When people flee conflict or persecution, a common pattern is for most to seek safety in other parts of their country, for a substantial number to look for refuge in a neighbouring country or countries, and for a smaller number to seek asylum in countries further afield, perhaps in other continents. If displacement persits and people consolidate themselves in their territories of refuge, complex relations will develop among these different domains of what we may call the refugee diaspora: that is, among those at home, those in neighbouring territories, and those spread further afield. Each of these domains corresponds to some extent to one of the locations or sites associated with the three 'durable solutions' that the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is charged with pursuing for refugees: integration in the country of first asylum, resettlement in a third country, or return to the homeland. Taking its cue from the burgeoning literature on diasporas and transnationalism, this paper looks at some of the shortcomings of the notion of 'durable solutions' and offers a simple schema for considering diaspora and transnational relations that may transcend the thinking underlying this notion. The Afghan, Palestinian and Sri Lankan refugee diasporas are considered in the light of this schema, and transnational connections among some displaced households in Sri Lanka are highlighted. The paper concludes by exploring how transnationalism might be considered in itself as an 'enduring' if not a 'durable' solution to displacement.

Migration conflicts Sri Lanka Refugees Afghanistan Diasporas Palestine

asylum seeker forced migration refugee diaspora