In Search of a Durable Solution: Examining the Factors Influencing Postconflict Refugee Returns

by Louay Constant, Shelly Culbertson, Jonathan S. Blake

The world?s 30 million refugees live in limbo waiting for solutions, while their host countries experience ever-greater strains. The authors found that only one-third of refugees return home after ten years. Returns have not kept pace with new displacement, leading to a growing total number of refugees. New solutions for safe refugee return are needed. The authors examine barriers to, and facilitators of, the safe and sustained return of refugees.

128 pages, Paperback

Published September 30, 2021

About the author

Louay Constant is a senior policy researcher at the RAND Corporation and has worked on a range of social policy issues including K-12 education reform, postsecondary education and training, labor markets, workforce development, and organizational restructuring and design. His main research focus area has been on young people’s school-to-work transition, the experiences of soon-to-be graduates or recent graduates in seeking education and employment, and the challenges young people, including marginalized groups, face in making that transition.
His main interest is in research on mechanisms to address human capital deficits and improve the alignment between labor market supply and demand. He has conducted policy research globally and has led or participated in research projects in the United States, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, and Mongolia developing strategies to increase access and improve quality of general and vocational education, examining factors affecting the alignment of labor market supply and demand, and assessing the experiences of youth in education and employment. He employs mixed-methods in his analysis, and has conducted household, school-based, and employer surveys, analyzed administrative data, and carried out interviews and focus groups for qualitative research. Constant earned his Ph.D. in public policy and administration from the University of Kentucky.