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Right of return

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A right of return is a right, held by members of an ethnic or national group, to assurance of immigration and naturalization into the nation of their homeland. It is a special consideration in the nation's immigration laws to facilitate or encourage the reunion of a diaspora or dispersed ethnic population.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights article 13 (as well as other human rights documents) maintains this right, stating: "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." (emphasis added). There is disagreement as to what this actually means in practice as well as whether country refers to a state or a specific area of land. In addition, the change from State to country from the first sentence to the second clouds the issue.

Jewish

Under the Israeli Law of Return most people of Jewish heritage can immigrate to Israel and receive Israeli citizenship with all the privileges and obligations thereof.

Ever since the destruction of the Second Temple in the year 70 CE, Jews have prayed three times a day for return to their ancestral homeland. This longing to return to the Land of Israel also became a major topic in Jewish literature and thought. In the second half of the 19th century, Zionism sought to make this longing a reality by encouraging and helping Jews from the diaspora return to the Land of Israel.

The Balfour Declaration of November 2, 1917, is the first modern government document to recognize the Jewish right of return. It states inter alia: "His Majesty's Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object."

The right of return was stated explicitly in the British Mandate of Palestine authorizing document conferred on Britain by the League of Nations in 1922. Article 6 of that document reads in part: "The Administration of Palestine... shall facilitate Jewish immigration under suitable conditions and shall encourage, in cooperation with the Jewish agency... close settlement by Jews on the land...".

The right of return was embodied in the Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel of May 14, 1948: "The State of Israel will be open for Jewish immigration and for the ingathering of the exiles..."

Since the founding of the State of Israel, millions of Jews from all over the world have availed themselves of the right of return. These include: the surviving victims of the Holocaust, many of whom were interred in displaced persons camps in Europe after World War II and later in Cyprus when the British Mandatory government refused them entry; and the North African and Arab Jews of the Middle East who fled discrimination and at times persecution at the hands of Arab governments, particularly after the founding of the State of Israel.

As codified in Israeli law as the Law of Return 1950 passed on July 5th, 1950. The law was amended in 1970 to grant the right to immigrate to Israel to non-Jews who are either children or grandchildren of a Jew, the spouse of a Jew or the spouse of a child or grandchild of a Jew. The amendment was intended to accept in Israel families, mainly from Eastern Europe, where mixed marriages were abundant, and where individuals and family members not considered Jews under the traditional definition might still be subject to anti-Semitism.

The Israeli Law of Return does not exclude non-Jews from immigrating to Israel. Any person who wishes to settle in Israel, may do so. That person must meet the requirements set forth in the Law of Entry to Israel (1952) and the Law of Citizenship (1952), regarding naturalization. These requirements are similar to those stated in the laws of most countries such as:

  1. they must have resided in Israel for three years out of five years preceding the day of submission of the application;
  2. they are residing legally in Israel and have settled permanently or intend to settle permanently in Israel;
  3. they have renounced their prior nationality, or have proved that they will cease to be foreign nationals upon becoming Israeli citizens.

Palestinian

The Palestinian Arab right of return is a divisive issue in Middle East politics, and plays an important role in negotiations between Israel, the Palestinians and Arab states.

By the Arabs, the right of return is commonly understood as the right of the Palestinian refugees and their descendants to return to the homes they had possessed prior to the 1948 Arab-Israeli war and the Six-Day War. Several early UN resolutions called upon Israel to grant this right (under certain conditions), although most parties would currently opt for a multilateral solution accepted by Israel, the Palestinians and the hosting countries.

The right of return is, next to the question of the status of Jerusalem, one of the major impediments to a peace settlement between Israel and the Palestinians. If all the Palestinian refugees and their descendants (estimates range between 4 and 8 million people) were to settle within Israel this would lead to a demographic shift which would end Israel's status as a Jewish state. Some also argue that if a large proportion of the exiled Palestinians were to return, catastrophic overpopulation would result. There would also be immensely complex and expensive legal disputes over the ownership of property abandoned by or expropriated from the Palestinians in 1948.

Even if a smaller number of refugees were to return, as little as one million, this would still alter Israel's character as a Jewish state. A large majority of Jewish Israelis find this prospect unacceptable. They see the demand for a Palestinian right of return as merely another way of arguing for the destruction of Israel as a Jewish state. A minority, however, believe that if Israel were one day to acknowledge a right of return, the ensuing changes might be positive for Israelis and Palestinians alike [1].

The Arab states have for decades insisted on this right as one of the main conditions for peace. The Oslo accords were only made possible, because both sides agreed to leave this question open for future negotiations.

At the 2000 negotiation at Camp David between Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, the right of return was the principal issue on which the talks broke down. Barak was willing to offer the Palestinians a state taking in the Gaza Strip most of the West Bank, plus co-sovereignty over Jerusalem, but would not make any concessions on the right of return. Arafat for his part would not accept any settlement that did not offer at least some concessions on this issue.

In June 2003, a survey of Palestinians living in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Jordan and Lebanon found that only 10% stated that they would become residents of Israel if given a choice. This would amount to approximately 373,000 individuals (based on the population estimates used in the study) and does not include Palestinians living in other areas, such as North America, Europe, or Syria (which might bring the total to over 800,000). The majority said that rather than returning to live in Israel, they would prefer to live in a Palestinian state, either in an existing Palestinian area or in an area that becomes Palestinian as the result of a territorial exchange. These results are in stark contrast with Israeli public opinion, which believes that a much greater number of Palestinians would wish to live in Israel.

Germany

German Law of Return allows persons of German descent living in Eastern Europe (so-called Aussiedler, see Volga Germans) to return to Germany and acquire German citizenship. The "return" of individuals who may never have lived in Germany stirs controversy.

After World War II, estimated 12-15 million of ethnic Germans were evicted from the non-German states of Central and Eastern Europe. These refugees (known as Heimatvertriebene) were absorbed and resettled by Germany. The article Federation of Expellees describes issues regarding their possible compensation.

Other

Sometimes the laws concerning the right of return are criticized because they give people of a certain ethnic or religious background preference at the expense of other people who want to immigrate.

Further reading

  • Wall Street Journal, August 11, 2004. War Echo: Ousted by Poland in 1945, Germans Want Homes Back
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