No Return, No Refuge: Rites and Rights in Minority Repatriation by Howard Adelman & Elazar Barkan

Abstract

First glance of No Return, No Refuge rekindled imageries of personal experiences of trying to cross over from Liberia to La Cote d’Ivoire during the beginning of the civil war in the early 1990’s. Almost two decades after, I find myself on the exact same refugee camp in Ghana I sought refuge at for over nine (9) years. Although, my living condition has done a complete 180 degrees turn, in my hand is the copy of No Return, No Refuge and before my eyes are the pages of this book coming alive as I listen to Liberian refugees recount their protracted situation of rites and rights, no refuge, and no reintegration, no resettlement but certainly “voluntary repatriation”. Each chapter whether it was case scenario in Kosovo, Vietnam, DRC, or Palestine; the parallels, harsh realities and diagnostics for these refugees are not only traumatic but also indelible.