipatory migration patterns (Dubai, India, Europe etc.)

Labour migration and mixed migration trends

Migration smuggling

Trafficking

Unaccompanied minors in the West

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Practical Gaps and Research Needs

2. Profiling of Underserved Key Returnee Areas

Comparison of returnees vs. host populations

Build on World Bank study on informal settlements in Kabul, extend to major urban areas

See returnees as part of a whole

How is “parity” understood and defined?

An economic framework for understanding welfare parity

Referring to other studies – e.g. report on reintegration in Burundi

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Practical Gaps and Research Needs

3. Improving Understanding of Returnee-Migration Nexus

Return does not (and cannot) equal staying put

What are returnees’ own migration choices / coping strategies?

Understanding re-integration for Kuchis: double-edged sword

Forcing them to stay put , or

Forcing to resume nomadic lifestyle?

Understanding re-integration for other minorities: stateless people, e.g. Jogi communities

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Practical Gaps and Research Needs

4. Behind Protection: Core Protection Priorities for Afghan Returnees & IDPs

What are the key protection concerns?

Efforts to establish a protection monitoring system

What are the protection concerns that can be assessed and that can be followed-up on concretely?

How can response to protection issues be organized and coordinated?

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Practical Gaps and Research Needs

5. Land and reintegration: Taking stock

Proper assessment about LAS

Feasibility of return to certain areas (e.g. Pashtuns in the North)

Revising current LAS policy for areas of origin only

Overall understanding of recent land-grabbing, tenure security etc.

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Practical Gaps and Research Needs

6. Adequate Assessment of National Programs

NSP, NABDP, NSDP etc.

How are they (indirectly) facilitating sustainable return and reintegration?

How are they contributing?

How could they contribute?

How to work through them or possibly reform them to perform better?

Cooperation of Afghan Ministries (MoRR, MRRD, MUDH etc.)

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Methodology Gaps“If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be

called research, would it?” – Albert Einstein

How can we reliably portray returnee realities?

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METHODOLOGY GAPS

Direct data gathering

Dynamic – longitudinal – research

Growing divide between quantitative and qualitative methods

Desk Review and Peer Review

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ContactsNassim Majidi, Director, Samuel Hall Consultingnassim.majidi@samuelhall.org , Tel +93797978206

Susanne Schmeidl, Head Research/Peacebuilding, The Liaison Office (TLO)susanne.schmeidl@tlo-afghanistan.org, Tel +93797367435