Is Return Always a Durable Solution?
NFA Speaks at ICVA’s Global Dialogue on Voluntary Repatriation
A Global Dialogue on Return, Rights, and Realities
On 22 July 2025, Nationality for All (NFA) joined the International Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA) webinar “Is Return Always a Durable Solution?”, a global discussion that examined the relevance, reality, and durability of voluntary repatriation in the current displacement context.
The event brought together humanitarian and rights-based organisations including UNHCR, ReDSS, R-SEAT, and the South Sudan Protection Cluster, alongside regional practitioners and advocates, to reimagine what “durable solutions” should look like when displacement, statelessness, and exclusion intersect.
Representing NFA, Executive Director Subin Mulmi spoke on the panel “Voluntary Return – Rhetoric or Reality for Stateless Populations,” moderated by Davina Said, Head of Forced Displacement at ICVA.
Reframing “Return” for Stateless Communities
In his remarks, Subin challenged the narrow framing of voluntary repatriation as a universal solution for all displaced groups. He emphasized that for stateless populations, “return” often does not constitute a solution at all, particularly when their lack of nationality bars them from accessing protection, citizenship, or legal identity in their country of origin.
“Return must be legally meaningful, not just physically possible. It must come with recognition, rights, and the dismantling of exclusionary systems. Otherwise, it is not a solution, it is abandonment.”
— Subin Mulmi, Executive Director, Nationality for All
Drawing from NFA’s regional work, Subin highlighted the experiences of the Rohingya, Bajau Laut, stateless Afghans, and Nepali children affected by gender-discriminatory nationality laws, illustrating how “returns” conducted without addressing nationality rights risk deepening statelessness and precarity.
Durability Must Mean Dignity
NFA emphasized that voluntary return is only durable when grounded in legal identity, citizenship, and safety. For stateless persons, “going back” cannot be a durable solution unless their right to nationality is restored and they can rebuild their lives with dignity.
Key takeaways included:
- Do no harm: Returns must not be promoted where protection, citizenship, or documentation are denied.
- Prioritize legal reform: Governments must amend discriminatory nationality and registration laws.
- Ensure documentation: Legal identity before and after return is essential to reintegration.
- Center impacted voices: Stateless and displaced communities must shape the design and delivery of solutions.
