Difficulties Returning Home

There are at least 40 million refugees and internally displaced people through out the world. And the goal of most is to be able to return home. However, because conflict and natural disaster are usually the source of their displacement, returning home is not as simple as many think. Once the war is over or the lands have dried, many people have nothing left to return to. This has been a huge challenge of the humanitarian community and unfortunately continues to compound.

Liberia has been heralded for resolving its conflict and soaring economically in the last year. However, the effects of displacement still linger. This week 12 farm workers and may be more were killed over land disputes and citizens in the DRC are facing the same issue.

I suggest that in addition to creating land distribution programs, governments need to encourage formal land ownership documentation and archives. Too often land ownership in rural settings has been relied on oral history and communal networks, which were severely fractioned and even destroyed during longstanding conflicts.