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{{short description|Principle in international law}}
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The '''right of return''' is a principle in [[international law]] which guarantees everyone's right of [[Repatriation|return]] to, or re-entry to, their country of [[citizenship]]. The right of return is part of the broader [[human rights]] concept of [[freedom of movement]] and is also related to the legal concept of [[nationality]].<ref name = "leskovic-vendramin">{{cite web|url=http://www.unaslovenia.org/sites/default/files/file/leskovic_vendramin-the_right.pdf|title=The Right to Return of Refugees inInternational Law: The Case Study of Bosnia and Herzegovina|author=Tjasa Leskovic Vendramin|access-date=2020-07-24|archive-date=2020-07-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200725002914/http://www.unaslovenia.org/sites/default/files/file/leskovic_vendramin-the_right.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> While many states afford their citizens the [[right of abode]], the right of return is not restricted to citizenship or nationality in the formal sense.<ref name = "hrw">{{cite web|url=https://www.hrw.org/legacy/campaigns/israel/return/hrc-gen-cmt-rtr.htm|title=The Human Rights Committee General Comment on Article 12 of the International Covenant on civil and Political Rights (November 1999)|publisher=Human Rights Watch}}</ref> It allows [[Statelessness|stateless]] persons and for those born outside their country to return for the first time, so long as they have maintained a "genuine and effective link".<ref name = "hrw"/><ref name = "stateless">{{cite web|url=http://www.statelessnessandhumanrights.org/other-human-rights-frameworks/the-international-covenant-on-civil-and-political-rights-iccpr|title=2. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)|publisher=Institute Statelessness and Inclusion|access-date=2020-07-25|archive-date=2021-12-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211223000404/http://www.statelessnessandhumanrights.org/other-human-rights-frameworks/the-international-covenant-on-civil-and-political-rights-iccpr|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The right is formulated in several modern treaties and conventions, most notably in the 1948 [[Universal Declaration of Human Rights]], the 1966 [[International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights]] and the 1948 [[Fourth Geneva Convention]]. Legal scholars have argued that one or more of these [[international human rights instruments]] have attained the status of [[customary international law]] and that the right of return is therefore binding on non-signatories to these conventions.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://legal.un.org/avl/ha/icty/icty.html|title=United Nations Audiovisual Library of International Law|website=legal.un.org|access-date=2017-03-15}}</ref><ref name = "rosand">{{cite journal|url=https://repository.law.umich.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1459&context=mjil|last=Rosand|first=Eric|journal=Michigan Journal of International Law|volume=19|issue=4|year=1998|title=The Right to Return Under International Law Following Mass Dislocation: The Bosnia Precedent? Dislocation: The Bosnia Precedent?}}</ref>

The right of return is often invoked by representatives of [[refugee]] groups to assert that they have a right to return to the country from which they were displaced.

== History ==
The right to leave any country and to return to one's own country are regarded as [[human right]]s and are founded on [[natural law]].<ref name="ingles">J.D. Inglés (1963), ''Study of Discrimination in Respect of the Right of Everyone to Leave any Country, Including His Own, and to Return to His Country'', Geneva, UN, UN Sales no. 64.XIV.2, UN Doc E/CN.4/Sub.2/220/Rev.1</ref>

=== Ancient precedents ===
While the right of return was not explicitly recognized in antiquity, [[exile]], being explicitly refused permission to return home, was a common punishment for severe crimes. The topic was discussed extensively by antique writers.<ref name="Gaertner2006">{{cite book|author=Jan Felix Gaertner|title=Writing Exile: The Discourse of Displacement in Greco-Roman Antiquity and Beyond|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pdevCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA89|date=28 December 2006|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-474-1894-8|pages=89–}}</ref> For example, [[Teles of Megara]] in his [[diatribe]] ''On Exile'' wrote "But exiles are not allowed to return home, and this is a severe restriction of their freedom."<ref name = "Gaertner2006"/>

During antiquity, groups of people were frequently deported or uprooted from their cities and homeland, often as part of conquest or as a punishment for rebellion. In some cases they were allowed or encouraged to return, typically after the balance of military and political forces had changed.

A well-known example is the [[return to Zion]], by which King [[Cyrus the Great]] granted the [[Jew]]s expelled from [[Kingdom of Judah|Judah]] to [[Babylonian Exile|Babylon]] the option to return to their ancestral homeland and rebuild [[Jerusalem]]. Recorded in the [[Hebrew Bible]] ([[Book of Ezra]] and [[Book of Nehemiah]]) this case is often cited as a precedent by modern [[Zionist]]s and also inspired other groups seeking to pursue their own return.

During the [[Peloponnesian War]], [[Athens]] expelled and scattered the inhabitants of [[Melos]], [[Aegina]] and other cities (some of them being sold into slavery). Following the victory of [[Sparta]], the Spartan general [[Lysander]] in 405 BC made a concerted effort to gather these exiles and restore them to their original cities.<ref name=Xenophon229>Xenophon. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0206%3Abook%3D2%3Achapter%3D2%3Asection%3D9 ''Hellenica'', 2.2.9]: "Meantime Lysander, upon reaching Aegina, restored the state to the Aeginetans, gathering together as many of them as he could, and he did the same thing for the Melians also and for all the others who had been deprived of their native states."</ref><ref name=Plutarch144>Plutarch. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A2008.01.0048%3Achapter%3D14%3Asection%3D3 ''Life of Lysander'', 14.3]: "But there were other measures of Lysander upon which all the Greeks looked with pleasure, when, for instance, the Aeginetans, after a long time, received back their own city, and when the Melians and Scionaeans were restored to their homes by him, after the Athenians had been driven out and had delivered back the cities."</ref>

[[File:Magna Carta (British Library Cotton MS Augustus II.106).jpg|thumb|''[[Cotton MS. Augustus]] II. 106'', one of only four surviving [[Exemplified copy|exemplifications]] of the 1215 text]]

===Magna Carta===
The first codified law guaranteeing a right of return can be found in the English charter [[Magna Carta]] from 1215:<ref>Bradley, Megan: "Liberal Democracies' Divergent Interpretations of the Right of Return: Implications for Free Movement", ''Democratic Citizenship and the Free Movement of People'', 2013</ref>
{{blockquote|In future it shall be lawful for any man to leave and return to our kingdom unharmed and without fear, by land or water, preserving his allegiance to us, except in time of war, for some short period, for the common benefit of the realm. People that have been imprisoned or outlawed in accordance with the law of the land, people from a country that is at war with us, and merchants – who shall be dealt with as stated above – are excepted from this provision.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bl.uk/learning/timeline/item95692.html|title=Magna Carta|publisher=[[British Library]]|access-date=2019-11-28}}</ref>}}

===French Constitution of 1791===
Another early example of [[national law]] recognizing the Right of Return was the French constitution of 1791, enacted on 15 December 1790:<ref name="ingles"/> 
{{blockquote|the freedom of everyone to go, to stay, or to leave, without being halted or arrested unless in accordance with procedures established by the Constitution.}}

The constitution put an end to the centuries-long persecution and discrimination of [[Huguenot]]s (French [[Protestant]]s).{{Citation needed|date=July 2013}}

Concurrently with making all [[Protestant]]s resident in France into full-fledged citizens, the law enacted on December 15, 1790  stated that: 
{{blockquote|All persons born in a foreign country and descending in any degree of a French man or woman expatriated for religious reason are declared French nationals ({{lang|fr|naturels français}}) and will benefit to rights attached to that quality if they come back to France, establish their domicile there and take the civic oath.<ref name="André Encrevé 1999, p.66">{{cite book |first=André |last=Encrevé |contribution=French Protestants |editor1-first=Rainer |editor1-last=Liedtke |editor2-first=Stephan |editor2-last=Wendehorst |title=Emancipation of Catholic Jews: Minorities and the Nation-State in Nineteenth-Century Europe |publisher=Manchester University Press |year=1999 |page=66}}</ref>}}

The [[revocation of the Edict of Nantes]] and expulsion of the Huguenots had taken place more than a century earlier, and there were numerous Huguenot emigrants to other countries, where they often intermarried with the population of the host country (see [[Edict of Potsdam]]). Therefore, the law potentially conferred French citizenship on numerous Britons, Germans, South Africans and others – though only a fraction actually took advantage of it.{{Citation needed|date=July 2013}} This option for Huguenot descendants to gain French citizenship remained open until 1945, when it was abolished – since after the [[occupation of France]], the French were unwilling to let Germans of Huguenot origin take advantage of it.

===Schleswig plebiscites, 1920===

In the aftermath of the [[Second Schleswig War]] of 1864, the previously Danish-ruled territory of [[Schleswig]] became part of [[Imperial Germany]]. A significant number of inhabitants, known as "[[wiktionary:optant|optant]]s", chose to retain their Danish citizenship and refused to take up a German one. Consequently, they were expelled from the area by Prussian authorities. Half a century later, following the German defeat in the [[First World War]], a [[1920 Schleswig plebiscites|plebiscite]] was held in 1920 to determine the future of the area. The Danish government asked the [[Allies of World War I|Allied Powers]] to let these expelled ethnic Danes and their descendants return to Schleswig and take part in the plebiscite. This was granted, though many of the optants had in the meantime emigrated to the United States, and most of these did not actually come back.

== Legal understanding of the right ==
The right of return principle has been codified in a number of international instruments, including:

[[Hague Regulations]] (HR), article 20:

{{ordered list|start=20|  After the conclusion of peace, the [[repatriation]] of [[prisoners of war]] shall be carried out as quickly as possible.}}

It has been argued that if the HR require the repatriation of prisoners, then it is "obvious" that civilians displaced during conflict must also be allowed to repatriate.<ref name="badil-brief">Boling, Gail J. [https://www.badil.org/phocadownload/Badil_docs/bulletins-and-briefs/Brief-No.8.pdf Palestinian Refugees and the Right of Return: An International Law Analysis], ''BADIL - Information & Discussion Brief Issue No. 8'', January 2001</ref>

[[Universal Declaration of Human Rights]] (UDHR), article 13:

# Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each State.
# Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.

[[International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights]] (ICCPR) article 12(4):

{{ordered list|start=4| No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of the right to enter his own country.}}

[[Fourth Geneva Convention]], article 49:

{{ordered list|start=49|Individual or mass forcible transfers, as well as deportations of protected persons from occupied territory to the territory of the Occupying Power or to that of any other country, occupied or not, are prohibited, regardless of their motive.<br><br>Nevertheless, the Occupying Power may undertake total or partial evacuation of a given area if the security of the population or imperative military reasons so demand. ... Persons thus evacuated shall be transferred back to their homes as soon as hostilities in the area in question have ceased.}}

[[Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination]], article 5d(ii):

{{blockquote|The right to leave any country, including one's own, and to return to one's country.}}

Some controversy exists among scholars on how these articles should be interpreted.

==="His own country"===
The landmark [[International Court of Justice]] case the [[Nottebohm case]] of 1955 is often cited as staking out more criteria as to what "one's country" should be.<ref name="bracka"/> The court ruled that there needed to be a "genuine and effective" link between the individual and the country. Among the criteria listed for such a link were "a close and enduring connection", "tradition", "establishment", "interests" and "family ties". The 1955 ruling has been supplanted by more recent conventions and court rulings.

There is some disagreement<ref name="bracka">Bracka, Jeremie Maurice. [http://law.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/1681169/Bracka.pdf "Past the Point of no Return? The Palestinian Right of Return in International Human Rights Law"], ''Melbourne Journal of International Law'', Melbourne, 2005</ref> as to what "his own" and "his country" means in the ICCPR and UDHR. According to the [[United Nations Human Rights Committee]]'s authoritative interpretation from 1999:

{{blockquote|The scope of "his own country" is broader than the concept "country of his nationality". It is not limited to nationality in a formal sense, that is, nationality acquired at birth or by conferral; it embraces, at the very least, an individual who, because of his or her special ties to or claims in relation to a given country, cannot be considered to be a mere alien. This would be the case, for example, of nationals of a country who have been stripped of their nationality in violation of international law, and of individuals whose country of nationality has been incorporated in or transferred to another national entity, whose nationality is being denied them. The right of a person to enter his or her own country recognizes the special relationship of a person to that country&nbsp;... It includes not only the right to return after having left one's own country; it may also entitle a person to come to the country for the first time if he or she was born outside the country.<ref name="hrc27">UN Human Rights Committee (HRC), ''[http://www.refworld.org/docid/45139c394.html HRC in General Comment 27 CCPR General Comment No. 27: Article 12 (Freedom of Movement)]'', 2 November 1999, CCPR/C/21/Rev.1/Add.9</ref>}}

According to Agterhuis, the record of negotiations - the [[travaux préparatoires]] - of the ICCPR reveals that the wording of article 12(4) was changed from "the right to ''return'' to one's country" to "the right to ''enter'' one's country" was made in order to include nationals or citizens born outside the country and who have never lived therein.<ref name = "agterhuis">{{cite web|url=https://prrn.mcgill.ca/research/papers/agterhuis.pdf|title=The right to Return and its Practical Application|author=Sander Agterhuis}}</ref>

=== Mass displacement ===
Some disagreement exists on whether the right of return is applicable to situations in which whole ethnic groups have been forcibly displaced. [[Ruth Lapidoth]] from the [[Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs]] has argued, by citing [[Stig Jägerskiöld]] from his 1966 commentary of ICCPR, that the right was not intended to protect groups of displaced people:

{{blockquote|... [it] is intended to apply to individuals asserting an individual right. There was no intention here to address the claims of masses of people who have been displaced as a by-product of war or by political transfers of territory or population, such as the relocation of ethnic Germans from Eastern Europe during and after the Second World War, the flight of the Palestinians from what became Israel, or the movement of Jews from the Arab countries.<ref name="JCPA">{{Cite web |url=http://www.jcpa.org/jl/vp485.htm |title=Legal Aspects of the Palestinian Refugee Question |author=Ruth Lapidoth |publisher=[[Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs]] |date=September 1, 2002}}</ref>}}

[[Hurst Hannum]] has made a similar argument:

{{blockquote|There is no evidence that mass movements of groups such as refugees or displaced persons were to be intended to be included within the scope of article 12 of the Covenant by its drafters.<ref>Hurst Hannum, ''The Right to Leave and Return in International Law and Practice'', p.59</ref>}}

Austrian human rights lawyer [[Manfred Nowak]] has argued the opposite position, that the right of return applies "even if masses of people are claiming this right".<ref>Manfred Nowak, ''U.N. Covenant on Civil and Political Rights: CCPR Commentary'', p.220, 1993</ref> Bracka has argued similarly:

{{blockquote|At any rate, what seems clear is that neither the text nor the {{lang|fr|[[travaux préparatoires]]}} of the relevant UDHR, ICCPR and CERD provisions actually support circumscribing [the right of] return in this way [to exclude situations of mass displacement]. Firstly, there is no indication that the drafters considered the applicability of the freedom of movement principle to members of displaced populations. And although it may have been assumed at the time that such a scenario would receive discussion in "some other body of law", this is not synonymous with an intention to limit these articles to isolated individuals. Secondly, nowhere in the actual text is the operation of the right of return qualified on the basis of group affiliation. Rather, in each instance, the relevant language refers to "everyone". In addition, the HRC in General Comment 27 affirms this reading in so far as it states: "[t]he right to return is of the utmost importance for refugees seeking voluntary repatriation. It also implies prohibition of enforced population transfers or mass expulsions to other countries". Thirdly, whilst the right of return in art 12(4) of the ICCPR is presented as an individual right, [[John Quigley (academic)|Quigley]] confirms that "this is also true of most rights in international human rights instruments". Indeed, the movement of people has historically taken on a collective dimension. Accordingly, to deny the availability of human rights simply because individuals form part of a mass group would render those rights illusory.<ref name="bracka"/>}}

Eric Rosand, legal advisor to the US [[State Department]], used the same argument:

{{blockquote|Although political negotiations and the issue of self-determination may be appropriate in situations involving mass displacement, nothing in the text or travaux préparatoires of the relevant provisions of the UDHR, ICCPR, or ICERD limits the application of the right of return to individual instances of refusals to repatriate. In fact, based on a close review of these documents, one could conclude that the drafters did not intend to except mass movements of refugees and displaced persons from this right, particularly since the UDHR, the ICCPR, and the ICERD do not indicate that the right to return should be linked to one's group status. In each instance, the relevant language refers to "everyone" having a right to return.<ref name = "rosand"/>}}

Rosand discusses the views of scholars who do not consider the right of return to be applicable under mass displacement but concludes:

{{blockquote|In the final decade of this century, however, the world now condemns such population transfers, which, along with mass expulsions, are deemed to violate important principles of international law. ... Moreover, the right to return in both the UDHR and the ICCPR was the basis for guaranteeing this right in recently signed peace agreements in order to resolve conflicts in Rwanda and Georgia, both of which produced hundreds of thousands of refugees and displaced persons. ... Although the actual return of these groups may, in the end, be determined by political feasibility, this should not prevent the international community from grounding their return in international law. ... In short, there is a difference between acknowledging that a right to return exists although in certain instances it may not be implementable due to the unresolved political situation and declaring that the issue of the return of large groups is beyond the scope of international law and resolvable only as part of ongoing political negotiations.<ref name = "rosand"/>}}

=== Resettled refugees ===
According to Masri, refugee status is independent of right of return. Thus, refugees who acquire new nationalities in their host countries do not necessarily lose their right to return to the countries they left. Masri argues that the resettlement "weakens the link" between the refugee and the source country but that this weakening is not enough to automatically lead to the deprivation of rights.<ref name = "masri">{{cite journal|journal=Asian Journal of International Law|title=The Implications of the Acquisition of a New Nationality for the Right of Return of Palestinian Refugees|first=Mazen|last=Masri|year=2015|volume=5|issue=2|pages=356–386|doi=10.1017/S2044251314000241|doi-access=free}}</ref>

=== Regional treaties ===
The right of return is also found in many regional treaties, such as article 12(2) of the [[African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights]]:
{{blockquote|Every individual shall have the right to leave any country including his own, and to return to his country. This right may only be subject to restrictions, provided for by law for the protection of national security, law and order, public health or morality.<ref name = "achpr">{{Cite web|url=https://www.achpr.org/legalinstruments/detail?id=49|title=African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights|access-date=2020-07-25|archive-date=2022-05-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220509235021/https://www.achpr.org/legalinstruments/detail?id=49|url-status=dead}}</ref>}}

The right is also found in article 3(2) of the [[European Convention on Human Rights]]; "[n]o one shall be deprived of the right to enter the territory of the state of which he is a national" and article 22(5) of the [[American Convention on Human Rights]]: "[n]o one can be expelled from the territory of the state of which he is a national or be deprived of the right to enter it." In these conventions the word "national" is used which is considered narrower than "his own country" in article 12(4) of the ICCPR.<ref name = "ejil">{{cite web|url=https://www.ejiltalk.org/the-right-to-enter-his-or-her-own-country/|title=The right to enter his or her own country|author=Rutsel Martha|author2=Stephen Bailey|date=23 June 2020 }}</ref>

==Right of return in case law==
Few cases have dealt with the right of return principle. In 1996, the [[European Court of Human Rights]] (ECHR) ruled in a landmark case known as ''[[Loizidou v Turkey]]''. Mrs [[Titina Loizidou]] was a [[Greek-Cypriot]] refugee displaced from [[Northern Cyprus]] and prevented from returning by [[Turkey]]. The court ruled that Turkey had violated Mrs Loizidou's human rights, that she should be allowed to return to her home and that Turkey should pay damages to her.<ref>Enrico Milano, ''Unlawful territorial situations in international law'', p.143</ref>

In a similar case, petitioners for the [[Chagossians]] asked the ECHR in 2005 to rule about their removal from [[Diego Garcia]] by the [[Government of the United Kingdom|British government]] in the 1960s. The court ruled in 2012 that their case was inadmissible and that by accepting compensation, the islanders had forfeited their claim:

{{blockquote|The Court notably found that the heart of the applicants' claims under the European Convention on Human Rights was the callous and shameful treatment which they or their antecedents had suffered during their removal from the Chagos islands. These claims had, however, been raised in the domestic courts and settled, definitively. In accepting and receiving compensation, the applicants had effectively renounced bringing any further claims to determine whether the expulsion and exclusion from their homes had been unlawful and breached their rights and they therefore could no longer claim to be victims of a violation of the Convention.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://hudoc.echr.coe.int/app/conversion/pdf/?library=ECHR&id=003-4207010-4992253&filename=003-4207010-4992253.pdf|title="Chagos islanders' case inadmissible because they accepted compensation and waived the right to bring any further claims before the UK national courts"}}</ref>}}

== Non-state groups claiming a right of return ==

=== Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) ===
{{further|Flight of Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians|Anti-Armenian sentiment in Azerbaijan}}

Up until Azerbaijan's [[2023 Azerbaijani offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh|military offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh]], ethnic Armenians comprised the overwhelming majority of the region. The Azerbaijani government imposed a [[Blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh|10-month-long military siege]] and offensive, resulting in the dissolution of the Republic of Artsakh, the flight of the entire population, and the incorporation of the territory into Azerbaijan.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rest |date=2025-07-22 |title=Nagorno-Karabakh Displaced: Right of Return Sabotaged, Rights Eroded in Exile |url=https://restmedia.io/nagorno-karabakh-displaced-right-of-return-sabotaged-rights-eroded-in-exile/ |access-date=2025-09-19 |website=REST |language=en-US}}</ref> The Azerbaijani government has denied the right of return to former ethnic Armenians who have fled.<ref>{{Cite web |last=O'Brien |first=Melanie |date=2024-05-31 |title=Armenia and Azerbaijan in the International Court of Justice Over Nagorno-Karabakh |url=https://www.justsecurity.org/96265/nagorno-karabakh-icj-cases/ |access-date=2025-07-18 |website=Just Security |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Why Are There No Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh? |url=https://freedomhouse.org/report/special-report/2024/why-are-there-no-armenians-nagorno-karabakh |access-date=2025-09-18 |website=Freedom House |page=25 |language=en |quote=...the first 'Great Return' program, launched by Baku, and the administrative changes made in the country in July 2021 showed no pathways for Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians to enter those communities which Azerbaijan had taken.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Why Are There No Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh? |url=https://freedomhouse.org/report/special-report/2024/why-are-there-no-armenians-nagorno-karabakh |access-date=2025-07-18 |website=Freedom House |page=25 |language=en}}</ref> Multiple human rights observers,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Nagorno-Karabakh (Armenia/Azerbaijan) |url=https://www.globalr2p.org/countries/nagorno-karabakh-armenia-azerbaijan/ |access-date=2025-07-18 |website=Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-10-05 |title=Guarantee Right to Return to Nagorno Karabakh {{!}} Human Rights Watch |url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/10/05/guarantee-right-return-nagorno-karabakh |access-date=2025-07-18 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-09-18 |title=Nagorno Karabakh: One Year After the Ethnic Cleansing |url=https://www.globalissues.org/news/2024/09/18/37692 |access-date=2025-07-18 |website=www.globalissues.org |language=en-gb |quote=Two months after the mass displacement, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Azerbaijan must ensure the "safe and unhindered return" of these displaced, and so did a European Parliament resolution adopted last March... On 2 September 2024, the International Association of Genocide Scholars — a US-based non-partisan organization — released a resolution condemning Azerbaijan's "genocidal actions" in Nagorno-Karabakh and calling on the international community to "recognise these atrocities, guarantee the right of Armenians to return to their homeland and ensure their security."}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=BY |title=Securing displaced Armenians' 'right to return' to Nagorno–Karabakh |url=https://www.diplomaticourier.com/posts/our-duty-to-bring-justice-peace-to-nagorno-karabakh |access-date=2025-09-18 |website=www.diplomaticourier.com |language=en}}</ref> and government officials,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-07-17 |title=U.S. State Department Official: Armenia's CSTO Membership No Hindrance to Greater Defense Cooperation with Washington |url=https://hetq.am/en/article/168189 |access-date=2025-07-18 |website=Hetq.am |language=en}}</ref> including from the United Nations, [[International Court of Justice|ICJ]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Order of 17 November 2023 {{!}} INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE |url=https://www.icj-cij.org/node/203314 |access-date=2025-07-18 |website=www.icj-cij.org}}</ref> Switzerland,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Civilnet |date=2025-05-20 |title=Swiss deputies form committee to back Nagorno-Karabakh initiative |url=https://www.civilnet.am/en/news/951747/swiss-deputies-form-committee-to-back-nagorno-karabakh-initiative/ |access-date=2025-07-18 |website=CIVILNET |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=CivilNet |date=2025-03-18 |title=Swiss Parliament Greenlights Peace Forum for Nagorno-Karabakh |url=https://www.civilnet.am/en/news/822810/swiss-parliament-greenlights-peace-forum-for-nagorno-karabakh/ |access-date=2025-09-18 |website=CIVILNET |language=en-US}}</ref> Canada,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Canada |first=Service |date=2015-10-13 |title=Statement by Minister Joly one year after Azerbaijan's military operation in the Nagorno-Karabakh region |url=https://www.canada.ca/en/global-affairs/news/2024/09/statement-by-minister-joly-one-year-after-azerbaijans-military-operation-in-the-nagorno-karabakh-region.html |access-date=2025-09-18 |website=www.canada.ca |quote=Canada supports a negotiated political solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh issue and promotes the principles of non-use of force, the respect of the territorial integrity and the right for self-determination in the negotiation of a just and durable peace for the people of this region. This should entail a safe and dignified right of return of Armenian civilians, guarantees for the protection of human rights and civic livelihoods, and the preservation of Armenian cultural and historical sites in the territory.}}</ref> and the European Parliament,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Texts adopted - Closer ties between the EU and Armenia and the need for a peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia - Wednesday, 13 March 2024 |url=https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-9-2024-0158_EN.html |access-date=2025-07-18 |website=www.europarl.europa.eu |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Vardanyan |first=Arnold |title=In the Wake of Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict: Current Challenges to Regional Peace and International Law – Cambridge International Law Journal |url=https://cilj.co.uk/2024/04/01/in-the-wake-of-nagorno-karabakh-conflict-current-challenges-to-regional-peace-and-international-law/ |access-date=2025-09-18 |language=en-US}}</ref> have called on Azerbaijan to ensure the rights of ethnic Armenian residents to return safely to their homeland. [[Amnesty International]] stated that "the right [of ethnic Armenians] to remain in their own homes and other rights should not be made conditional on accepting Azerbaijani citizenship."<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-09-29 |title=Azerbaijan: As Azerbaijani forces assume full control over Nagorno-Karabakh, it must respect and protect the rights of local ethnic Armenians |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/eur55/7254/2023/en/ |access-date=2025-07-18 |website=Amnesty International |language=en}}</ref>

The Armenian refugees from [[Republic of Artsakh|Nagorno-Karabakh]] have petitioned for the principle of return as a legal entitlement.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Civilnet |date=2025-03-29 |title=Displaced Karabakh people demand right of return and continuation of social support |url=https://www.civilnet.am/en/news/825342/displaced-karabakh-people-demand-right-of-return-and-continuation-of-social-support/ |access-date=2025-09-18 |website=CIVILNET |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Holloway |first=Sophie |date=2025-03-20 |title=The forgotten Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh |url=https://lacuna.org.uk/war-and-peace/the-forgotten-armenians-of-nagorno-karabakh/ |access-date=2025-09-18 |website=Lacuna Magazine |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Protesters in Yerevan demanded the return of Armenian prisoners from Azerbaijan |url=https://www.eng.kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/68286 |access-date=2025-09-18 |website=Caucasian Knot}}</ref> The [[government of Artsakh]] remains a [[government-in-exile]].<ref name="fr24">{{Cite web |date=2023-12-22 |title=Nagorno-Karabakh dissolution not valid, says Armenian separatist leader |url=https://www.france24.com/en/asia-pacific/20231222-nagorno-karabakh-dissolution-not-valid-says-armenian-separatist-leader |access-date=2024-10-10 |website=France 24 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=CivilNet |date=2025-04-17 |title=Karabakh parliament in exile extends presidential term via constitutional amendment |url=https://www.civilnet.am/en/news/945633/karabakh-parliament-in-exile-extends-presidential-term-via-constitutional-amendment/ |access-date=2025-09-19 |website=CIVILNET |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name="news.am">{{Cite web |date=2023-03-28 |title=President: Document to 'dissolve' Karabakh republic was only way to save compatriots |url=https://news.am/eng/news/814812.html |access-date=2024-12-22 |website=news.am |language=en}}</ref> [[Samvel Shahramanyan]], former and final president of Nagorno-Karabakh stated "Our right to return to our birthplace, our homeland, is not up for denial."<ref>{{Cite web |last=CivilNet |date=2025-09-02 |title=Artsakh president says state structures remain, right of return non-negotiable |url=https://www.civilnet.am/en/news/972356/artsakh-president-says-state-structures-remain-right-of-return-non-negotiable/ |access-date=2025-09-18 |website=CIVILNET |language=en-US}}</ref> However, the state-sponsored [[Anti-Armenian sentiment in Azerbaijan|anti-Armenian sentiment]] within Azerbaijan complicates the possible return of Azerbaijan's ethnic Armenian population.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-09-18 |title=Thousands of Karabakh Armenians call on Armenian government to defend their right to return |url=https://www.nationalia.info/brief/11675/thousands-of-karabakh-armenians-call-on-armenian-government-to-defend-their-right-to-retur |access-date=2025-09-18 |website=Nationalia |language=Catalan |quote=However, the conditions in Azerbaijan are entirely hostile to the return of the Armenian population. The Azerbaijani government continues the anti-Armenian policies it has pursued since independence, and there is evidence of a campaign to destroy Armenian heritage in Karabakh.}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=Right of Return of the Armenians of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) |url=https://arammanoukianinstitute.org/right-of-return-of-the-armenians-of-artsakh-nagorno-karabakh/ |access-date=2025-09-19 |website=Aram Manoukian Institute for Strategic Planning |page=22 |quote=Although Baku claims that it has no problem in hosting the Armenians, its policies towards the Armenians of the region over the years have shown that without any international mechanism, presence, and guarantees, Armenians will once again face persecution.}}</ref> The few Armenians which remain in Azerbaijan [[Armenians in Azerbaijan|live in virtual hiding]]. Talin and Devedjian state that such an atmosphere "makes the safe, dignified return of Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians virtually impossible."<ref name=":0">Hitik, Talin, and Andrew Devedjian. "Indigenous Displacement: Legal Pathways for Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians and Displaced Indigenous Communities." ''Loy. J. Pub. Int. L.'' 26 (2024): 82.</ref> The scholars emphasize that [[Ilham Aliyev|Azeri President Ilham Aliyev]] has publicly fostered antagonism against Armenians through gestures, including stepping on the Nagorno-Karabakh flag and overseeing the demolition of the parliamentary building of Nagorno-Karabakh.<ref name=":0" />

Gegham Stepanyan, former Human Rights Defender of Artsakh, states, "The right of return is not some fairy tale; it is a right that is enshrined and must be protected."<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=2025-03-29 |title=Displaced Karabakh people demand right of return and continuation of social support |url=https://www.civilnet.am/en/news/825342/displaced-karabakh-people-demand-right-of-return-and-continuation-of-social-support/ |access-date=2025-09-18 |website=Civilnet |language=en-US}}</ref> Critics have characterized the [[Azerbaijan's construction in areas gained in the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War#Controversies|destruction of Armenian heritage sites]] in Nagorno-Karabakh as [[cultural genocide]],<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-10-17 |title=Russia praises Azerbaijan's 'constructive' approach to return of Nagorno-Karabakh refugees |url=https://oc-media.org/russia-praises-azerbaijans-constructive-approach-to-return-of-nagorno-karabakh-refugees/ |access-date=2025-09-19 |website=OC Media |language=en}}</ref> or cultural erasure.<ref name="theowp.org">{{Cite web |date=2024-06-09 |title=Armenian Refugees Can Return, But Will They Find Their Nagorno-Karabakh? |url=https://theowp.org/armenian-refugees-can-return-but-will-they-find-their-nagorno-karabakh/ |access-date=2025-09-19 |website=The Organization for World Peace |language=en-US}}</ref> According to Lori Khatchadourian, a professor and co-founder of Caucasus Heritage Watch, [[Armenian cemetery in Julfa|the erasure of Armenian heritage in the Azerbaijani-controlled exclave of Nakhchivan]] is an example of what may occur in Nagorno-Karabakh.<ref name="theowp.org"/> The Aram Manoukian Institute states "the return of ethnic Armenians back to their homeland without preserving their cultural and religious presence (monuments, buildings, churches, and monasteries) will question the very existence of Armenian history on these territories."<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Salma Waheedi co-authors policy paper on displaced Armenians' right of return to Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) |url=https://plsmw.law.harvard.edu/news-article/salma-waheedi-co-authors-policy-paper-on-displaced-armenians-right-of-return-to-artsakh-nagorno-karabakh/ |access-date=2025-09-19 |website=Harvard Law School - Program on Law & Society in the Muslim World |language=en-US}}</ref>

===Circassians===
Circassians are an indigenous ethnic group originating from the northwestern [[Caucasus]]. Throughout the 19th century, the [[Russian Empire]] adopted a policy to [[Circassian genocide|eradicate Circassians]] from their ancestral homelands, pushing most surviving Circassians into the diaspora.<ref name=wiley>Wiley, Mason. [http://digitalcommons.wcl.american.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1837&context=auilr Circassian Right of Return: “Putin The Terrible or Putin The Enlightened?]. American University Washington College of Law 2015.</ref> Many Circassians have expressed an interest in returning to Circassia, particularly [[Refugees of the Syrian Civil War|Circassians fleeing]] the [[Syrian Civil War|conflict in Syria]].<ref name=wiley/>

=== Georgian refugees and internally displaced people ===
{{Main|Ethnic cleansing of Georgians in Abkhazia}}
During [[War in Abkhazia (1992–1993)|Abkhazia's war of secession]] in 1992–1993 and the [[War in Abkhazia (1998)|second Abkhazia war]] in 1998, 200,000–250,000 Georgian civilians became internally displaced people (IDPs) and refugees. Abkhazia, while formally agreeing to repatriation, has hindered the return of refugees both officially and unofficially for more than fifteen years.<ref>Gregory F. Treverton, ''Dividing Divided States'', p.41</ref>

=== Greek-Cypriots ===
{{further|Cypriot refugees}}
During the [[Turkish invasion of Cyprus]], 40% of the Greek-Cypriot population as well as over half of the Turkish-Cypriot population of the island were displaced. The island was divided along ethnic lines and most of the Greek-Cypriot displaced people were not allowed to return to their homes in the northern Turkish-Cypriot side and vice versa.

Plans for a solution of the conflict has centered around bilateral agreements of [[population exchange]], such as the [[Third Vienna Agreement]] reached in 1975 or the proposed [[Annan Plan for Cyprus|Annan Plan]] of 2004. In these plans, the right of return was to be severely limited with respect to Greek-Cypriot internally displaced people/refugees to districts such as  [[Kyrenia]], [[Morphou]], [[Famagusta]], and parts of [[Nicosia]], despite judgements of the [[European Court of Human Rights]] in cases such as [[Loizidou v. Turkey]], and numerous UN resolutions recognizing the right of return (such as [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 361|SC 361]] and [[United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3212|GA 3212]]). Two [[2004 Cypriot Annan Plan referendums|referendums]] on the Annan Plan were held in April 2004, separately along ethnic lines. The Annan Plan was overwhelmingly rejected in the [[Greek Cypriots|Greek-Cypriot]] referendum.

The right of return continues to remain a stumbling block to the settlement of the [[Cyprus problem]].

=== Diego Garcia Chagossians ===
The [[Chagossians]], an ethnic group residing on the island of [[Diego Garcia]] in the [[Indian Ocean]], were expelled to [[Mauritius]] in the 1960s, in connection with the erection of an [[United States Armed Forces|U.S. Military]] strategic military installation on the island. Ever since, the Chagossians have been conducting a persistent political and legal struggle to return to Diego Garcia. As of 2007, their right to return was recognised by several British courts but the [[Government of the United Kingdom|UK government]] had failed to implement it.{{citation needed|date=March 2021}}

=== Palestinians ===
{{Main|Palestinian right of return|Nakba}}

[[Succession of states|State succession]] arises when there is a definitive replacement of one state by another in respect of sovereignty over a given political territory, in conformity with [[international law]]. Experts argue that, under those principles, Palestinian citizens who [[Nakba|fled or were expelled]] from the areas that became Israel automatically acquired Israeli nationality with the creation of the state in 1948. Consequently, these individuals, based on their [[De jure|''de jure'' nationality]], could claim a right to return.<ref name="lawand">{{cite journal|last=Lawand|first=Kathleen|title=The Right to Return of Palestinians in International Law|journal=[[International Journal of Refugee Law]]|year=1996|volume=8|issue=4|pages=532–568|doi=10.1093/ijrl/8.4.532}}</ref>

== Countries with laws conferring a right of return ==
===Abkhazia (self-declared)===

The law on the repatriation of self-declared [[Republic of Abkhazia]]<ref>{{Abkhazia-note}}</ref> gives the right of return to the ethnic [[Abkhazians|Abkhaz]] and [[Abazins]] who are the descendants of the refugees who left Abkhazia due to the [[Circassian genocide|19th-century conflicts]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Конституционный закон республики Абхазия о репатриантах |url=http://presidentofabkhazia.org/upload/iblock/e85/%D0%97%D0%B0%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%BD_%D0%BE_%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%BF%D0%B0%D1%82%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%B0%D0%BD%D1%82%D0%B0%D1%85_2015_03_31_13_16_13_782.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220221194014/http://presidentofabkhazia.org/upload/iblock/e85/%D0%97%D0%B0%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%BD_%D0%BE_%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%BF%D0%B0%D1%82%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%B0%D0%BD%D1%82%D0%B0%D1%85_2015_03_31_13_16_13_782.pdf |archive-date=2022-02-21 |url-status=live |website=The website of the President of Abkhazia |access-date=10 November 2022|language=ru}}</ref> The State Repatriation Committee provides support to the repatriates.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Isaacs |first1=Rico |last2=Polese |first2=Abel |title=Nation-Building and Identity in the Post-Soviet Space |date=2016 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781317090199 |page=217}}</ref>

=== Armenia ===
{{further|Repatriation of Armenians}}
Article 14 of the [[Constitution of Armenia]] (1995) provides that "[i]ndividuals of Armenian origin shall acquire citizenship of the Republic of Armenia through a simplified procedure."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.servat.unibe.ch/icl/am00000_.html|title=ICL - Armenia - Constitution|access-date=7 February 2015}}</ref> This provision is consistent with the ''Declaration on Independence of Armenia'', issued by the Supreme Soviet of the Republic of Armenia in 1989, which declared at article 4 that "Armenians living abroad are entitled to the citizenship of the Republic of Armenia".{{Citation needed|date=December 2022}}

=== Austria ===
Under Section 58c of the Austrian Citizenship Act ({{langx|de|Staatsbürgerschaftsgesetz}}), Austrians and their descendants who were persecuted or feared persecution by [[Nazi Germany]] can become Austrian citizens. While Austria does not allow [[Multiple citizenship|dual citizenship]] in most circumstances, people who receive citizenship under § 58c may keep their previous citizenship. However, if they later receive another country's citizenship, they must renounce their Austrian citizenship and may not re-apply.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs |author-link=Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Austria) |title=Citizenship for Persecuted Persons and their Direct Descendants |url=https://www.bmeia.gv.at/en/austrian-embassy-london/service-for-citizens/citizenship-for-persecuted-persons-and-their-direct-descendants/ |access-date=2023-01-13 |website=Austrian Embassy London |language=en}}</ref> Alternatively, they can apply for a permit for the retention of Austrian citizenship if they wish to receive another citizenship after claiming Austrian citizenship.

=== Finland ===
People of Finnish origin may receive citizenship by declaration, which is faster and cheaper than naturalization and has fewer requirements. People of Finnish origin can be: 1) children, born abroad, of a Finnish father; 2) 12–17-year-old adopted children; 3) former Finnish citizens; 4) citizens of another [[Nordic countries|Nordic country]]; 5) 18-22-year-olds with a long residency in Finland.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://migri.fi/suomen-kansalaisuus | title=Suomen kansalaisuus}}</ref> Formerly, Finland also accepted returnees with a [[Soviet Union passport|Soviet passport]] (or post-Soviet passport) where the ethnicity was marked as Finnish. This allowed the immigration of [[Ingrian Finns]] and other Finns who had remained in the Soviet Union. People who served in the [[Finnish Defence Forces]] or Finnish people evacuated by German or Finnish authorities from occupied areas to Finland during World War II also qualified as returnees. However, these options are no longer available, and applicants must qualify for ordinary naturalization instead.

=== France ===

Another early example of [[national law]] recognizing the Right of Return was the French constitution of 1791, enacted on 15 December 1790:<ref name="ingles"/> 
{{blockquote|the freedom of everyone to go, to stay, or to leave, without being halted or arrested unless in accordance with procedures established by the Constitution.}}

The constitution put an end to the centuries-long persecution and discrimination of [[Huguenot]]s (French [[Protestant]]s).{{Citation needed|date=July 2013}}. Concurrently with making all [[Protestant]]s resident in France into full-fledged citizens, the law enacted on December 15, 1790  stated that: 
{{blockquote|All persons born in a foreign country and descending in any degree of a French man or woman expatriated for religious reason are declared French nationals ({{lang|fr|naturels français}}) and will benefit to rights attached to that quality if they come back to France, establish their domicile there and take the civic oath.<ref name="André Encrevé 1999, p.66"/>}}

The [[revocation of the Edict of Nantes]] and expulsion of the Huguenots had taken place more than a century earlier, and there were extensive Huguenot diasporas in many countries, where they often intermarried with the population of the host country.{{Citation needed|date=July 2013}} Therefore, the law potentially conferred French citizenship on numerous Britons, Germans, South Africans and others – though only a fraction actually took advantage of it.{{Citation needed|date=July 2013}} This option for Huguenot descendants to gain French citizenship remained open until 1945, when it was abolished - since after the [[Occupation of France]], the French were unwilling to let Germans of Huguenot origin to take advantage of it. In October 1985, [[President of France|French President]] [[François Mitterrand]] issued a public apology to the descendants of [[Huguenots]] around the world.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://discours.vie-publique.fr/notices/857015500.html |title=Allocution de M. François Mitterrand, Président de la République, aux cérémonies du tricentenaire de la Révocation de l'Edit de Nantes, sur la tolérance en matière politique et religieuse et l'histoire du protestantisme en France, Paris, Palais de l'UNESCO, vendredi 11 octobre 1985 |publisher=Discours.vie-publique.fr |date=1985-10-11 |access-date=2016-04-04}}</ref>

=== Germany ===
{{see also|German Citizenship Project}}
[[German law]] allows (1) people descending from [[Reichsdeutsche|German nationals]] of any ethnicity or (2) people of ethnic German descent and living in countries of the former [[Warsaw Pact]] (as well as Yugoslavia) the right to "return" to Germany and ("re")claim German citizenship ({{lang|de|Aussiedler/Spätaussiedler}}, "late emigrants"). After legislative changes in late 1992 this right is ''[[de facto]]'' restricted to ethnic Germans from the former Soviet Union. As with many legal implementations of the right of return, the "return" to Germany of individuals who may never have lived in Germany based on their ethnic origin or their descent from German nationals has been controversial.

The law is codified in paragraph 1 of Article 116 of the [[Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany]], which provides access to German citizenship for anyone "who has been admitted to the territory of the German Reich within the boundaries of December 31, 1937, as a refugee or expellee of German ethnic origin or as the spouse or descendant of such person".<ref name="Germany Basic Law">{{Cite web|url=https://www.bundestag.de/blob/284870/ce0d03414872b427e57fccb703634dcd/basic_law-data.pdf|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304075359/https://www.bundestag.de/blob/284870/ce0d03414872b427e57fccb703634dcd/basic_law-data.pdf|url-status=dead|title=Basic Law|archivedate=March 4, 2016}}</ref> Those territories had [[Poles in Germany|a Polish minority]], which also had German citizenship and [[Territorial changes of Poland immediately after World War II|after World War II lived in Poland]]. These Polish people are also {{lang|de|Aussiedler}} or {{lang|de|Spätaussiedler}} and came [[History of Poland (1945–1989)#Final decade of the Polish People's Republic (1980–1989)|especially in the 1980s]] to Germany, see [[Emigration from Poland to Germany after World War II]]. For example [[Lukas Podolski]] and [[Eugen Polanski]] became German citizens by this law.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.expolis.de/schlesien/texte/simonides.html|title=Gibt es ein oberschlesisches Ethnikum?|access-date=15 July 2016|archive-date=15 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180715235805/http://www.expolis.de/schlesien/texte/simonides.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Paragraph 2 of Article 116 also provides that "Former German citizens who between 30 January 1933 and 8 May 1945 were deprived of their citizenship on political, racial or religious grounds, and their descendants, shall on application have their citizenship restored".<ref name="Germany Basic Law" /> The historic context for Article 116 was the eviction, following [[World War II]], of an estimated 9 million foreign ethnic Germans from other countries in Central and Eastern Europe. Another 9 million German nationals in the [[historical eastern Germany|former eastern German territories]], over which [[Joseph Stalin]] and eastern neighbour states extended military hegemony in 1945, were [[expulsion of Germans after World War II|expelled]] as well. These expellees and refugees, known as {{lang|de|[[Heimatvertriebene]]}}, were given refugee status and documents, and&mdash;as to foreign ethnic Germans&mdash;also West German citizenship (in 1949), and resettled in West Germany.

The [[Federation of Expellees|discussion of possible compensation]] continues; this, however, has been countered by possible claims for war compensation from Germany's eastern neighbours, pertaining to both Germany's unconditional surrender and the series of population transfers carried out under the instruments of [[Potsdam Conference|Potsdam]]. Between 1950 and 2016 it is estimated that up to 1,445,210 {{lang|de|Aussiedler/Spätaussiedler}} and their family members, including many [[Polish people|ethnic Poles]] according to Deutsche Welle<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dw.com/pl/emigracja-z-polski-do-niemiec-liczna-i-prawie-niewidoczna/a-16181647|title=Emigracja z Polski do Niemiec liczna i prawie niewidoczna|publisher=Deutsche Welle|access-date=28 June 2019}}</ref> (for example [[Lukas Podolski]] and [[Eugen Polanski]]), emigrated from Poland.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bpb.de/61643|title=Zuzug von (Spät-)Aussiedlern und ihren Familienangehörigen|date=1 April 2018|publisher=[[Federal Agency for Civic Education]]|language=de}}</ref>

=== Ghana ===
{{further|Year of Return, Ghana 2019}}
Ghana allows people with [[African diaspora|African ancestry]] to apply for and be granted the right to stay in Ghana indefinitely, known as the Right of Abode.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.theafricareport.com/West-Africa/ghana-a-place-for-african-americans-to-resettle.html |title=Ghana, a place for African-Americans to resettle |last=Dovi |first=Efam |date=11 May 2015 |website=[[The Africa Report]] |access-date=16 July 2018 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Right of Abode - Ghana |url=https://www.mint.gov.gh/services/right-of-abode/}}</ref>

=== Greece ===
Various phenomena throughout Greek history (the extensive colonization by classical Greek city states, the vast expansion of Greek culture in Hellenistic times, the large dominions at times held by the Greek-speaking [[Byzantine Empire]], and the energetic trading activity by Greeks under the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottomans]]) all tended to create Greek communities far beyond the boundaries of modern Greece.

Recognizing this situation, Greece grants citizenship to broad categories of people of ethnic Greek ancestry who are members of the Greek diaspora, including individuals and families whose ancestors have been resident in diaspora communities outside the modern state of Greece for centuries or millennia.<ref>[http://athens.usembassy.gov/uploads/7z/Z4/7zZ4A6EyE4dMjph5dNxFew/citizenship_code.pdf US Embassy in Athens] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080705222308/http://athens.usembassy.gov/uploads/7z/Z4/7zZ4A6EyE4dMjph5dNxFew/citizenship_code.pdf |date=2008-07-05 }}</ref>

"Foreign persons of Greek origin", who neither live in Greece nor hold [[Greek citizenship]] nor were necessarily born there, may become Greek citizens by enlisting in Greece's military forces, under article 4 of the ''Code of Greek Citizenship'', as amended by the  ''Acquisition of Greek Nationality by Aliens of Greek Origin Law'' (Law 2130/1993). Anyone wishing to do so must present a number of documents, including "[a]vailable written records ... proving the Greek origin of the interested person and his ancestors".

[[Albania]] has demanded since the 1940s that Greece grant a right of return to the Muslim [[Cham Albanians]], who were [[Expulsion of Cham Albanians|expelled]] from the Greek region of [[Epirus (region)|Epirus]] between 1944 and 1945, at the end of [[World War II]] – a demand firmly rejected by the Greeks (see [[Cham issue]]).

=== Hungary ===
In 2010, Hungary passed a law granting citizenship and the right of return to descendants of Hungarians living mostly on the former territory of the Kingdom of Hungary and now residing in Hungary's neighbouring countries. [[Slovakia]], which has 500,000 ethnic Magyar citizens (10% of its population), objected vociferously.<ref name="Pandora's Passport 2010, p. 60">Pandora's Passport, Hungary extends citizenship beyond its borders, Slovakia retaliates", ''The Economist'', 5 June 2010, p. 60.</ref>

=== Ireland ===
Present [[Irish nationality law]] states that any person with a grandparent born on the island of Ireland can claim Irish nationality by enrollment in the [[Foreign Births Register]]. Additionally, the law permits the Minister of Justice to waive the residency requirements for naturalization for a person of "Irish descent or Irish associations".

=== Israel ===
{{Main|Law of Return}}
{{see also-text|[[Palestinian right of return]]}}
The [[Law of Return]] is legislation enacted by [[Israel]] in 1950 that gives all [[Jews]], people of Jewish ancestry up to at least one Jewish grandparent, and their spouses the right to [[Aliyah|immigrate]] to and settle in Israel and obtain citizenship, and obliges the Israeli government to facilitate their immigration. Originally, the law applied to Jews only, until a 1970 amendment stated that the rights "are also vested in a child and a grandchild of a Jew, the spouse of a Jew, the spouse of a child of a Jew and the spouse of a grandchild of a Jew". This resulted in several hundreds of thousands of people fitting the above criteria immigrating to Israel (mainly from the [[former Soviet Union]]) but not being recognized as Jews by the Israeli religious authorities, which on the basis of [[halakha]] recognize only the child of a Jewish mother as being Jewish, or a [[proselyte]] to Judaism. Moreover, some of these immigrants, though having a Jewish grandparent, are known to be practicing [[Christians]]. People who would be otherwise eligible for this law can be excluded if they can reasonably be considered to constitute a danger to the welfare of the state, have a criminal past, or are wanted fugitives in their countries (with the exception of persecution victims). Jews who converted to another religion can also be denied the right of return. Since its inception in 1948, over three million Jews have immigrated to Israel.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3539874,00.html |title=400 olim arrive in Israel ahead of Independence Day – Israel Jewish Scene, Ynetnews |newspaper=Ynetnews |date=6 May 2008 |publisher=Ynetnews.com |access-date=2008-05-06|last1=Branovsky |first1=Yael }}</ref>

=== Latvia ===
According to the law passed in 2013, any person who themself or whose parent or grandparent had [[Latvians|Latvian]] or [[Livonians|Livonian]] ethnicity, did not voluntarily choose a different ethnicity and lived on Latvian territory between 1881 and 17 June 1940, may register Latvian citizenship upon providing proofing documents and passing a language exam.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.pmlp.gov.lv/en/latvians-and-livs | title=Latvians and Livs &#124; Pilsonības un migrācijas lietu pārvalde }}</ref>

=== Poland ===
{{See also|Polish nationality law#Loss of Polish citizenship}}
From the Constitution of [[Poland]], Article 52(5): "Anyone whose Polish origin has been confirmed in accordance with statute may settle permanently in Poland."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.servat.unibe.ch/icl/pl00000_.html|title=ICL – Poland – Constitution|access-date=15 July 2016}}</ref>{{Citation needed|date=December 2022}}

=== Portugal ===
On April 12, 2013, the Portuguese parliament unanimously approved a measure that allows the descendants of [[Jews expelled from Portugal]] in the 16th century to become [[Portuguese citizens]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/descendants-of-jews-who-fled-persecution-may-claim-portuguese-citizenship|title=Descendants of Jews who fled persecution may claim Portuguese citizenship|website=[[The Times of Israel]] |access-date=15 July 2016}}</ref>

=== Romania ===
Romanian citizenship can be regained or granted to individuals who were Romanian citizens and who lost it for reasons beyond their control or whose citizenship was revoked involuntarily. This legal provision also applies in the case of descendants of former Romanian citizens up to the third degree.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://cetatenie.just.ro/articolul-11-2/#:~:text=Cet%C4%83%C5%A3enia%20rom%C3%A2n%C4%83%20poate%20fi%20redob%C3%A2ndit%C4%83,e)%20din%20Legea%20cet%C4%83%C8%9Beniei%20rom%C3%A2ne | title=Articolul 11 – AUTORITATEA NATIONALA PENTRU CETATENIE | date=10 January 2020 }}</ref>

=== Russia ===
The Russian Federation offers citizenship to individuals descended from Russian ancestors who can demonstrate an affinity for Russian culture and, preferably, speak Russian. Concern about Russia's shrinking population prompted the program.<ref name=population>Levy, Clifford J. 21 March 2009. "[https://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/22/world/europe/22believers.html?_r=1&hp A Sturdier Russia Beckons Its Children Home]." ''New York Times''.</ref>  This has had a positive effect because this has not only reversed Russia's population decline but has also increased the birth rate.{{citation needed|date=December 2022}} Officials estimate that 25 million members of the [[Russian diaspora]] are eligible for nationality. The Foreign Ministry has sent emissaries to countries around the world to urge the descendants of Russian emigrants to return home.<ref name=population />  The majority of these emigrants have returned from Ukraine,<ref>{{cite news |last=Foltynova |first=Kristyna |date=2020-06-19 |title=Migrants Welcome: Is Russia Trying To Solve Its Demographic Crisis By Attracting Foreigners? |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/migrants-welcome-is-russia-trying-to-solve-its-demographic-crisis-by-attracting-foreigners-/30677952.html |work=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |access-date=2024-04-23}}</ref> many of them young men looking for better education and job opportunities.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Trofimova |first1=Irina N. |last2=Morgan |first2=W. John |date=2022-09-14 |title=Education and Ethnicity in Contemporary Russia |url=https://oxfordre.com/communication/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228613.001.0001/acrefore-9780190228613-e-1325?p=emailAkDaLEkjrK2E2&d=%2F10.1093%2Facrefore%2F9780190228613.001.0001%2Facrefore-9780190228613-e-1325 |journal=Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Communication |doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780190228613.013.1325|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

=== Spain ===
{{unreferenced section|date=August 2021}}
[[Sephardi Jews]] were expelled from Spain in 1492. Despite the requirement by general rule for obtaining Spanish nationality after five years of residence in Spain, by royal decree on 20 December 1924, Sephardi Jews can obtain Spanish nationality with two years of residence in Spain. From 1924 until 2015 Sephardi Jews living abroad could also ask the Spanish Government for a conferment of Spanish nationality, but the Government enjoyed full discretion as to the decision whether to grant Spanish nationality. On 24 June 2015, the Spanish Parliament approved the 12/2015 Act, the Law Granting the Nationality to Sephardi Jews, that grants the Spanish nationality automatically to Sephardi Jews living abroad, provided they can prove that they are descendants of the Sephardi Jews expelled in 1492.

In 2007, the Spanish Parliament approved the 57/2007 Act, the Law of Historical Memory. The 57/2007 Act provides for the descendants of Spaniards living abroad that left Spain because of political persecution during the [[Spanish Civil War|Civil War]] and [[Francoist Spain|Franco's dictatorship]] – that is the period between 1936 and 1975 – to obtain Spanish nationality.

Finally, following the [[Capture of Gibraltar|Anglo-Dutch capture of Gibraltar]] in August 1704 during the [[War of the Spanish Succession]], the Spanish population left, citing their loyalty to the [[House of Bourbon|Bourbons]] and establishing themselves in the surrounding area (which has come to be known as the "[[Campo de Gibraltar]]"). The Spanish population established institutions similar to those they maintained in Gibraltar, including the census and the archives in the City of [[San Roque, Cádiz|San Roque]], which is the city "where Gibraltar lives on". Some of the population's descendants have cited the right of return in order to return to Gibraltar, although their requests have not been currently addressed by the [[Government of Spain|Spanish government]].{{citation needed|date=March 2021}}

===United States of America===

The [[Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Fourteenth Amendment]] of the [[U.S. Constitution]] guarantees [[United States citizenship]] to those born in the [[United States|United States of America]] according to ''[[jus soli]]'' ('right of soil'), which is solely based on the place of birth.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://eudo-citizenship.eu/docs/birthright_comparativepaper.pdf |last1=Vink |first1=Maarten Peter |last2=de Groot |first2=Gerard-René |date=November 2010 |title=Birthright Citizenship: Trends and Regulations in Europe |location=Florence |publisher=European University Institute |page=35 |access-date=23 August 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121126212750/http://eudo-citizenship.eu/docs/birthright_comparativepaper.pdf |archive-date=26 November 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> There are few exceptions, most notably- when a parent has [[diplomatic immunity]] (i.e. not a "subject to the US law").<ref>U.S. CONST. amend. XIV, § 1</ref><ref name="lawcat.berkeley.edu">Michael Neal, Return of the New Mexican-American Diaspora, Berkeley La Raza Law Review, https://lawcat.berkeley.edu/record/1242205/files/3%20Neal%202022%20%2847-105%29.pdf</ref> However, acts of Congress also provide for US citizenship for children born outside the country to a U.S. citizen under the principle of ''[[jus sanguinis]]''. Generally, acquisition of citizenship at birth abroad depends on whether, at the time of the child's birth, one or both of the parents was a U.S. citizen; the gender of the U.S. citizen-parent, and whether the parents were married at the time of the child's birth. Numerous courts have held that U.S. citizens, including acquired citizens, who are outside the United States have a fundamental right to return to the country.<ref>Worthy v. United States, 328 F.2d 386, 394 (5th Cir. 1964).</ref><ref>Ayala-Flores v. INS, 662 F.2d 444, 446 (6th Cir. 1981)</ref><ref>Acosta v. Gaffney, 558 F.2d 1153, 1157 (3d Cir. 1977).</ref><ref>United States v. Valentine, 288 F. Supp. 957, 980 (D.P.R. 1968)</ref><ref>Nguyen v. INS, 533 U.S. 53, 67 (2001).</ref>

Large-scale deportations of undocumented immigrants from the United States have resulted in a [[diaspora]] of U.S. citizens, especially of [[Mexican Americans]].<ref name="lawcat.berkeley.edu"/> Children born in the United States to undocumented immigrants became U.S. citizens at birth and, subsequently, joined their parents in Mexico due in part to immigration enforcement. Over time, these U.S. citizens have had children of their own in Mexico, giving rise to a generation of Mexican-born children who acquired U.S. citizenship at birth. These acquired citizens struggle to prove their U.S. citizenship and have been falsely deported and imprisoned when exercising their right to return to the United States.

== See also ==
* [[Voluntary return]]
* [[Diaspora politics]]
* [[Freedom of movement]]
* [[Nationality law]]
* [[Jus sanguinis]]
* [[Canadians of convenience]]
* [[Internally Displaced Persons]]
* [[Back-to-Africa movement]] / [[Rastafari movement]]
* [[Law of Return]]
* [[Overseas Citizenship of India]], a scheme allowing foreign citizens with ancestral origins in India to obtain permanent residency in India
* [[Birthright Armenia]]
* [[Right of asylum]]
* [[Right to homeland]]

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== External links ==
* [https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB109218743179488325 Wall Street Journal, ''War Echo: Ousted by Poland in 1945, Germans Want Homes Back''], August 11, 2004
* [http://www.letthemreturn.com/ Let Them Return – The Chagos People's Homeland Campaign] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110713202240/http://www.letthemreturn.com/ |date=2011-07-13 }}
* [http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFAArchive/1950_1959/Law%20of%20Return%205710-1950 Law of Return, 1950]—Government of the State of Israel
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20051025143210/http://network.idrc.ca/uploads/user-S/10576079920Session_2_Eyal_Benvinisti_paper.doc The Right of Return in International Law] by Eyal Benvenisti
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20051127033448/http://www.irac.org/article_e.asp?artid=199 The problem is how to become Israeli] – Amon Rubenstein, ''[[Ha'aretz]]''
* [http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Peace/refreturn.html Do Palestinian Refugees Have a Right to Return to Israel?] by Ruth Lapidoth
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110221203359/http://www.aijac.org.au/resources/reports/international_law.pdf International Law and the Arab-Israeli Conflict] by Julius Stone
* [http://www.arts.mcgill.ca/mepp/new_prrn/research/papers/abusitta.htm The Feasibility of the Right of Return] by Salman Abu-Sittah
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20051123115002/http://www.badil.org/Publications/Briefs/Brief-No-08.htm Palestinian Refugees and the Right of Return: An International Law Analysis] by Gail J. Boling
* [http://www.solomonia.com/blog/archives/009518.shtml The Palestinian Refugees and the non-existence of the Right of Return], [[Ben-Dror Yemini]]

{{Nationality laws}}
{{Substantive human rights}}
{{Group rights}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Right of return}}
[[Category:Freedom of movement]]
[[Category:Human rights]]
[[Category:Indigenous rights]]
[[Category:International law]]
[[Category:Nationality law|*]]
[[Category:Refugees]]
[[Category:Repatriation]]
[[Category:Immigration law]]
[[Category:Diaspora studies]]
[[Category:Refugees in Asia]]