Although there is a growing acknowledgment that the resolution of conflict and the resolution of situations of displacement are inseparable and that both require the engagement of displaced populations, refugees continue to be largely excluded from meaningful participation in peace processes and transitional justice initiatives. Using a dignity-based conceptual framework, this article asserts that it is critical that we recognize refugees as rights-bearing actors capable of exercising agency within the transitional process. To this end, this account explores the important role that meaningful engagement of the refugee communities in transitional justice can play in the process of repatriation and reconciliation. Given the potential benefits of participation in protecting individuals from instrumentalisation and domination by powerful actors, legal empowerment of refugees is proposed here as a potential strategy for ensuring that the needs and interests of refugees and refugee communities are acknowledged and addressed within transitional justice processes and in the context of refugee return. © Author(s) [2016].

Capabilities Refugee engagement Transitional justice Legal empowerment Repatriation

social justice displacement refugee empowerment peace process conceptual framework immigrant population